streets are 20 to 25 yard containers, and at the end of the day, there's a formula involved and we add up the tonnage. we pick up several thousand tons. it varies depending on the size of the truck. >> reporter: thank you, chief. we have his assurance it will be cleared out from times square in time for the big party with anderson cooper and kathy griffith. >> those are incredible pictures susan. stay warm if you can. if you turned on the news the last several days, you know new yorkers have been outraged that streets are clogged, neighborhoods are snowbound. earlier on cnn's american morning, the man in charge of clearing out the city streets says it was a perfect storm for problems. >> the biggest problems we ran across so far was the depth of snow in many places, and know plows getting stuck and not being able to get into streets,