The Bloomberg administration on Monday admitted to a host of errors in its handling of the paralyzing snowstorm last month, describing a lack of preparation, confused lines of authority and an ignorance of on-the-ground conditions. At a nearly five-hour hearing that was part inquisition, part political theater, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s top officials faced a barrage of questions from a seething City Council.
Council members spoke of streets that remained unplowed for days, backlogged 911 lines and residents waiting for ambulances that never showed up. The outrage was particularly acute from lawmakers representing Brooklyn and Queens, who accused city officials of focusing their relief efforts on “tony neighborhoods” in Manhattan.
In candid terms, Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith acknowledged there were “a lot of mistakes made” during the storm, which by some estimates dropped 20 inches of snow in the city from Dec. 26 to 27. He said the city would revamp its emergency procedures.
“We owe you and all New Yorkers for that lack of performance our administration’s apology and my personal promise not to let it happen again,” Mr. Goldsmith said, announcing a 15-point plan of action.
For an administration not accustomed to issuing apologies, it was a stunning few hours of atonement. Officials acknowledged that the mayor had not been kept informed at crucial moments, that the city had failed to obtain an adequate supply of snowplows from private contractors, and that information to the public was often confusing.
Mr. Goldsmith, a former mayor of Indianapolis who is in charge of city operations, offered a significant concession when he said the city should have declared a state of emergency as the storm grew more ominous, which would have given officials more authority to clear parked cars from streets.
Mr. Bloomberg had previously said that declaring a snow emergency would only have created more confusion, since residents would have been required to move their cars from some 300 major streets. But Mr. Goldsmith said the administration had come to believe it would have resulted in a better-coordinated effort and might have caused the public to be more vigilant.
Mr. Goldsmith acknowledged that the decision not to declare an emergency was made by two lower-level officials — the heads of the Sanitation and Transportation Departments — and that Mr. Bloomberg was not informed. “It never arrived at my doorstep, or the mayor’s doorstep,” he said.
Mr. Goldsmith said a common theme to the problems was a failure to share information. He took responsibility for not keeping Mr. Bloomberg sufficiently apprised of the cleanup effort. The mayor has declined to say where he was on Christmas Day when the storm approached.
As the response lagged, the mayor “did not have the information he deserved,” and the reports he got via e-mail and phone were “fragmented” and did not offer a “true picture of the situation,” Mr. Goldsmith said.
The mayor was criticized for initially playing down the severity of the storm. He told New Yorkers to go on with their lives, at one point suggesting they see a Broadway show.
Under the plan announced Monday, the Bloomberg administration will rewrite the protocol for declaring emergencies to require debate at higher levels. Other changes include installing a GPS device on every sanitation truck, sending teams to provide live video feeds during storms, and creating a Web site to provide real-time weather updates.
The city may get an opportunity to use its changes as soon as Tuesday night, when another storm is expected to bring 6 to 12 inches of snow.
Mr. Goldsmith said that the city had been caught in a highly difficult situation. He said the blizzard’s strength did not become clear until 18 hours before the storm, and that more vehicles were on the roads because of the Christmas holiday.
Still, he said the city could have done more to recruit private contractors in the plowing effort and deploy more city workers for shoveling. He said it was difficult to find day laborers because of a complex registration process that does not guarantee pay for 6 to 12 weeks.
The Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, faulted administration officials for taking too long to begin the response. City officials acknowledged that they had convened an emergency panel of city agencies only an hour before the storm was scheduled to peak on Dec. 26.
“I’m not an emergency expert, but an hour seems to me not enough time to get everybody there and fully focused,” she said.
For all the anger that erupted in the aftermath of the storm, the hearing, which was held at the Emigrant Savings Bank on Chambers Street, the Council’s temporary home while City Hall is being renovated, was remarkably tranquil.
But in one of the more dramatic moments, Councilwoman Letitia James of Brooklyn lifted a set of steel tire chains into the air and accused city officials of employing a cheaper type that she said was prone to break in severe weather. (The administration disputed her claims.)
The most visible ire came from lawmakers representing boroughs outside Manhattan. Councilman David G. Greenfield of Brooklyn complained of inequity and said a dozen plows in his district had sat idle because of insufficient staffing.
In response, city officials said that while snow was easier to plow in Manhattan, they had made a special effort to aid other boroughs when it became clear the storm had hit harder there.
At one point, Councilman Charles Barron of Brooklyn stood up from his seat and called for an investigation into the actions of Mr. Goldsmith and Mr. Bloomberg. Mr. Barron said the city had not done enough to assist poorer neighborhoods.
“They cleaned the bike lanes in Manhattan before they got to Brooklyn,” he said.
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