Dealing With The Snow Job

Drifts of two-three foot high snow! Unpaved side streets in the outer boroughs! Yellow-stained snow! Slush that will stain ruin your boots! Suspended subway service and packed train cars! It's the first snow in the city!

The snow that hit the Northeast and parts of the Midwest seems to have subsided, and now the clean up begins. Some reports said that 20 inches fell in the NYC-area, which means a $20 million clean-up bill (it's about $1 million/inch), but it seemed more like 12 inches or so. The Mayor announced the first "State of Emergency" for the city, and the Department of Sanitation did a pretty good job of clearing most roads. Either way, if you weren't shoveling, many were having Central Park snow fun, like countless people did yesterday.

Gothamist is pretty annoyed with the media calling this the "Blizzard of 2005"; January isn't even over yet - this is like tempting Mother Nature to make fools of us! There was a Nor'easter in December, back in 2003, so there's clearly time to work on blizzards. The Daily News wonders if the media made a bigger deal out of the snow than it needed to. Considering how the Jets are out of the playoffs and the only other big local news was happening in Palm Beach, Gothamist thinks it's safe to say yes, the blizzard was a godsend of sorts for local news networks.

Did you know you can make $9/hour shoveling snow for the Department of Sanitation. And here's an oldie but goodie from 2003 - Tim Hall's Snowsteria video. Yes, everything time it snows, it feels like the very first time.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 24, 2005 8:31 AM

Comments [rss]

tien

jamie, i agree that using public transportation should be encouraged, but snow on the streets and the f train not working are separate issues. and how does declaring a state of emergency prevent the use of mass transit? i think the F not working wasn't directly related to the emergency. also, don't you think that clearing the roads for emergency services is a good thing? wouldn't want the ems, fdny, or nypd, taking a subway to respond to an emergency, would we?

the way i read it, people that drive would have felt the impact more:

New York City's declaration means special traffic rules kick into effect. For instance, no standing or parking a vehicle on the city's network of 250 snow emergency streets and routes. Drivers must have skid chains or snow tires on any vehicles using snow emergency streets. Vehicles parked on snow emergency streets must be removed or are subject to ticketing and towing. Use of parking meters on these special streets will be prohibited. Which roads qualify? All arterial streets are snow emergency streets and all limited access expressways and parkways are snow emergency routes. They are identified by red signs with white lettering.

jamie

tien - i'm talking about funding. the suggestion that i don't know there are multiple city agencies seem a bit silly. last time i checked though there was one city budget (and of course funding doesn't just come from the city, but still). the fact that it is possible to get nearly anywhere in this city for $2bucks should be taken advantage of and encouraged. i'm not saying that had the F train been running this morning some guy might have been convinced to sell his car, but it would be nice to reward people for sticking to mass transit during states of emergencies rather than preventing it.

Dan Dickinson

I heard rumblings yesterday that the N was having issues in the elevated portions (read: Queens), but outside the standard people-not-stepping-in problems, the ride was fine.

And Jen, why'd you miss out on the snowball fight?

Justin

The G train hasn't been running in my hood since yesterday. They have bus service. Ick. I walked over to the 7 train instead.

S.D.

Everytime it rains, the F train gets knocked out. Granted this storm is extreme, but the F train runs underground *and* the R, G, and V don't get knocked out. What's going on? They all start from above ground train yards...

tien

jamie, you do realize that there are multiple city departments, no? not that it's an excuse for the MTA, but what can they do when things freeze?

jamie

the fact that the F train is not running is completely unacceptable. the fact that people CAN maneuver around this city via public transportation but CHOOSE to drive does not mean the roads are more important than the trains.