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Snow Plows Still MIA For Many
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 31, 2010
Modified Dec 31, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 31, 2010
Modified Dec 31, 2010
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Mayor Bloomberg's snow plow vow of getting roads cleared by yesterday at 7 a.m. fell short for more than a few New Yorkers. And he knew it! During his tour of the outer boroughs yesterday, the NY Times reported, "At each stop, Mr. Bloomberg admitted that his administration had failed to respond adequately to the storm that struck on Sunday, and everywhere he went, officials heaped more criticism upon him."
A Borough Park resident, whose stretch of 12th Avenue was still unplowed yesterday afternoon, told the Daily News, "The mayor told me the streets would be plowed this morning. Is the mayor lying, or are my own eyes lying?" Another Borough Park denizen said, "These streets have 8 inches of hard-packed snow on them and they're very dangerous." But a Kensington resident also blamed people who abandoned cars, "This is a city full of idiots." A reader sent us a picture (first image above) and wrote:
I live on Vernon Ave in Bedstuy, right by the corner of Tompkins. This is what my street looks like. As of right now (3:35pm Thursday 12/30) our street still has not gotten plowed once. It is beginning to become passable (and kinda looks plowed) because people have been driving down it anyway packing down the snow, and it's obviously warm outside and melting, but I can guarantee there has not been an actual plow pass through since it began to snow. I have a friend who lives on Jefferson St and Knickerbocker Ave in Bushwick and she is in the same situation. I understand we kinda live in the hood, but come on Bloomberg - it's bad enough I have to take the G train, the least you could do is plow my damn street. Especially bc I had outpatient surgery yesterday and had to walk from Tompkins since the cab wouldn't go down Vernon to drop me in front of my door. Bullshit.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has a site where people can list their complaints about road conditions and he's compiled some of the complaints in a report (PDF). A sampling of constituents woes, which were either sent via web or phoned in:
12/29 Our street was never plowed. No can move out any car because of that.
12/29 None of the neighboring streets from Ocean Parkway to Coney Island Avenue have been plowed at all.
12/29 We have not seen or heard any snow plows in this area since the storm began! Today is day 4 (wednesday) and the failure to plow the streets has created many hardships for local residents.
12/29 Crawford Avenue has not been plowed, nor has the entire service road of Ocean Parkway which is a major thoroughfare. People are stuck all along the service road and are unable to gain access to Ocean Parkway. We have not seen 1 plow truck since the storm started.
12/29 I have a job which I MUST use my car for and since the City has yet to clean the 2 -3 feet of snow on my street …
12/29 "Streets are unplowed, sidewalks have mounds of snow to climb over and the through streets are plowed in from the avenues, as of 8am Wednesday, December 29.
Still no N or Q train service!"
12/29 snow plow has not been seen and the street is piled with snow. this unacceptable.the feb 2010 was much bigger and the snow removal was pretty good back then.
12/29 Hasn't gone to work for two days. Barely made it to work. Doesn't know how she is going to get home. Streets unplowed. Did not see one truck come through her neighborhood. 45 mins waiting for bus. 311 - kept her waiting for 30 mins.
Tagged
blizzageddon
Blizzard
blizzard 2010
snow
snow plow
unplowed
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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