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PLEASE SEND SALT


By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Feb 6, 2014

Modified Feb 6, 2014


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By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Feb 6, 2014

Modified Feb 6, 2014


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Hope you enjoyed that impromptu reenactment of Miracle on the sidewalk this morning, because it seems the city's State of Salt Emergency isn't ending anytime soon. Though NYC and Long Island managed to get 2,000 tons of rock salt shipped in yesterday, officials say we're still experiencing an unprecedented rock salt shortage, and the state's looking to turn to alternate means of de-icing while stock supplies run low. See what happens when artists hog all the goods?

With snowstorm after snowstorm beating down on Planet Hothhattan, authorities say they've used 346,112 tons of salt thus far this winter, and though orders are in for more of the good stuff, "even that is somewhat limited because the vendors only have so much, and they can only give you what they have based on the contract they have," sanitation commissioner John J. Doherty told the Times. "It doesn’t happen that often that you run out of salt in a geographical area, as we have in the Northeast." The salt shortage is apparently so bad that the city's main supplier, International Salt, has turned to salt rationing.

And those snow yokels upstate and in New Jersey seem to be suffering even more, with truckloads of salt being rushed to localities that have completely depleted their salt supply. "We're not even halfway through [winter] yet," John Paul Beebe, the police sergeant in Sparta, NJ, told ABC News. "It's been a long winter."

Thankfully there are some heroes here Beyond the Wall. CBS reporter Jessica Schneider was hoarding a supply of rock salt in her news van, which she used to de-ice a few streets in Secaucus after a fan tweeted at her for help. "t’s very hard to find. They have no more salt at Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart—no salt at all," an area resident told the news station.

Other good ways to melt ice (apparently): beet juice, vinegar, baking soda, possibly urine.

Tagged

disaster

SALT

snowstorm

state of emergency


Rebecca Fishbein

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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