Photo by Ernie Fritz at 96th and Broadway.
We’re getting some photos of the storm aftermath and they ain’t pretty. Corners are a slushy-icy mess and people are struggling to get across the street in an upright position.
At several stores, including Talbot’s, Aldo’s and Victoria’s Secret, Naomi Davies wrote in to say that the owners had not cleared the snow, which is their responsibility. The West side of Broadway between 100th and 101st was “a sheet of ice” on Wednesday morning, according to Rabbi Sari Laufer.
But luckily, some stores seemed to be responsive. Naomi wrote to Talbot’s about the ice, pictured above, and they got it cleared within 10 minutes.
Outside PS 452 at 76th and Columbus, the street was also blockaded by snow, “forcing the children to walk around the wall into the street,” according to the tipster who sent in the photo below. She said 311 told her the Department of Sanitation couldn’t clear the area for at least 72 hours after the snow. We reached out to the Department of Education and they said they’ll take care of it on Thursday.
Other streets were also a mess:
Enormous pool of slush, 98th/Bwy pic.twitter.com/3W1EnhWvsr
— Roger C. Schonfeld (@rschon) March 15, 2017
Julia Kite brought another corner to the attention of Councilmember Helen Rosenthal:
Amsterdam east side between 69th and 70th is disgraceful. Reported to 311. pic.twitter.com/ww64Vep3Bg
— Julia Kite-Laidlaw (@juliakite) March 15, 2017
And Rosenthal let 311 know:
Another area in need of plowing reported by a constituent. @nyc311 https://t.co/YmWt9Tokoc
— Helen Rosenthal (@HelenRosenthal) March 15, 2017
As of 6 pm Wed. evening Col. Ave. bike lane at 94th was totally impassable. @westsiderag @nyc311 pic.twitter.com/QfZqJNbOnu
— Ken Coughlin (@kencoughlin) March 16, 2017
The entrance to Riverside Park at 78th Street was also treacherous as of Thursday morning, one tipster tells us.
Report a messy street to 311 here.
with all the vacant store fronts on the UWS who has the responsibility to clean up the sidewalks? The owners of the building I would guess.
Thanks, Obama
Must we?
Yes we can!
Yes, the traffic lanes get plowed for VEHICLES.
Mere pedestrian sidewalks ??? Nahh-hh-hhhh.
Hmmm, attention Community Board 7:
Shouldn’t it be YOUR responsibility to at least MONITOR the safety/pass-ability of our community streets and report messes as pictured above…just 12 blocks from your office!!
Oh, and how about YOU, Council-member Rosenthal ?? Remember, you’ve got an ELECTION coming up.
Well at least they suspended alternate side through the weekend. And frankly I am not sure that is even enough time for folks to dig out — at least up by me, the snow plows basically trapped in parked cars with a 3-foot high wall of snow-ice that cannot be removed without a jackhammer…
I never understood why they suspend alternate side parking. The cars should move out of the way and allow the dept of sanitation to move the snow into big piles on the corners or mid-block.
Then instead of the dozen or so blocked spots on my block, there would be 2 or 3 blocked spots.
I parked a car on the street for over 10 years and after each snow storm I would dig it out IMMEDIATELY afterwards if I was plowed in. I, unlike many people, wouldn’t wait until it turned into a wall of ice. Sometimes you had to do it twice – big deal – especially with a small snowfall like the one this week.
Yeah, sometimes it was hard but we choose to do things like that and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
Get back in touch with us once you’re 70.
I agree with your proposal, though, that there should be NO street parking, and that the city should build multi-story municipal parking garages every 5 blocks, which would self-fund through parking fees.
Were does all the snow that the car owners remove go in order to allow the sanitation trucks the room to maneuver? The sidewalk? The middle of the street? The crosswalk? Moreover, 1.5 hours (alternate side time) is hardly enough time to allow the sanitation department the ability to clear the parking lane from all the leftover mounds of snow. The sanitation department should focus — as they are doing — on clearing corners and fire hydrant zones. Frankly, they should let the parked cars stay put until the snow melts a bit more.
If snow is plowed to corners of the streets than it
makes crossing the streets hazardous. The middle would be safer but I am not sure how this would
ve fone. If cars have alternate side parking , where will they park? It’s a difficult situation in a city like ours but it seems after all of these years the powers that be should have come up with more safe and workable solution re pedestrians safety and something that works for car owners.owners
And now, on to the moon ….
@commentBob – Glad somebody got the reference
Exactly, that is what other cities do. It’s ridiculous to say that ASP is suspended FOR snow removal when suspending it PREVENTS snow removal.
The SW corner of Broadway and 91 Street (the store on Broadway) was not shoveled! And very icy this morning.
That corner is always awful –the NW corner as well. BofA clearly didn’t install a shoveler along with that ATM
Hmmm…and that’s just FOUR blocks from CB7’s office !!
Here’s a great idea, folks:
CALL CB7:
Phone: 212-362-4008
Fax:212-595-9317
OR
E-Mail: office@cb7.org
For EVERY hazardous curb-cut/sidewalk and keep it up till conditions prove.
Do it often!
If they truly are a “COMMUNITY” Board (and not just a rubber-stamp for restaurants’ requests for outdoor tables) they should LOVE to hear from you !
when you get out of subway at 71st street, not cool. but 72nd st side is clear!
How about if those stores located in front of bus stops cleared a path to the street so everyone didn’t have to climb over a hill of ice and stand in the street (which actually annoys the bus drivers because it makes it difficult and dangerous for them to pull over)? And what about those people who are using canes and walkers or pushing strollers and can’t navigate the ice? When I eventually got the crosstown bus to the UES this morning everything from the 60’s through the 90’s was all cleared and salted by 7:30 a.m.!
I understand the sentiment, but I really think it should be up to the MTA to take care of their bus shelters and train stations, not the stores. The MTA, which people pay for, should not be relying on neighborhood kindness for a basic function.
I helped two people that had fallen on treacherous corners yesterday – and this wasn’t even a bad snow fall! My 2 kids and I (3 months pregnant) had to climb over a 3 foot high mountain of ice and cross 4 feet of slush puddle just to get to the 86th st crosstown bus, and don’t get me started on the wall of Ice and slush at the bus stop on the NE corner of 86th and Broadway. A handicapped or elderly person is literally risking their lives. There has to be a better way.
your Newspaper should list of merchants who do not shovel so we can boycott them
*Raising my hand* I’m all for a boycott of stores and owners who do not clear the snow and make it safe for people to get where they need to go!
Also, boycott the vacant lots!
You show me a vacant lot or a construction site, and I’ll show you an unshoveled sidewalk!
The ice and slush problem is a consequence of using salt. The melting and freezing causes the issues.
When I lived in Munich, that gets as much snow as here (if not more), the usage of grit was much more widespread, and worked great. And when the snow melted, it could be brushed up, put back in the bin and used again next time.
Never mind the environmental impact of all that salt, damage to vehicles and pavements/roads. It’s the bad lazy way out to use salt.
Now, how do I get off this high horse?
Here, Stephen, let me give you a hand. But you’re right, you know. I really like that idea…safety and recycling. Bingo!
I complained to 311 about a neighbor’s property having not been cleared of snow. I was told that since the neighbor was not at home to respond to a visit from the police, there was nothing they could do. Property owners are responsible for their property. If they cannot keep the property passable, they should hire someone for the emergency.
NE corner of west end and 85th is a mess. There is a nursery school there.
They’re young. Their bones will heal, quickly and easily.
Sugar & Plum on 78 & Amsterdam did not clear most of their sidewalk
What about the bus stops. The snow plows have left impassable walls. Impossible to climb over. Who is responsible for clearing the bus stops. Making you go out into the street into traffic.
That happens with every snowfall. I’m an older woman with bad knees, so I use a cane and it is extremely rare to find a bus stop that has a spot cleared so people can actually get on the bus. It’s a VERY unsafe situation. I have, many times, had to go to the corner, wade through slush and then walk between the bus and the snow wall to get onto the bus. Very slippery and treacherous, but the city and shop owners don’t seem to care.
Yesterday, Wednesday, shortly after 2:30, the corners at 82nd and West End were absolutely clear, including the corner occupied by a huge public school. No piles of snow or ice on the corners, no slushy puddles, no churned-up sludge in the roadway.
Broadway and 82nd looked like somebody’s idea of a prank. The curb cuts on the NW corner were covered with chunks of ice and snow extending maybe 4 or 5 ft into Broadway, and southward halfway into the 82nd roadway. Crossing Broadway at that point involved lurching into, and then along with, eastbound motor traffic.
Who makes the decisions about how well corners half a block apart get cleaned? I thought maybe the WEA owners cleaned and drained their own corners and then tackled the school corner, but who washed and dried the WEA roadway?
Was over on the UES yesterday and the problem is pretty much universal. Crosswalks , those pedestrian safe zones, and many sidewalks not shoveled.
It’s about time for a list of shame for stores that just don’t bother to clean their sidewalks. I suggest a boycott of stores who care so little for their neighbors and other pedestrians that they ignore an obvious hazard.
As to the streets, the Mayor tells people to walk or use public transport but doesn’t tell the DPW to do anything to clear the corners, cross walks or bus stops so that people can actually do it safely. I guess his national profile won’t be helped by actually following up on city business like clearing snow so people can actually walk!
The city can not even clean up 8 inches of snow anymore. Buildings should be fined for there sidewalks that are un- shoveled or have ice on them.
was anyone else on the M72 bus today? did not come for 45 minutes, and to actually go across town was an hour because of the traffic.
You seriously don’t know how to use the bus app?
Yes, I know how to use a bus app, as does everyone else at my stop. We can see the bus (on the app) coming down WEA and turning on to 72nd and parents taking their kids to school rely on it daily. The last couple of weeks the drivers were not entering the info on time and the app developer said he would contact the MTA about it. After the blizzard the buses were not showing up on the apps, so we had no way of knowing if they were on schedule, or even anywhere nearby. A lot of people had no option but to wait for the bus because switching to the train, as I did, would have left them 10 blocks away from their children’s schools.
I waited for 30 minutes for the 72nd crosstown bus and it never even showed up on my phone app so I gave up and took the train to 86th and took the crosstown there. Those buses were running on time and someone even shoveled a foot-wide space for people to walk through so we didn’t have to climb over the ice. Funny thing was that everyone was still literally shoving to get on first, on a street coated in ice, and parents bringing their kids to school complained that the trip took 20 minutes. People never cease to amaze me.
For those discussing Alternate-side. It is suspended not for drivers to remove snow from their own cars, but because the street cleaning trucks are used for plowing and other purposes. The fact that we have extra days to dig out is just a side benefit.
Bus stops still not clear When will we be able to get on and off the bus ?
The city is like a village without dogs . Nobody respects any rules anymore . The sanitations trucks never clean the corners of the streets . clearly we need a new mayor who knows how to run a city .
The city won’t admit it but a major reason for the delay in snow removal was because every able body.plow,back hoe and dump truck was busy hauling the snow away from 5 th Avenue in the days before the St Patrick Day Parade. I watched it on tv and I did not see one snow flake. Maybe now the mayor can get back to taking care of the rest of the city
They’ve not only admitted it, but also bragged about what a great job the city did using all of their resources to get 5th Ave cleared in time for the parade, and they were praised for this on several news channels.
Lent , for some folk. Yeah, messys : some of sorta slummy Central Harlem & of, Hamilton Heights. UGH, very steep hill; W. 145th St., e.g.. Also, pleease shovel the corner crossings WIDELY ; E.G. a yard wide. Thanks. Already prayed. There are some prayers @ variety of weathers…..