Bus stops throughout the neighborhood were blocked by snow on Wednesday, as plows often push the snow into piles right in the spots where people are supposed to wait.
As Heidi Stubner wrote the snow mounds are “Dangerous when it’s not shoveled. Especially for elderly and handicapped.” She snapped the photos above and below on Broadway between 96th and 97th.
Other stops were also blocked.
This is the M104 bus stop on Broadway and 79th street pic.twitter.com/LWE7eFDKmq
— Kate Hinds (@katehinds) February 3, 2021
This is the bus stop at 67 and CPW, but it could be any bus stop anywhere. Waiting in active traffic for a busbis not something anyone should do, and something I can't do if I have my toddler or infant with me. If you win, prioritize pedestrians and transit! pic.twitter.com/a8ZDU0Dsnr
— Sarah Davis Grover (@bazilli) February 3, 2021
The Department of Transportation tells us that bus stops are the responsibility of the Department of Sanitation, unless they’re bus shelters — in which case they’re controlled by a private company called JC Decaux. That company did not respond to a request for comment, but the Sanitation Department responded:
Your reader is correct that this is a time-intensive process – it cannot begin in earnest until snowfall is over and the streets are made passable for emergency vehicles, but once that ends, we get into it right away. Given that this was a historic snowfall, DSNY had over 300 emergency Snow Laborers out yesterday working specifically on bus stops, crosswalks, and similar spots, and over 350 people doing this job today. We expect to employ a similar number tomorrow until every corner and street is safely passable.
There are a few things people can do to help. First of all, anyone who wants to become one of these Snow Laborers can visit nyc.gov/snow – they get paid $15/hour to start. Secondly, we ask anyone clearing their car or sidewalk not to dump snow back into the street.
Thank you for sharing this – we will continue working and try to get it done right away.
Great opportunity for NYC, MTA, or any other group to start SnowCorps, pre-approving people to shovel every NYC corner and bus stop (and supplying the shovels). Great opportunity for homeless and underemployed, and for anyone not allergic to manual labor.
It looks like at least in all the photos here, the sidewalk itself has been cleared by building staff using equipment owned by the property. It snows so rarely in NYC, I don’t think it’s a big ask to clear a 3′ path to get from the bus stop to the street. It would take an extra 15/30 minutes even if you don’t have a blower.
I know they’re not responsible for city services. Corner buildings do this extra work everytime, with varying results.
I always have wondered if throwing snow back onto the street is the best practice and now the DOS has confirmed that it isn’t. But where is the snow supposed to go?
My question exactly!!
“Secondly, we ask anyone clearing their car or sidewalk not to dump snow back into the street.”
I tried throwing it back into the sky, but that didn’t work out so well. What are the other options?
I don’t park in the street so I have never needed to do this. I’m just curious. “We ask anyone clearing their car or sidewalk not to dump snow back into the street.” Where does one dump the snow when shoveling out their car? Surely not on the sidewalk, nor on the car parked in front of you. What other option is there?
Big fan of this. I hope the city is able to get the word out. I’d imagine there are a ton of people that can benefit from this.
Over the past few years/snowfalls, it seems that the City quickly clears bike lanes – but ignores bus stops.
This time however, we did notice bus stops being cleared by Snow Laborers.
So really thankful that the City took action.
Thank you to the Snow Laborers!
Here’s the thing about NYC…
It ain’t the suburbs.
Love how the city sent you response, but JC Decaux did not. Another example of how private companies always fail to live up to their obligations when it isn’t profitable and ignore community concerns.
On the other hand, notice how immaculately clean the roads and paths inside Central Park are compared to those outside. An example of private money being better used than public money.
Private money? Enormous amounts of money. Private or public. More money helps. The type of money it is has zero bearing.
It is not the responsibility of either DOT or Sanitation. It is the responsibility of the building owner to shovel the bus stops and fire hydrants in front of their property.
https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01397
“If you own any lot or building, you must:
Clear snow and ice on your sidewalk to create a path at least 4 feet wide
Clear a path to the crosswalk, including pedestrian ramps (curb cuts), if you own a corner property
Shovel bus stops and fire hydrants in front of your property”
Why can’t you get the homeless living in these luxury hotels out there and clearing passageways to the buses?
Not the only issue, we also have tractor-trailers essentially triple parked reducing Broadway to a single lane AND parked right in front of bus stops. Right in the middle of the day.
I experienced this first hand on Tuesday. Took the bus from 81/Columnus to 79/Broadway with my toddler. Had to climb over a mountain of snow and ice onto columbus to board bus, and had to walk in slush on Broadway (with toddler) to get on sidewalk. Not a safe solution and I am grateful the bus driver waited for me to climb the mountain of snow to board the bus!
Important point: it’s really Snow Moval. Snow Removal is generally only done by the sun.
I noticed Parks Department vehicles removing snow from bus stops heading north along CPW in the 90s this morning (2/4) at about 9 am.
If you dig out a car when the temperature is above freezing, then spreading the snow in the street speeds melting.
And there’s no other place for it to go, unless you want to bury your neighbor’s car…
Traveled from UWS to midtown east today. Took 2 buses there & 2 buses back; all 4 bus stops were disasters w/ snow & ice blocking all. However the worst of the trip involved yet another entitled arrogant bicyclist; when exiting the bus at 50 & Lex toward a snow and ice mountain there was a bike racing along the right side of the bus lane. I screamed-he stopped. Death averted again, at least for today.
“[ … ] we ask anyone clearing their car or sidewalk not to dump snow back into the street.”
Yup, carry it home in your backpack.
Fervently hope the Snow Laborers will pay special attention to the crosswalks at each corner, so folks don’t have to swim or mountain-climb in order to cross the street! A chronic, dangerous problem, especially for older people!!
Why doesn’t the City utilize the services of all of the homeless men and/or women currently residing in our UWS hotels? They can earn wages to pay for their stay & do their civic duty to help fellow NYers!
We were woken up last night around 12:30 am by loud sounds of scraping and beeping. I looked out and saw 3 small plows and 1 big one, followed by a Dept of Sanitation car. The 3 small plows were clearing the bus lane on Broadway between 69th and 70th, and the big plow was plowing what little snow was left in the street. I didn’t exactly appreciate that they had to do it at that hour, but if that’s the way it gets done, I’ll deal with it.
The worst happened today when a bus just passed me by because I was at the select stop, where I could actually get into the street instead of the local bus stop that was inaccessible. They are literally a few yards away from each other.
Was this on the UWS? I encountered the same problem on the UES but the regular bus driver stopped at the select stop and honored the receipt so I didn’t have to pay again. Sometimes you just have to wave them down, not only due to the snow but also because of the outdoor dining and double parking.