East Village
digs in to dig
out after major
snowstorm
BY DEAN MOSES
Like other New York City
neighborhoods, the East
Village is still digging out
from the major snowstorm that hit
Monday, dumped more than a foot
and a half of snow and continues
to linger with occasional fl urries.
Sose Concepcion works clearing snow
for the second day in a row.
Restaurants, bars, and other
businesses are facing another
hurdle after a year of COVID-19
regulation obstacles—now their
outdoor investments have been
pummeled with ice and sleet.
Wooden structures and outdoor
gazebos were in shambles, while
some awnings collapsed under the
weight of the snow.
Day two of the blizzard proved
to be an uphill battle for some and
for others a moment to help their
neighbors get through the day.
Digging their boot heels into
the slush and ice, residents, workers,
and business owners began
digging out Tuesday just as a
second squall launched its assault.
COVID-19 already altered
the landscape of the East Village
thanks to rapid store closures
and fl eeing renters. The area has
now been transformed once more
thanks to the year’s fi rst major
blizzard. Those who remain are
attempting to work together to
keep each other safe from the
dangers that come with such
heavy snowfall.
Angel Varreto, 55, is a longtime
resident of East 10th Street
between Avenues A and B, who
is trying to keep the camaraderie
between neighbors alive. Varreto
was passing by Denise Brown
whose vehicle was buried in an
abundance of snow, so he grabbed
an ice chopper to help excavate
her car.
“We are neighbors, that’s what
neighbors do. But it is suffocating
with the mask on, it’s like breathing
underwater,” Varreto said as
Elletta sleds down an embankment
in Stuyvesant town.
he breathlessly cut away at the
snow piles.
Varreto says the East Village
has lost its sense of neighborhood
fellowship since its older residents
were forced to move due to rising
rent prices. Still, he tries to instill
the virtue in the area’s newer,
younger occupants.
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES East Villagers sling shovels to their backs and get to work digging out.
“More people need to get
together, there is too much hate
around. Ten years ago we used to
help each other, there used to be
unity. If you didn’t see someone
for a day, you would go knock on
his door and check on him. You
don’t see that anymore, people
just care about phones and the
internet,” Varreto said.
Business owners were also
on the streets, clearing out the
sidewalks in front of their storefronts
in order to make way for
their customers. Pranai Rai is the
manager at La La Laundry Corp.,
located at 180 Avenue B, he spent
Tuesday morning and afternoon
tirelessly shoveling snow outside
the laundromat. On Monday, Rai
was determined to stay open until
5pm, but his plan was derailed
when the MTA announced that it
would be shutting down outdoor
train service by 2pm.
“I can’t drive right now because
there is no parking with all the
snow. I live in Queens so as soon
as the Governor said that the
trains were shutting down, I had
to run to the subway right away. I
made it in time,” Rai said.
Although he didn’t get much
business yesterday, he was determined
to stay open after such a
hard 2020 due to the COVID-19
virus. He shared that he can’t afford
another wasted day.
“The storm really affected us; a
lot of people want to stay indoors.
It is hard work digging here, but
we are trying to make it easier for
the community and for customers.
Besides the storm, COVID really
affected us because a lot of people
moved out of New York. It is really
dead here, probably we are
50% down than regular years,”
Rai said.
These one-two-punches of the
novel coronavirus and the greatest
storm to hit the city since 2016, is
causing businesses great diffi culty
in terms of regaining fi nancial
stability. It is with this in mind
that many throughout Manhattan
are swiftly and vigorously taking
shovel to snow with hopes of digging
themselves a steady path to a
more economically secure future.
For workers like Sose Concepcion
who are employed by companies
to secure the streets from
dangerous conditions, it is hard
work, but it is all about providing
for their families.
“I have been doing this since
yesterday, I got home at nine
o’clock at night. Since the outside
train is not working, I had to
take the bus — I waited an hour,”
Concepcion said.
Concepcion travels to Downtown
Manhattan for work from
the Bronx. After returning this
morning, he found all of yesterday’s
hard work undone thanks
to the continuing deluge.
“I am by myself one person, but
I gotta feed my family,” Concepcion
said as he kept on digging.
With fi nancial security and the
virus on many people’s minds, it’s
easy to forget that these weather
conditions are dangerous for
those trying to salvage their
cars from the snow. Longtime
East Village resident Juan Hota,
an elderly gentleman, spent one
hour desperately trying to remove
ice from his windshield and snow
from around his car.
“It’s just too much,” Hota said,
his hands shaking while attempting
to determine how much longer
he can withstand the strenuous
task.
Eti Muller and her two daughters, Elletta and Gigi, enjoyed the
day for as long as they could withstand the cold.
Schneps Media February 4, 2021 3