FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com JANUARY 28, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 3 BLIZZARD 2016 MIDDLE VILLAGE SNOW DIARY: Residents dig out where plows have ‘forgotten’ By Robert Pozarycki rpozarycki@qns.com/@robbpoz Traffic moved briskly the day after the Blizzard of 2016 on Metropolitan Avenue and 80th Street — two of the main roadways through Middle Village. But one only had to turn a few blocks down to find residential side streets that were, as of 4 p.m. on Jan. 24, completely impassible — and seemingly untouched by a plow or salt spreader. Walking down 79th Place by Juniper Valley Road, adjacent to St. Margaret Church, parked cars were encased in mountains of snow. The drivers that had to dig them out, however, weren’t able to get far — as the street itself had about a foot of snow covering the pavement. Neighbors young and old labored to at least dig their vehicles out. One resident told this paper they had not seen a snow plow on that block since 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 23. PlowNYC, the city’s official map tracking the movement of Sanitation Department plows and salt-spreaders, indicated the street was last plowed at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 24. Two blocks to the west, on 78th Street between Juniper Valley and 66th Roads, a group of people worked to free a yellow cab that became stuck in the snow-covered street at about 3 p.m. Two vehicles were behind the stuck taxi, and their occupants got out to assist neighbors in shoveling the snow away and eventually pushing the taxi forward. According to PlowNYC, a plow visited the block a half-hour later. But just around the corner, 66th Road between 77th and 78th Streets was a winter wonderland. The street looked almost untouched since Jan. 22, covered in lumpy, footstep-laden snow perhaps a foot high. Without a car or a snow plow in sight, some youngsters took advantage of the soft, snowy street by playing a game of touch football. Nearby, a woman labored, shovel in hand, to clear snow off of and away from her car. “This is the forgotten street,” she said, noting that a Sanitation truck attempted to come down the block from 79th Street earlier that morning but didn’t go any further than half the block. PlowNYC indicated 66th Road was last visited by a plow at 7:32 a.m. on Jan. 24. Just to the south of Metropolitan Avenue, the block of 67th Road between 78th and 79th streets — where FDNY Engine Company 319 is located — was relatively clear of snow. Around the corner on 78th Street, however, vehicles spun their wheels heading down the snowy roadway and neighbors dug deep to free their cars. Across the neighborhood, some residents that we spoke with were hesitant to cast blame for the situation. But everyone had a wish: that the plows would come to quickly clear the streets and bring things back to normal. DSNY bulks up efforts to clean up Queens after historic snowfall By Anthon y Giu dice agiudice@qns.com @A_GiudiceReport As Queens continued to dig out Tuesday after being blasted with more than 30 inches of snow in some areas, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) increased its efforts to unbury the “World’s Borough.” Since the end of the storm, DSNY announced on Jan. 26 that it has plowed up to 97 percent of streets, with all primary and secondary streets getting plowed at least once. “Only some tertiary streets remain impassable, and DSNY has been focusing plows to those streets in Queens,” a DSNY spokesperson said. “DSNY is also revisiting some secondary areas where snow has been dumped back into the streets.” According to DSNY, as of Jan. 26, they plowed 96 percent of the routes in Queens since the end of the blizzard, a 26 percent increase since 8:30 p.m. Sunday night. “There has been a significant increase on tertiary and smaller routes since Jan. 24, 34 percent on all citywide routes, including a 43 percent increase in Queens, 65 percent increase in Staten Island, and a 42 percent increase in the Bronx,” DSNY said. The Sanitation Department diverted several front-end loaders from other boroughs and hired private contractors to assist in the digging, piling and hauling of snow to melters. As of Jan. 26, DSNY workers remained on two 12-hour shifts, with 2,300 workers per shift. DSNY was hiring snow laborers to assist with continued cleanup, and 920 snow laborers had already been hired. For more information on how to become a snow laborer, visit nyc.gov/snowlabor. THE COURIER/Photos by Robert Pozarycki Many inches of snow still covered 66th Road off 78th Street in Middle Village on Jan. 24. A plow travels down 80th Street in Middle Village.
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