FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 22, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
‘Snowvember’ storm paralyzes NYC, infuriates Queens
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Queens and the rest of New York City
came to a halt aft er a few inches of snow
hit the city last Th ursday.
Clogged highways and the delayed public
transportation caused commutes that
would normally take 20 minutes to take
three to six hours in many cases. All week,
weather reports predicted snow for Nov.
15, but it seemed as though elected offi -
cials and city agencies were grossly unprepared
for the snowfall.
According to the National Weather
Service, Queens neighborhoods received
anywhere from 3 to nearly 6 inches of
snow. Areas like Whitestone and Astoria
got 5.4 and 5.7 inches respectively, while
Flushing and Middle Village residents
reportedly saw 3 to 3.2 inches of snow.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the
Department of Sanitation took to social
media Th ursday morning to give updates
about weather conditions and snow
plows, warning commuters to be cautious
in the slippery conditions.
“Heaviest snow will fall between 3 PM
and 6 PM with potentially fast accumulation.
Th e snow will turn into rain in
the evening, so roads will be slippery
throughout rush hour. Please exercise
caution,” wrote de Blasio on Twitter.
Despite the mayor advertising the
PlowNYC website to track snow plow
progress, NYC residents reported that
they had not seen plows or salt spreaders
during their multi-hour commutes.
Th ough weather conditions were fairly
tame, New Yorkers criticized the mayor
and the city for their poor preparation,
which they said exacerbated the situation.
Others posted commute updates on the
road, showing photos of standstill traffi c
and packed train stations.
“Th e City clearly didn’t properly prepare
for tonight’s snowstorm — it’s a
mess,” said Comptroller Scott Stringer
on Twitter. “My offi ce will be following
up with the Department of Sanitation to
demand answers.”
Another Twitter user said: “It started
snowing at 2pm.... I just fi nally saw a
snow plow and salt spreader on the main
thoroughfare by my house in Queens...
it’s now 9:00pm... that’s just way too
slow... sorry... as the looks of it... NYC was
not prepared for this…”
Snow caused trees to fall all over the
city, with Manhattan, Brooklyn and
Photo via Twitter/@NYCSanit
Queens reporting the most fallen trees.
According to Speaker Corey Johnson, a
total of 245 fallen trees were reported in
Queens.
On the morning of Nov. 16, New
Yorkers were faced with train delays and
residual traffi c from last night’s snowfall.
Many schools in the tri-state area had
delayed starts or were closed altogether
but the Department of Education canceled
planned fi eld trips and aft er-school
programs across the fi ve boroughs.
Fallen trees and snow-covered streets made a mess of the Nov. 15 commute
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