MESSAGE
| DATE | 2010-12-28 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Mayor Turns a blind Eye to Brooklyn
|
On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 10:02:47AM -0500, Michael L Richardson wrote:
> Can Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island succeed from New York City,
> and New York State?
Its actually a constitutional issue to succeed from the State. The one
exception was West Virginia
>
> On 12/28/2010 9:42 AM, phantom21-at-mindspring.com wrote:
> >The blind eye wasn't just for Brooklyn. Most streets here in Queens (at least here in Ridgewood) haven't seen one touch of a plow, and there are drifts 3 feet high.
> >
> >Mark
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >>From: Ruben Safir
> >>Sent: Dec 28, 2010 2:12 AM
> >>To: hangout-at-nylxs.com
> >>Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Mayor Turns a blind Eye to Brooklyn
> >>
> >>~
> >>Snow job! Brooklyn pols blast lackluster storm response
> >>Brooklyn pols blast city for lackluster storm response
> >>
> >>By Gary Buiso
> >>Monday, December 27, 2010 11:09 PM EST
> >>Comment (No comments posted.) Email To a Friend
> >>
> >>Brooklyn received a one-two punch on Monday ??? first when Mother
> >>Nature pummeled us with the sixth-largest snowstorm ever, then when City
> >>Hall didn???t do enough to clear the streets of the most-important
> >>borough.
> >>
> >>The blizzard that dumped two feet of snow ended in the wee hours on
> >>Monday, but hundreds of streets throughout Brooklyn remained untouched
> >>by city plows all day, stranding and endangering residents, and
> >>infuriating critics.
> >>
> >>And elevated subway tracks ??? common in Brooklyn, though virtually
> >>unheard of in Manhattan ??? were rendered impassable all day long
> >>(though limited service on the F line was restored by 10:30 pm and was
> >>expected to be available for Tuesday???s rush hour).
> >>
> >>???This isn???t the worst storm we???ve ever had, but it seems to
> >>be the worst response to any major storm in recent memory,??? said
> >>Councilman Steve Levin (D???Williamsburg).
> >>
> >>Indeed, much of Brooklyn remained inaccessible by public or private
> >>transportation. Major arteries, such as Nassau Avenue in Greenpoint and
> >>Fourth Avenue in Park Slope were impassable.
> >>
> >>And Southern Brooklyn was no better off.
> >>
> >>???Here, in the ???outer-boroughs,??? we are used to being the
> >>step-children of Manhattan and waiting for available plows, but there
> >>are major streets in my district that haven???t see a plow at
> >>all,??? Councilman David Greenfield (D???Midwood) said around
> >>midday. ???I???ve never seen such a wholesale failure of government
> >>to provide basic services.???
> >>
> >>Borough President Markowitz agreed. ???I would doubt the Upper East
> >>Side is like this. Or the Upper West Side for that matter,??? he said.
> >>
> >>???Something happened in this snowstorm that we got behind the curve.
> >>Something came up short, and Brooklyn ??? took the brunt of it.???
> >>
> >>But Sanitation officials saw things differently.
> >>
> >>ADVERTISEMENT
> >>???There is no difference for any borough,??? said agency spokesman
> >>Keith Mellis. ???It???s the same plan we use for the entire
> >>city.???
> >>
> >>The city insisted that the culprit was simply the storm???s ferocity,
> >>though abandoned cars at a variety of intersections didn???t help the
> >>clean-up effort.
> >>
> >>At the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 21st Street in the South Slope,
> >>for example, a traffic jam of abandoned cars imprisoned a plow,
> >>rendering the vehicle impotent.
> >>
> >>The same scene played out down in Midwood, on Avenue N and East 13th
> >>Street.
> >>
> >>???I don???t want to hit the parked cars,??? a Sanitation worker
> >>told our photographer on a side street, explaining why he didn???t
> >>risk moving down the narrow road.
> >>
> >>The agency said it assembled 365 salt spreaders, 1,700 plows and 2,000
> >>workers to clean up the mess. Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg didn???t
> >>exactly feel the borough???s pain, saying at a Monday news conference
> >>that ???the world has not come to an end.???
> >>
> >>???The city???s going on,??? he added. ???Many people are taking
> >>the day off. Most stores are open. There???s no reason for anyone to
> >>panic.???
> >>
> >>At press time, no weather-related deaths have been reported. The roof of
> >>a parking garage on Second Street in Park Slope collapsed because of the
> >>snow, shutting down Fourth Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to Eighth Street.
> >>
> >>And things weren???t all bad. At least not for WR Hardware on
> >>Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, where White Monday became Black Friday.
> >>
> >>???People were lined up in front of the door this morning,??? said
> >>manager Martin G, whose hottest sellers were ice choppers, shovels,
> >>window-washing fluid and salt. A snowstorm ???always helps,??? he
> >>added.
> >>
> >>And in Gowanus, fresh air was a welcome respite from the familiar, fetid
> >>odor arising from the polluted Gowanus Canal.
> >>
> >>???This is one of those rare occasions that you can???t smell the
> >>stink,??? said President Street resident Linda Mariano.
> >>
> >>Brooklyn???s business hub ??? the Metrotech complex, which includes
> >>the Community Newspaper Group Building ??? was all but abandoned, save
> >>for a handful of hurried pedestrians, and a small boy with plastic bags
> >>strangely tied over his winter boots, frolicking in a massive snowdrift.
> >>
> >>Train service was suspended in much of southern Brooklyn, trapping the
> >>area in a snowy isolation.
> >>
> >>???We haven???t been plowed and we can???t get out,??? said
> >>Edith Storch, a resident of Sea Gate, a private community near Coney
> >>Island, that is without public transportation altogether. ???I
> >>don???t see my way out of here. We were praying we don???t need
> >>medical care.???
> >>
> >>Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker said the storm scuttled the
> >>agency???s pre-blizzard preparations, which included moving trains
> >>from outdoor yards to enclosed areas.
> >>???It just overwhelmed our equipment,??? she said. Ice on the
> >>electrified rail stalled trains, some as long as seven hours. ???We
> >>had snow blowers, but at some point during a blizzard, it just blows
> >>right back.???
> >>
> >>Suspended train service meant a rare day of silence for those living
> >>adjacent to the elevated tracks.
> >>
> >>???It???s very quiet here today,??? said Barbara Donnelly, who has
> >>lived on E. 15th Street and Avenue P, near the Q and B trains, for the
> >>past 55 years. ???It seems strange without them.???
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
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