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 09:42:10AM -0500, 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.
>
I feel your pain, Mark. I really do.
> 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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