Wall Street Journal: In Queens, Some Residents Still Digging Out from Blizzard

This is a Wall Street Journal article in which Senator Jose Peralta was quoted. 

By CORINNE RAMEY and HENRICK KAROLISZYN:

As New York City kept digging out Monday from the second-largest snowfall on record, residents and elected officials in Queens said their borough got short shrift.

Mayor Bill de Blasio applauded sanitation workers for overall storm response at a news conference Monday, but said he wasn’t satisfied with the cleanup in some Queens neighborhoods, including Sunnyside, Woodside, Elmhurst and Corona.

“No one’s saying ‘mission accomplished’ here,” he said. “If I’m living on one of those blocks, I’m upset.”

Of 2,000 pieces of snow-removal equipment being used by the city’s Department of Sanitation, more than 900 were deployed in Queens on Monday and 96% of routes there had been plowed by 11 a.m., officials said. The department has hired 920 people to clear snow and ice from pedestrian areas after storms.

But some Queens officials said they were concerned their borough had been left behind. City Councilman Rory Lancman, who represents parts of eastern Queens, said Monday afternoon that some streets in his district hadn’t been touched by a plow.

“It really is amazing to me that in 2016 the city still hasn’t figured out how to clean Queens streets in an expeditious and efficient manner,” said Mr. Lancman, a Democrat.

Kathryn Garcia, the city’s sanitation commissioner, said the agency was grappling not only with more snow in many areas of Queens but also narrower streets. She said sanitation workers will have to use special equipment to “literally drag” some of the snow off city streets there and haul it away in trucks.

Mr. Lancman, though, compared the Queens situation to the movie “Groundhog Day,” where the same scenario happens after every storm. “There’s nothing mysterious or innovative or new about a snowstorm,” he said.

Clearing snow from Queens has been a problem during past storms as well, said State Sen. Jose Peralta, who represents parts of Queens. “If Queens has been an issue, why not get ahead of the curve?” said Mr. Peralta, a Democrat. “I’m hoping now with all of the outcry and outpouring of constituents that maybe next time they’ll have a better plan.”

Queens Community Board 5, which includes Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, had received 20 complaints of impassable streets by Monday, said Gary Giordano, the board’s district manager. Main arteries and bus routes were largely clear, but smaller residential streets were still buried, he said.

On 70th Street and 66th Drive in Middle Village, the entire block and cul-de-sac was full of unplowed snow on Monday.

“This is ridiculous,” said Bruce Freiss, 59, retired and on disability. “Nobody has come here since the storm. People need to be able to leave their homes and they can’t.”

Sophia Szymanski, 66, and her husband, Witold Szymanski, 78, both retired, had to keep their car in the garage and couldn’t go anywhere because the entire block was shut down with more than 2 feet of snow.

“We are angry,” said Ms. Szymanski. “The only plowing I see is on TV.”

Her husband called 311 yesterday, she said. “Nobody came,” he said. “There’s just no way to get out now.”

The city also faced some criticism for opening schools on Monday, including from Public Advocate Letitia James, who called for a delayed start.