Thomas MacMillan Photo
A snowy West Rock presides over Westville Center.
Mayor John DeStefano appealed for the public’s patience and cooperation as the city scurries to clear streets of more than a foot of new snow in what’s already been the snowiest month on record. Meanwhile, one alderman offered a critique of what he called a chaotic cleanup.
The mayor announced at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of 200 Orange St. that the city aims to have plowed all streets at least once by 7 p.m.
DeStefano said everyone needs to work together to help the city clean up.
“Let’s just be patient and take it easy with one another right now,” he said.
“Look, a lot of snow fell in a very brief period of time, and a lot of snow has fallen over the last week,” DeStefano remarked. “I just think that an expectation that it all gets removed in a couple of hours is impractical.”
DeStefano said there have been no cases where the snow prevented the city from making an emergency call for service.
He urged people to stay at home as the city’s 50 vehicles dig out from 13 1/2 inches of snow that dumped on New Haven overnight. He warned that cars will be towed off city streets if they are found on downtown streets or posted emergency routes.
“You will be towed if you park downtown,” DeStefano warned. He spoke wearing a Syracuse hooded sweatshirt. Like many city officials, he rose early to man the emergency center as the city reeled from the storm. The city is keeping the phone lines open at 203 – 946-8221 for anyone who needs help in the storm.
Melissa Bailey Photo
The phone lines didn’t stop ringing at the Emergency Operation Center, 10:30 a.m.
Mid-morning, the phones kept ringing, and a host of public safety officials and mayoral staffers were there to pick them up.
As the mayor spoke, the city was sending a police squad car down Orange Street with a megaphone to warn East Rockers that they would be enforcing a citywide ban on parking on the odd side of the street.
Residents will get 12 hours notice before the city tows, according to Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts. That means cars need to be moved by 7 p.m. tonight. The city’s tow-and-plow team is targeting Orange Street first because it is a main arterial road that emergency vehicles need to get through, Smuts said. Opening up spots on Orange Street will leave room for people on narrow side streets to park there, he reasoned.
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Charles Nystrom stands in the clearing left by his girlfriend’s shoveled-out car on West Rock Avenue.
Smuts said while snow proves problematic around town, East Rock has the most cars packed densely on residential streets, Smuts said. After clearing Orange Street, the crews plan to hit Willow Street, which is a posted emergency route, Smuts said.
The mayor urged residents to get their cars off the streets and onto a number of free parking lots around the city. Click here for a list of emergency routes and places you can park.
Tharetha Green was among a group of neighbors working to dig out Hubinger Street.
Drivers whose cars are towed will be charged a $88 towing fee, plus a possible $100 ticket if the car was parked in an emergency route.
Garbage pickup scheduled for Thursday will be postponed until Friday, and Friday pickup will take place Saturday.
The heavy snow left many drivers stranded in the street, unable to move their cars.
Overnight, the city got 77 reports of vehicles that had been abandoned in the street after getting stuck. As of 10 a.m., that number had fallen to the 20s, DeStefano said.
Melissa Bailey Photo
Whitney Avenue narrowed into two lanes for cars — and one lane for pedestrians who gave up wading through the snowy sidewalks.
This storm proved especially difficult because there were still snowbanks piled high from prior storms. Because of the large amount of snow, the city dispatched inspectors to check out buildings that may be in risk of collapse. City building chief Andy Rizzo said he made the rounds through old factory buildings and modern buildings with canopies, looking for snow piled high on flat roofs. He said he found one building of particular concern — a Mobil station at State and Humphrey streets, where snow piled high on a canopy over the gas pumps.
He said the city marked off the area with caution tape.
By the time the city is done cleaning up all this snow, “we’re going to fully exhaust our snow budget,” said the mayor. The city budgeted $485,000 in overtime costs for the Department of Public Works; that amount will be depleted by the time crews clean up from this storm, Smuts said.
Alderman Matt Smith, who was positioned outside the press conference, issued a critique of the city’s cleanup.
“While I do think DPW is doing the best they can, they simply lack the resources to keep up with snowfalls that measure in feet, rather than inches and fall within a week of each other,” Smith said. He called on the mayor to add to the city’s fleet by leasing more payloaders to send into neighborhoods, as well as to seek extra financial support from the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Lawrence Street at Whitney, 9:40 a.m. Thursday.
Relayed those suggestions, the mayor replied that the state is already getting FEMA money for the snow cleanup, and that the city already has contractors that use payloaders to cart away the snow.
In order to qualify for a FEMA reimbursement, the city has to exceed a spending threshold, city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said. “We will likely meet the number and submit for the last big storm and this one.”
Alderman Smith (pictured) remained frustrated and concerned. He said just Thursday morning, he saw a fire truck, with sirens on, trying to make it through East Rock. It took five minutes to move from Bishop Street to Pearl, he said.
Smith said the city should have done more to prepare for the storm. It should have aggressively towed cars to enforce the odd-side parking ban, he said. And there should be payloaders in neighborhoods to carry away the snow, not just on select streets and downtown.
Smith said he has responded to “hundreds” of emails and calls about snow removal and parking. He accused the administration of a “failure of leadership” in providing clear directions and giving the public confidence through the emergency.
“There’s no visible person at the helm spearheading this,” Smith charged.
The city at 7 a.m. sent an email announcing the city would be towing on Orange Street today. Smith said that was not much time to relay the news to neighbors that they have got to start digging out, or face an $88 tow fee.
“They change the rules in the middle of the game,” Smith protested.
“Snow is an upredictable event,” Smuts later responded. “We have to react on the fly. That’s never going to change.” Smuts said residents should use common sense about when to dig out their cars, especially on emergency routes.
The mayor said residents would be given plenty of warning, through emergency phone calls and through alerts on the city website, before cars are towed.
Thomas MacMillan Photo
With sidewalks snowed over on Whalley Avenue, pedestrians take to the street.
Kelli Bay shovels out her driveway on Edgewood Avenue.
Workers had cleared the diagonal paths through the Green.
Southern student Jesse Paine admires his handiwork on the Green.
Workers clear in front of City Hall and around the Amistad statue.
Workers clear in front of City Hall and around the Amistad statue.
Two parks workers tunnel through the snow around the Green.
pushing for the even/odd day/side thing again.
also, do they know that they should plow the side streets first? no point in plowing the big streets if people can't get to them.
vote 'midwestern' for snow czar.