CITY OF NEW HAVEN
A heat map of Thursday’s ticketing.
The city stands to gain $22,800 in ticket money after tagging 228 parking ban violaters during the “bomb cyclone” storm that moved through the area Thursday. Now, it’s all hands on deck as the city tries to clean up the mess left behind and tackle new challenges from days of sub-freezing temperatures.
Meanwhile, New Haven Harbor got so icy that the fire department’s Marine One water rescue vessel is stranded. Calls will be referred to the Coast Guard.
Officials offered that update Friday during a public briefing in the Emergency Operations Center at 200 Orange St. about the winter storm that dropped 14 inches of snow on the Elm City.
Click on the above Facebook Live video to watch the briefing.
City Transportation Chief Doug Hausladen said that nearly 150 cars were towed for being in the wrong place. But his department saw a lot more compliance with a citywide parking ban downtown and on Farren and Grand Avenues than during past storms, he said. At least two of the 228 tickets given out during the storm have been paid already. The last car ticketed was at 5:26 a.m. Friday.
The citywide parking ban —on all downtown streets, along emergency routes, and on the odd side of residential sreets — will remain in place until 5 p.m. Friday. Once the ban is lifted, people need to move their cars out of city parking garages and school parking lots at that time so clean up can begin. Hausladen cautioned the public to remain vigilant for isolated parking bans and look for posted warnings.
Hausladen shouted out CTTransit for keeping regular bus service going in the city until about 1 a.m. Friday. Buses were up and running regular schedules on Friday starting at about 5:45 a.m. He also noted that Union Station remained open during the storm and only one shoreline east train was late.
“There was not a speck of snow on the sidewalk,” he said.
“We’re going to be in clean-up mode through the weekend,” said city emergency operations Director Rick Fontana. “The big issue is going to be frigid temperature.”
Fontana said the forecast doesn’t call for temperatures to be out of the zero range until Sunday afternoon. High winds are expected to make temperatures feel like ‑10 and — 15 degrees. The focus will be on keeping vulnerable populations like the homeless safe and warm. (Click here for snow and extreme cold tips.)
Other information shared at the briefing included:
• The city’s public libraries are open for business Friday. So are all the shelters. The warming center at 281 Columbus Ave. still has vacancies for people who need to get out of the cold this weekend, according to Deputy Community Services Administrator Sheila Carmon. The city’s health clinics are also open.
• The city’s senior centers remained closed, according to city Elderly Services Director Migdalia Castro.The city is coordinating help for seniors who need snow removal. They can call Interfaith Volunteer Services 203 – 435-0902 or Castro’s department at 203 – 946-7854 for assistance. The city’s Livable City Initiative reported that there was no power outages in the city and no major issues.
• Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said fire personnel cleared and inspected 319 fire hydrants. He thanked the public for its help with keeping hydrants clear.
• Parks Director Rebecca Bombero said there was one tree incident during Thursday’s storm. A tree fell, partially blocking Springside Avenue near Common Ground High School at about 5 p.m. Asplundh, a private contractor, and the department’s heavy clean-up crew made quick work of it, she said.
• Department of Public Works Director Jeff Pescosolido said his personnel will be working all weekend to clear out. Driveways will be plowed in as plow operators try to get snow from the street as close to the curbside as possible. With that said, his staff is trying to work with residents so they can get out but they’ll need to be patient.
Snow Notes: