Snowpacalypse Now in Brooklyn Heights

By on December 20, 2009 3:38 pm in Brooklyn Heights


Ok, so the blizzard was a pretty gentle hippie as these things go – and it seems like many more people than usual are shoveling their sidewalks here in the neighborhood. We took a jaunt this morning, checked out the sledding action at the Hillside Dog Park and a few other street scenes.

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  • liam

    walked up montague street a couple of times today
    and the merchants did a pretty good job of clearing the sidewalks but it seeems that the ann taylor loft continues
    to think that all they have to do is shovel out a small square around their door!
    the rest of the sidewalk around their store is now packed down and slippery!
    they seem to be serial offenders
    i hope the city gets on their butt this year

  • Jorale-man

    it was a nice surprise to see Perelandra Natural Foods on Remsen being the first business in my area to have its sidewalk completely cleared early in the morning. Usually a mess congregates around their business with rotting fruit vegetables strewn across the sidewalk and their food containers blowing up and down the street. Good to see this!

  • bklyn20

    I spoke with the AT Loft store manager about 6 pm tonight. She mentioned they had put down salt — which only serves to melt the first snow, which subsequently freezes as…ice.

    The manager was polite, but I am uncertain that they will do anything! To be fair, the Kids’ Club should also shovel, since they have the upstairs space in the building.

    FYI, I plan on calling the following # tomorrow for Ann Taylor Loft Corporate:

    (212) 541-3300/(800) 347-5266. Not sure if these are the exactly correct numbers, but I’m giving it a try!

    NY Kids’ Club Brooklyn #: (718) 228-0800
    NY Kids’ Club Founder is Pam Wolf. Her media contact #: (212) 721-4100.

  • liam

    hopefully you shook them up
    but they never shoveled last year even after i spoke to them!

  • bklyn20

    I cited my 81 yr old mother-in-law to the store manager. My m-i-l’s only serious health problem is osteoporosis. She walks all over the neighborhood. Were she to fall on the sidewalk, she’d probably break a hip. That would mean the end of her independence…and present signifiant diffculties for my also- healthy 80 yr old father-in-law. I’m sure there are many seniors in Bklyn Hts who are just one bad fall away from this…why can’t 2 businesses full of healthy 20- and 30-somethings shovel the ^&%$ snow?

  • liam

    from th deppt of sanitations web site:

    Snow and Ice Removal
    Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant, or other person having charge of any lot
    or building must clean snow and/or ice from the sidewalk within 4 hours after the
    snow has stopped falling, or by 11:00 AM if the snow has stopped falling after
    9:00 PM the previous evening. Snow may NOT be thrown into the street.
    If the snow or ice becomes frozen so hard that it cannot be removed, the
    sidewalk may be strewn with ashes, sand, sawdust, or similar suitable material
    within the same time limits. The sidewalk must be thoroughly cleaned as soon
    as the weather permits.
    §16-123 FINE: $100-$150 – 1st Offense
    $150-$350 – 2nd Offense
    $250-$350 – 3rd & Subsequent Offenses

    I suggest everyone call 311 tomorrow and file a complaint!

  • AEB

    Well and good, liam. But my building is without a super. Guess who was shoveling snow off of the entryway steps this AM?

    Unfortunately, the sidewalk in front of my building’s now vacant store remains snow-covered. Formerly, the store manager did the job. But now…..

  • John Wentling

    Love the video, some things never change – except perhaps the sense of adventure, we woulda be sledding down “Squibb Hill” before they got a chance to clear it.

  • bklyn20

    AEB, it’s unfortunate that your store is empty, but the snow must still be shoveled all the same. As a point of comparison, I live in a 3 family co-op. One owner rents out his apartment (to a very lovely person who is out of town right now.) In the time I’ve lived here, only 2 of the 4 renters over 9 years have helped shovel — and we don’t literally ask them, since they are not owners. The actual owner, while generally a decent guy, is a de facto absentee landlord who lives far away and is never available for any snow shoveling, not to mention any other building work or repairs. Should I then shovel only 1/3 of the time, rather than 1/2 the time? I have a 50-50 arrangement we have with our very nice (owner) neighbors. If we don’t keep up with the snow, someone can fall and get hurt, soomeone can sue us… and we want to be good neighbors to our neighbors. So I think the same goes for you.

  • bornhere

    “Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant, or other person having charge of any lot or building must clean snow and/or ice from the … .” This could be more confusing than I thought: I would think that a building owner, whether on- or off-site, is required to arrange for snow removal; if a building is a multiple-occupancy coop or other residence, the DOS wording almost makes it sound like there should be some free-for-all in which everyone takes to the sidewalk with a shovel. AEB: isn’t the building owner responsible for designating someone to deal with snow, and bklyn20, isn’t there someone who is paid to deal with snow or other building have-to’s? I understand that yours is only a 3-unit coop, but do you all do your own routine maintenance (garbage, cleaning, lighting, etc)?

  • bklyn20

    Liam, thanks for being so on top of this, and I’m glad I checked the blog one last time before getting out of the house! We do have a great guy, Greg Pappas (I have his # if anyone needs it) who takes care of the garbage 3x/week, sweeps the front yard from time to time, and does shovel after most snowstorms. We pay him a reasonable rate and he gives excellent service…

    but a near-blizzard like this one necessitates shoveling every 3 or 4 hours until the snow stops falling, or at least until late at night when people aren’t walking around. As far as repairs go — someone from the building who knows the plumbing and heating systems, etc, really needs to be there when repair people come. Actually, I am certain I could trust Mr. Pappas to stay in my apt in case we have any new/unknown repair people coming in. We also have a couple of big dogs, so they have to be manged and I really don’t want to lock them in the bedroom all day long! So things here can get complicated, but we do have low maintenance charges!

  • bklyn20

    The dogs must be MANAGED — no mange here.

  • AEB

    bklyn 20, sorry if my post wasn’t clear: I’m a tenant in the building in which I live, not the landlord.

    So, yes, I volunteered myself to clear the step, though–because I neither own nor have access to a shovel–didn’t take on the more ambitious project of removing snow from in front of the store, or at the building’s side.

    (I used a simple broom to clear the snoww rom the steps–worked quite well, actually.)

  • AEB

    PS, as of today, the remaining snow has been cleared, undoubtedly by the fellow the landlord has hired to handle garbage for pick-up.

    So there’s no safety problem whatsoever.

  • bklyn20

    I’m feling the thrill of moral victory at the moment … I went by AT Loft/Kids’ Club at 4 pm today and both sides of the building/corner were throroughly shoveled. Thanks to all of those who spoke to the stores, called the corporate offices, whatever you did — it worked. Let’s hope it works for the next snowstorm.

    AEB, it’s very good of you to shovel the snow. I hope you can get a few bucks off your rent for each snowstorm.(Now, you landlord readers, please don’t kill my buzz.)