Open Thread Wednesday

Funny how the sidewalks with snow and ice covering them today are the same ones that usually have the most litter on them (looking at you certain houses across from St. Charles Borromeo church).

Anybody know the rules & regs about properties that are unoccupied – either “for rent” or with ongoing construction? I would have thought that shoveling requirements still attached to the property owner, but could I be wrong?

And WHY – one can argue about its fairness – when the City relies on parking tickets for quite a bit of revenue – it’s highly labor-intensive, so there are enormous costs; it must raise (net) hundreds of millions – do they not redeploy that personnel to ticket property owner offenders after storms. They CLAIM that enforcing parking is good for commerce – circulation and cleaning – but chronic bad “snow actors” should get spanked! (I’m sure readers here could say “XX Fruit Street NEVER EVER has been shoveled.”)

Calling the BHA! How ’bout a “10 worst” list? and how ’bout working the other end by promulgating a list of shovelers – be they kids or teens or people down on their luck or improvement districts or non-profits!

Even the BHB could help if it could somehow provide names and textable numbers in advance of any big winter storm! (And post-storm, lots of cars on the streets would pay $25 per to get unblocked!)

Thanks. I know you to be a man of strong opinions…. Any ideas as to how better “compliance” with the law might become a reality?

I suspect we’ll have fewer “big storms,” but just as one can drown in an inch or 2 of water, an inch or 2’s snowfall can result in quite a few broken bones.

I don’t know whether Mr. Scales’ ankle injury stems from a snow-related incident, but it’s a reminder that in one of the grayer neighborhoods in the City – just a guess, I admit – this “quality of life” issue deserves something more than benign neglect.

The only recourse one has, is to report a uncleared sidewalk to 311. Here are the rules:
https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01397

Yes to Court Street in Cobble Hill after losing the location on Montague Street due to the rent increase