Albany clears snow; Ualbany’s Bubble falls
City issues at least 123 tickets to cars blocking crews clearing streets
The city was deep into the second day of a snow emergency Saturday, digging out of record snowfall of 25.2 inches while the University at Albany was dealing with the collapse of The Bubble, its inflatable athletic facility.
As Albany plowed, communities around the Capital Region were continuing to remove snow and in some cases completed their work or were well on the way to being done.
“We’re making progress around the city. Illegally parked vehicles are a big hindrance,” said David Galin, chief of staff to Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
The city administration and police department have sent out a barrage of emails, text messages and alerts to remind everyone to follow the emergency parking regulations. Vehicles, many still snow-covered, remained in the way, delaying snow removal operations.
The city had issued 123 tickets by Saturday afternoon to cars blocking crews, authorities said. The city continued to urge residents to move their vehicles to overflow parking lots and garages to avoid being ticketed and to make it easier for crews to work until the snow emergency ends at 8 a.m. Sunday.
At Ualbany, the 35,000square foot Bubble fell under the weight of the snow, university officials confirmed. The deflation occurred at 8:25 p.m. Thursday and was captured by multiple university security cameras. It was apparently the second time that snow overpowered the building.
The school will obtain estimates about restoring and restoring the structure, said UALbany spokesman Jordan CarleoEvangelist. It serves as a second practice location for sports such as football and lacrosse, an indoor practice location for Ualbany Club Sports and it has four indoor tennis courts, a throwing cage and pole vault pit.
The Bubble fell down on Dec. 18, 1986, not long after it opened the previous April, from a heavy snowfall. A 40-foot-long slice opened up from the snow’s weight in the heavyweight synthetic fabric known as Tedlar that formed the structure. It was repaired and reopened the next year.
The city of Watervliet said it had completed its snow removal Saturday evening. The village of Green Island completed snow removal Friday and welcomed Santa Claus Saturday afternoon to drive through its cleared streets.
The National Weather Ser
vice at Albany is forecasting light snow showers with less than half an inch falling in the Capital Region, a half to one inch in the Catskills and one to three inches in the Adirondacks, said Meteorologist Mike
Main.
“Nothing like we experienced a few days ago,” Main said.
The high temperatures Sunday will hover around freezing before dropping into the upper 20s Sunday night.