1st snow of ‘17 brings 5 inches, complaints
THE YEAR’S first snowfall dumped five inches of snow in Central Park, followed quickly Saturday by the winter’s first complaints about lousy city road conditions.
The mayor’s office announced a full complement of 2,300 salt spreaders and plows were on the streets as the snow started falling harder Saturday afternoon. “Thank you @NYCSanitation for all your hard work during today’s storm,” tweeted Mayor de Blasio. “Let’s keep them in our thoughts as they continue through the night.”
Snowfall totals varied across the boroughs, with a high of 7.5 inches at Kennedy Airport in Queens, and five inches reported in Central Park and at the Bronx Zoo.
Gusting winds of more than 20 mph also caused close to 300 flight cancellations and more than 200 delays at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Airports.
Though the snow had tailed off to a coating of fine flakes by 8 p.m., drivers around the five boroughs griped about the road conditions earlier in the day.
Driver Fayez Saleh was unhappy with the streets in Manhattan, comparing the roads unfavorably to the winter of 2016.
“Much worse,” he sniped. “Too much slipping.”
Uber driver Lewis Cortez, a veteran of three New York winters, also wasn’t pleased with the slick surfaces after 2017’s first winter storm.
“(Manhattan) is pretty good but the Bronx and other boroughs, it’s worse,” he said.
Residents in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and Union Square in Manhattan vented about a lack of plows — although the PlowNYC website showed the city did a commendable job.
“Just wondering when @BilldeBlasio will decide to plow Queens?” tweeted one local resident Saturday evening. “#forgottenborough.”
The snow disappeared, but the accompanying cold temperatures stayed behind. Overnight temperatures were expected to dip into the teens, with the wind chill dropping into single digits.