March is here, but the winter weather still dumped plenty of snow on the Roslyn area. Snow can be hazardous not only while driving, but also by just walking local streets on residential and commercial areas. As most homeowners know, it’s their responsibility for keeping their property safe for pedestrians.
In the Village of East Hills, village officials are responsible for the sidewalks in front of the Park at East Hills, which sees plenty of visitors even in the winter months. The village does not have sidewalks in its residential neighborhoods, but a local ordinance makes homeowners responsible for removing any obstacles of snow and ice within 24 hours of the cessation of that snowfall. The same is true for local business owners.
The ordinance, village officials said, also extends to sanitation pickup. Village sanitation crew will not pick up garbage unless it is placed on a clear path in front of the homeowners’ residence. This is done, officials said, for the sake of the sanitation worker’s safety. One worker did in fact suffer an injury some years ago while picking up garbage from a slippery area.
In neighboring Roslyn, the situation is much the same. According to a village ordinance, “adjacent property owners” are responsible for clearing the sidewalks in front of either their residences or businesses. Also, as in East Hills, the village is responsible for its property. Clearing village streets is also the village’s responsibility.
Around the village, most sidewalks in commercial areas were clear as of last Friday. On Friday morning, March 6, crews from The Town of North Hempstead were clearing off a stretch of sidewalk near the downtown area on Roslyn Road.
Meanwhile, most businesses saw no decline in traffic.
“Everyone’s complaining about the snow,” said an employee at Shag. “But no one has had any difficulty getting in here.” Like many businesses, responsibility for the maintenance of Shag’s sidewalks come from the landlord, who in this case, had everything clear before the store opened.
Down the street on Old Northern Boulevard, postal workers were preparing for their daily run. The long winter season has not resulted in any injuries to postal workers, even though one worker told of an injury sustained during the summer months. Another postal worker summed up the situation.
“It’s slow going,” he told The Roslyn News. “You gotta be careful. Hopefully, we can get done before it gets dark. It’s a real pain.…” And that’s as far as we can go.
Also around the village, the situation has been difficult enough for the Sid Jacobson JCC in East Hills, which sees a large volume of visitors yearround, to issue a statement to its members.
“We are aware of the difficulty some of our patrons are having finding spots in our parking lot given the loss of spaces,” the statement read. “Winter storms have eliminated too many spots and as a result, tempers have flared and some people have experienced too much frustration to get to our front door. This is unacceptable.
“We are taking immediate steps to have our snow plow company truck out the accumulated snow and restore blocked spaces,” the statement continued. “We believe that regaining blocked spots will help ameliorate this situation. We are also taking care not to program high volume programs at the same time as early childhood drop off/pick up. Lastly, we want to remind everyone that valet parking is available for anyone who needs assistance every weekday morning for short and long term parking assistance.”
Meanwhile, the Town of North Hempstead, which has jurisdiction over Roslyn Heights, issued their own winter weather policy.
“In winter months, the highway crews are available to work around the clock to keep town roadways accessible for emergency response by police, fire and ambulance services, and to maintain access for town residents to reach home, work and school,” the statement read.
“When possible it is best for residents to stay at home and off the roads to allow the plows and heavy equipment to finish their work effectively and efficiently,” it continued. “During snow and ice events town crews spread sand and salt onto the roadways. Main arteries are given priority, followed by smaller streets, dead ends and cul-de-sacs.
Plows will travel through the town keeping the main arteries open for the majority of traffic and emergency vehicles, residential streets will be plowed in effort to keep them open with one lane. When the storm has ended, trucks will continue working to widen the roadways by pushing the snow back to the curbs and clearing the intersections.
In order to make our operation easier, it is requested that whenever possible residents park all vehicles in driveways during snowstorms. This will prevent being plowed in and provides the plows with adequate room to operate.
Residents should wait until streets have been plowed prior to shoveling sidewalks and driveways; however, if you must shovel, remember to pile snow to the left of the driveway to minimize what will be plowed back. Do not shovel or plow from driveways and sidewalks into the roadways, this can create ice patches and is a nuisance to neighbors as well as a safety hazard to pedestrians and vehicles.”
With mid-March approaching and the sports news about spring training baseball games, the long winter, hopefully, is coming to an end. But, if not, such advice should help local residents endure another blast of snow.
