By Alexander Dworkowitz
One of the worst snowstorms in New York City’s history wreaked havoc on Queens this week, dumping more than two feet of snow on parts of the borough.
The blizzard, which stretched from late Sunday to Monday evening, caused chaos for those trying to get around Queens, burying streets and forcing delays and even shutdowns of subway, Long Island Rail Road and bus service.
The borough’s two airports were brought to a standstill with few flights landing Monday.
Sanitation employees worked overtime on the Presidents Day holiday to clear roads and melt snow in an attempt to keep the borough functioning.
The storm hurt business throughout Queens, although shoppers did take advantage of sales.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg summed up the effects of the snow at a Monday news conference.
“It is pretty,” he said. “It is also very inconvenient and very expensive.”
Bloomberg estimated the city must spend $1 million per inch to clean up the snow.
The fourth worst snowstorm in the city’s history hit southern Queens the hardest, dumping 25.6 inches at Kennedy Airport, while LaGuardia Airport had only 16.5 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Howard Beach had 28 inches of snow, the highest in the city.
Bloomberg advised residents to leave their cars at home and use buses and trains to get around.
But for many traveling in Queens, mass transit was a nightmare.
With snow covering the LIRR tracks, many trains were canceled, and others had to chug along slowly through the snow Monday and Tuesday.
Borough residents hoping to catch the LIRR into the city faced overcrowded trains which often skipped stops. Some had to wait as long as three hours for transportation.
The subways were little better. A malfunctioned switch on the No. 7 line prevented trains from reaching Flushing’s Main Street transit hub Tuesday morning, forcing hundreds to walk to the Willets Point stop or wait for a shuttle bus.
But the buses were packed and slow in coming. City Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall said some buses in Queens were particularly crowded.
While few decided to brave commuting Monday as the storm raged, those who did had a difficult time getting around.
Calvin Reeves, who took the Long Island Rail Road from his Jamaica home to Penn Station, called his trip, which took twice the usual time, “frustrating.”
“I’ve been working on 47th Street for 12 years,” he said. “It’s the first time it took this long.”
The borough’s two airports were also hit hard.
Kennedy managed to keep one runway open, although all the airlines canceled their flights. About 500 people were stranded, according to Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.
LaGuardia shut down, however, from 8 a.m. Monday to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Coleman said.
In order to fight the snow, the city’s 1,700 sanitation employs worked 12-hour shifts to plow the streets.
After Gov. George Pataki declared a state of emergency, the city was able to hire private contractors to help clear the streets.
The city’s efforts to clear roads and keep Queens up and running compared favorably to the blizzard of 1996, which left a similar amount of snow on the region, officials said.
In 1996, it took 42 hours to clear the roads, Bloomberg said. This year the city hoped to have all the roads plowed by 6 p.m. Tuesday, just 24 hours after the storm came to an end.
Bloomberg said his office had received several e-mails saying, “Thank you, I’ve never seen the streets cleared so quickly.”
Bloomberg added, “The bottom line is we are doing better than what we thought (we would).”
In past snowstorms, it has taken the city longer to remove snow from Queens streets as compared to the rest of the city. But Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said this was not the case this year.
“I always worry about Queens,” Doherty said. “But they were doing real well.”
Local politicians agreed. Both Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said the Department of Sanitation had done a good job at clearing the streets.
The sheer amount of snow impressed residents across Queens.
“It’s the worst that I’ve seen since I’m alive,” said Stamatis Lymberopoulos, 27, as he shoveled his Astoria sidewalk Monday morning.
Despite the pace of the snow removal, Bloomberg cautioned that the combination of a rainstorm expected for the weekend and snow blocking catch basins could lead to flooding.
The city’s efforts could not stem the drop in business reported at many stores in the borough. Retails sales were down, and many stores extended their critical Presidents Day sales to attract customers after Monday. Hotels around the airports, however, were booked.
“We got hurt, hurt badly,” said Julie Wager, president of Astoria’s Steinway Street BID committee, on Tuesday.
But Wager said people were in fact shopping Tuesday.
“From what I understand, the customers are out today. Many of the sales are extended,” she said. “From what I’ve been hearing, they’re coming back.”
– The TimesLedger staff contributed to this story.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718 229-0300 Ext. 141.
