Upper East Siders Struggle With Slush-Filled Streets After Storm

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The beautiful snowfall that carpeted the Upper East Side earlier this week has given way to an ugly, annual nuisance: towering snowdrifts and vast slush puddles on neighborhood streets.

The snowbanks blocked stops along the M86 bus route and obstructed a busy bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge.

Giant puddles formed on the bridge's pedestrian walkway, surrounded an 86th Street-Lexington Avenue subway entrance and pooled on crosswalks around the neighborhood, forcing people to leap over them, take a circuitous path to avoid them — or, if they had no other options, simply trudge through them.

"I am a senior who travels by bus and every time it snows it is like climbing Mt. Everest to get on and off the buses," resident Amy Goldstein wrote in a Patch comment.

Snow removal is mainly handled by the city's Department of Sanitation (DSNY), but their plows tend to push snow into giant mounds that pile up on street corners — which private property owners feel no obligation to clear.

"As a kid it was fun to climb over them. As I'm getting older, not so much," City Councilmember Ben Kallos said. "That's where this city needs to step in and use a smaller plow ... and just clear the sidewalk crossings."

Some good Samaritans have taken matters into their own hands. Starting Monday through Wednesday, volunteers from the Upper East Side Mutual Aid Network shoveled dozens of blocks along First and Second avenues, making them accessible to pedestrians who use wheelchairs, walkers and strollers.

"It seems like the city is responsible for roads, the businesses are responsible for the sidewalks abutting their store fronts, but no one seems to 'own' the corners or the median between the bike lanes and sidewalks," volunteer Lindsey Cormack told Patch in an email.

Imagine there was only ONE lane for cars to travel between Queens & Manhattan. And every time it rained or snowed, that lane flooded and became near impassable. How would @NYCMayor respond? What scandal would have raged if @pollytrott @NYC_DOT failed to fix it for years? #bikeNYC pic.twitter.com/Y9u6TFM8Ti
— macartney (@macartney) February 3, 2021

Kallos hailed the volunteers' work as "the neighborly thing to do." But he also faults DSNY, with whom he is battling over the disputed purchase of bike-lane-clearing snowplow.

A DSNY spokesperson said the department's first priority had been clearing streets for emergency vehicles. Workers began clearing bike lanes, crosswalks and bus stops on Tuesday.

About 375 temporary "snow laborers" were working Thursday to shovel pedestrian areas around the city, spokesperson Belinda Mager said. But the size of the workforce depends on how many people show up each day.

Kallos said that anyone who spots an unshoveled sidewalk or park should contact his staff, who will reach out to Wildcat Services or the Parks Department to clear them.

To some, the conditions on the Upper East Side are emblematic of how differently the city treats drivers compared to those on two feet — or two wheels.

"The city sure knows how to make things great for cars," another resident wrote in a Patch comment. "For people, not so much!"

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Related coverage:

• Upper East Side Bike Lane Snowplows Blocked By City, Pols Say
• PHOTOS: Upper East Side Blanketed By Snowstorm
  
• 15 More Photos Of The Upper East Side's Snowfall