This morning after spending about two hours shoveling in front and back of our building I decided to tackle my car. I got bored shoveling around it so took a break from that and decided to clean my car off. A private contractor, hired to do the parking lot right next to where I was parked, came head on and packed snow up to the very front of my car (where I had just shoveled) and then backed up and proceeded to turn into the lot to clear the lot. I was literally right there and they didn't even offer to undo the mess that they just created RIGHT in front of me. But I tell you the story only half to complain, because what was really cool is my neighbor watching from his window saw the whole thing go down and came down to offer his help

I won't disclose his name, but mad props to my neighbor who I never knew before today!

I have seen about 4 or so spots covered with just snow, and its been like this since Dec.. Also there are business with driveways that plowed all their snow onto a parking space..


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Never move your car if you don't absolutely have to. The city plows filled every nook and cranny they could find with piles of snow on my street. One parking spot which was vacated this morning is now a mountain of snow. There will be no one parking there for weeks. And never leave large gaps between cars like some of my neighbors did before the first big storm. Their selfishness has cost at least 3 parking spaces on our block for weeks now.

I went out to start shoveling at 7 AM and Jersey Avenue was plowed. It was barely a lane in each direction, but much better than last time.

Of course with the street being well plowed, people were speeding even with throngs of people walking in the streets.

I'm on Sussex. We've had three passes of the plow so far, starting before midnight. It's great!

(Except looking out the window at my car looking like a marshmallow is a bit intimidating.)

10th st is horrendous, and 139 WB is a mess. Forget about 1/9/Tonnelle. Lanes just suddenly disappear as if the snow plow just gave up. I've never seen such horrendous plowing in my life. I want my money back.

I saw plows working last night and this morning my street was fine. Surprising!

I know first between Colgate and Brunsiwck hasn't seen a plow yet. Kinda reminds me of the some of the outer boroughs on Dec. 27th just not quite as deep.

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A job like that at 5:30 PM? Sounds like a ploy to get overtime.

Also, today's storm has been in the news for days. The city could have waited until after the snow stopped to kill two birds with one stone, but why bother since they pay employees and contractors with other people's money.

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JERSEY CITY GOV'T. GENIUS STRIKES AGAIN!

THEY FINALLY GET AROUND TO PLOWING CCD WITH BACKHOES AND DUMP TRUCKS THAT REQUIRE THE STREET TO BE COMPLETELY CLOSED!

SO WHEN DO THEY DO IT?

YESTERDAY AT 5:30 PM! CARS WERE BACKED UP ALL THE WAY TO EXCHANGE PLACE AND ALL THE CCD TRAFFIC WAS FORCED TO MAKE THE LEFT ONTO SINGLE LANE VARICK ST.

A TOTAL FREAKING MESS UNTIL CLOSE TO 7PM.

GREAT FRIGGIN' TIMING YOU A-HOLES!

They've blocked off parts of Columbus and are finally removing all the snow. Looks like you turned some heads, jkim :)

When are they going to finish plowing Christopher Columbus? It's now almost a month since the first storm and the four lanes are really only 1.5 in each direction and cars parking diagonally, backing in between piles of black snow.

Pathetic! Downtown Reserved parkers should be fuming that the spaces they pay to park in are still covered in snow.

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Sad thing is there is parking to be found. These people are just lazy slobs. God forbid they actually have to walk a block or two to their car. In the past I have seen the buses hit cars parked illegally. The bus drivers usually just leave after a minute or two and I have never once tried to stop them or report them. The owners of those cars deserve what they get.

Speaking of Hamilton Park --- to the people that are parking on the corner of W Hamilton & 8th Street because they can't find parking spots due to the snow, you're making that right turn onto W Hamilton absolutely impossible for the 126 Bus. Don't cry when you car gets smashed...I swear to god one of those bus drivers is going to lose his patience and just barrel through....

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It was the victim of poor planning. I never bothered to move my cars on Jersey Avenue. As a matter of fact, none of my neighbors moved their cars.

Hamilton Park is a friggin' joke. It has not been touched. Of course, it is a city park.

What happened to the curb to curb snow removal efforts? Did the city give up? I'm mainly talking about Columbus drive from brunswick to grove. Who was supposed to complete this project, so I know who to complain to?

The park is in fairly good shape. I run there almost daily. I got out there Friday for a 7-miler, then Monday for 3 miles. If your route involves the Freedom Way roads, you should be fine. If you are planning on the adjacent walkways, I can not give you a first hand account. I did notice on Monday that the walkway parallel to Audrey Zapp Drive was starting to ice up a little after the hot weather melted some of the snow. So, be careful in that area. Other than that, the park is in much better shape that most of the streets around JC.

Sorry- my post got moved and I had LSP in the original subject. Thanks for answering! I've been dying to run off all the holiday meals but I hate running in the street.

I assume you are talking about Liberty State Park. Did a short loop there on Sunday. Ran by the boats and turned at the terminal. Only place that was still snow covered was around the Jersey Ave foot bridge everything else perfectly clear.

Does anyone know how snow removal for the park walkways goes? I figured after the blizzard, snow removal for the park wouldn't be a priority. Anyone been over there recently? Is it okay for running or are the walkways still icy/snow covered?

Residents on a stretch of Jersey City's Boyd Avenue get to know their neighbors in a day of community shoveling

Friday, December 31, 2010
By BRETT WILSHE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Many in Jersey City have been unhappy with the city's response to streets smothered by snow, but few were willing to dig themselves out.

That wasn't the case on Boyd Avenue, where a group of neighbors shoveled out a hundred-foot stretch of their street to Mallory Avenue.

"It was really fantastic the way the neighborhood came together and helped out," said Manny Rodriguez, a 52-year-old Boyd Avenue resident.

Rodriguez and his family were growing frustrated. An abandoned car on the road prevented plows from gaining access to the street, he said.

"Many people were unable to get to work, and we were worried about the elderly residents on the street," he said. "They wouldn't be accessible to emergency vehicles if something happened."

A little after 1 p.m. Tuesday, Rodriguez tried to dig his wife's car out of the snow. Realizing it would be pointless until the plows came, he started digging around the abandoned car that blocked the road.

"Suddenly, all these neighbors started coming out," said his wife Marilyn, who was able to take public transit to get to work. "Next thing you know, 15 people are digging out this abandoned car."

According to Rodriguez, the abandoned car belonged to a neighbor down the street who was then able to move his vehicle off the road.

But why stop there?

With momentum in their shovels, the snow-slinging army started to dig out the middle of the street, moving outwards until they uncovered the parked cars buried under miniature mountains of snow.

For six back-breaking hours, Rodriguez and his neighbors shoveled out a quarter of the block. The new friends gathered together at Rodriguez's house and toasted their accomplishments with a bottle of wine. Meanwhile, with the street cleared of the abandoned car, the plows pulled in and finished the street.

"My back is killing me, but it was worth it to get to know the neighbors," Rodriguez said. "We already have a barbecue planned for the summer."

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With baby coming in middle of the blizzard, Jersey City couple get SUV dug out before going on a wild ride to hospital

Friday, December 31, 2010
By BRETT WILSHE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

When Kim Dittenhoefer's water broke at midnight Sunday during the blizzard, she tried to remain calmer than her husband.

"I thought, 'We need to come up with a game plan here. We need to think as rationally as possible,'" she said.

Her husband, Chris, was nearly panicking. Snow was already piling up around the Downtown Jersey City family's SUV. The pain in Kim's stomach told her that her baby would not wait.

With no choice but to brave the blizzard, her husband dug out the SUV with the help of relatives. Within minutes, the soon-to-be parents were on Route 78 West on their way to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where Kim's obstetrician practices. But less than halfway to the hospital, their journey was halted by a wall of brake lights.

With traffic at a standstill, snow began piling up around the Dittenhoefers' vehicle. Kim was taking it all in relative stride, but Chris knew they needed to take action.

"The express lanes weren't moving, but I saw a couple of cars moving along next to us in the local lanes," he said.

Chris enlisted the help of a stranded motorist to dig a path from the car to the median between the local and express lanes. They only had one shovel, so they took turns digging to exhaustion. After the back-breaking task was complete, he hopped back in the car and jumped the median.

"It looked like we were in the clear, so we decided to go to Overlook Hospital instead, since it was closer," Chris said.

But they were again met with traffic. Kim called 911.

Union County EMTs stayed in contact with Kim over the phone as they approached, but they too became stuck a quarter-mile behind the Dittenhoefers.

"At that point, if we could get her to the ambulance and have the baby there I'd be the happiest man in the world," Chris said.

EMTs Brian Wilson and Hames Neglia walked the last quarter-mile to the Dittenhoefers and helped the couple walk back to the ambulance, abandoning their now stuck SUV on the highway.

Ambulance driver Glenn Cassidy turned around and drove the wrong way on 78, dodging traffic until they reached an exit.

Finally, the group reached Overlook Hospital at 3:30 a.m. The harrowing journey was over, and the Dittenhoefers' firstborn daughter, Ryan, arrived at 2:39 p.m. and is doing just fine.

They were not the only couple in such a jam. Joan Pierre-Mann, another Jersey City woman, went through a similar experience later that morning. Unlike Kim, however, Joan delivered baby Daniel in the front seat of her Toyota before they were rescued by Essex County sheriff's officers and brought to Saint Barnabas Hospital.

The County is out on Kennedy moving the snow right now, they seem to be going around the cars and not making anyone move.. Would be nice if they told people that they'll be out this late night.

Interesting - a leader taking responsibility for things that go wrong in his city. That's what leaders do. Paying attention Jerremiah?? (And Bloomberg has the legitimate excuse that the sanitation department laid off 400 people. The JCIA has had no layoffs.)

Bloomberg Takes Blame for Response to Snowstorm
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: December 29, 2010

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg accepted responsibility Wednesday for the city’s response to a crippling snowstorm, pledging to have every street plowed by morning and then to figure out why his administration’s cleanup efforts were inadequate.
Enlarge This Image
Ángel Franco/The New York Times

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addressing the city’s response to the blizzard.

Speaking at a hardware store in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx, Mr. Bloomberg said he was “extremely dissatisfied” with the performance of the city’s emergency management system. He said the response was “a lot worse” than after other recent snowstorms and was not as efficient as “the city has a right to expect.”

Entire article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/nyr ... =afternoonupdate&emc=aua2

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JC_Man,

From the Official Jersey City Website Update Jersey City 12/29 1:00 PM:
Last night, December 28th, JCIA crews, in conjunction with the Office of Emergency Management and the Jersey City Police Department, cleard several emergency snow routes from curb to curb. Streets cleaned included Martin Luther King Drive, Montgomery Street, Communipaw Avenue, parts of Bergen Avenue, Newark Avenue from Route 1&9 to Grove Street, Central Avenue from the Route 139 (the State Highway) to Lincoln Street, Journal Square, and Manhattan Avenue from Route 1&9 to Kennedy Boulevard.



Maybe they just missed your bit of Montgomery.

Jersey City Medical Center ambulance crashes into parked car while navigating through snow

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_medical_center_amb.html

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Here is a repost Blizzard 2010 Snow Routes

FYI, 10th Street is not on the list.

I may be a little late to this party but does anyone know if this curb to curb snow removal is going to effect 10th st. from around Monmouth to Jersey? When I returned from the holidays early Sunday morning there were not many cars on the street. Usually people park all the way up and down 10th st. When the snow came they plowed it all to the curb with no cars in their way. Now there is a 4-5ft. wide mass of snow turning 10th st. into a one lane road as well as eliminating about 10-13 normal parking spots. If these cars ever come back, where are they going to park?

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Lol. I do. But I do it when I'm off duty.

Another great JC example right now. On the way to the laundromat, I saw the truckies from Ladder 16 clearing away the hydrants. On the way back, I don't know if these workers were DPW workers or some private contractors, but they were clearing the corners and throwing the snow right back at the hydrant covering it up.

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We probably don't drink enough to make it into the club.