New York Today: Get Out the Snow Shovel. Again. |
Posted: February 3, 2014 |
Joshua Bright for The New York Times
Good morning. It’s Monday. The Super Bowl’s over. Guess what? Cold stuff is falling from the sky. Here’s what you need to know: • The mix of rain, sleet and snow should change over to all heavy, wet snow by 7 a.m. in the city. Get set for a treacherous commute. • Four to eight inches is expected before the snow starts to taper off around 2 p.m. • Public schools in the city are open but all field trips are canceled. Many suburban school districts are closed or closing early. See list. • Alternate side of the street parking is suspended. • The commute is getting messy. See “Commute” section below. • The temperature will hover around freezing most of the day and dip to 20 tonight. • More snow and sleet is coming Tuesday night. All of this means you may soon get a chance to operate the tool known as a snow shovel. You may think you know how. But New York City has specialshoveling laws. Q: When do you have to shovel? A: You must clear your sidewalk within four hours after the snow stops falling. But if it stops after 9 p.m., you have until 11 a.m. Q: Do I have to clear the whole sidewalk? My sidewalk is very wide! A: No. You have to clear a path just “wide enough for pedestrians and to allow for wheelchair and stroller access,” the city’s Law Department said. Q: Can I shovel snow into the street? A: Please don’t. It can impede the street-clearing process, which is against the law. Q: How much snow must fall before I’m required to shovel? A: The law doesn’t say. Use common sense. Q: I’m just a tenant. Do I have to shovel? A: Possibly. The law applies to “every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person, having charge of any building or lot of ground in the city.” Q: What if I don’t shovel at all? A: You can be fined up to $150 and, theoretically, go to jail for up to 10 days, and that’s just for first offenders. Also, the city can shovel your walk and bill you for it. And you may suffer the scorn of your hard-shoveling neighbors. Here’s what else is happening. COMMUTE Subways: Delays on the L and the northbound N. Check latest status. Buses: N.J. Transit service from Warwick, N.Y., suspended. See updates. Rails: Delays of 10 to 15 minutes on New Jersey Transit. CheckL.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status. Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|