Evidently the NYC Sanitation Dept and the Bloomberg administration have decided to dispatch plows in a snowstorm about as frequently as I post.
The above caption is a snapshot of a blocked entry to an unplowed street in Queens, 48 hours after the peak of the recent blizzard and 36 hours after it stopped snowing. Broadway and much of Manhattan have been long freed, but tax-paying residents in the outer boroughs hope to be dug out before an ambulance or police vehicle needs to respond to a call for help.
Fortunately for me, during the worst of yesterday’s snowlock (maybe I should coin that word or something), I was afforded access to my lady’s 4 wheel drive dynamo featured in a critique on June 25th this year. I lost count of all the snarled and disabled buses strewn around the city. Quite a few passengers were stranded overnight in unheated subway cars on the famous A-train as well. Personally, I think I would have just gotten out and walked to a 7-Eleven though if I were a victim of such a blunder.
It is hard, however, to get off a plane stuck for eleven hours on the tarmac of JFK airport though unless you want to spend another eleven hours bogged down with Homeland Security officials.
Perhaps, in the end, there are a few simple lessons and silver linings to be taken from this City Hall wide brain cramp. First, maybe mayors and other elected officials should be allowed to run for office indefinitely so they have something to lose. Second, the strange thing about preparedness is that we often are not prepared for what actually happens (i.e. Mother Nature). And last, next to duct tape, put a 4X4 on your check list.
© 2010 Christopher’s Views
