Some See Storm As Economic Opportunity

NEW YORK (CBS 2/1010 WINS) -- It's been a long night for sanitation workers and emergency crews who have been out overnight in an attempt to clear out roads in blizzard conditions.

1010 WINS' Al Jones reports

1010 WINS Reporter Carol D'Auria reports from Long Island where it's the day to shovel snow.

"It's going very tough," said Bernard Sullivan of the Department of Sanitation. "We had a difficult night,  stuff I haven't seen since 1996."

Over 2000 pieces of equipment from the Sanitation Department hit the streets Sunday night, working for more than 12 hours before shifts switched over and replacement crews came in.

"We kept them more than 12 hours cause some of our workers had trouble getting in," Sullivan said. "We're doing the transition to get everyone back out to continue the fight."

Clean-up is set to continue all day long.

PHOTO GALLERIES: Blizzard Slams East Coast | User-Submitted Storm Photos

"We did a good job keeping the main arteries open," Sullivan said. "We've got the workers coming in as we speak."

Sullivan did say the Sanitation Department is hiring private contractors for this storm. If you have proper equipment and are looking to work, call 311 to find out more information.

As CBS 2's Lou Young discovered, there were plenty of people who saw this storm as an opportunity to earn some money – some even going to great lengths to do so.

Across Westchester, there were small armies of people, in need of work and taking advantage of the immense snowfall, offering shoveling services in exchange for cash.

Young met one man Sunday night who had driven to New Rochelle from Pennsylvania and stayed overnight in a hotel - just for the chance to get some snow-clearing work from the MTA.