Word Of The Day In Snowy Tri-State: Florida
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Another storm bore down on the Tri-State area on Wednesday, bringing groans and the potential for as much as a foot of new snow to areas already buried by a winter that is on track to be the worst in years.
Snow began falling in Brooklyn around 8 a.m. It was perfect for snowballs, but the rush hour commute became a slick ride. Things didn't get much easier at night when the heaviest of the white stuff started to fall.
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As Eddie Thomas shoveled his Canarsie sidewalk in the whipping snow he could only think of one thing.
"Here we go again," Thomas told Hazel Sanchez, who was patrolling Brooklyn in one of CBS 2's Mobile 2 units.
Thomas, a city bus driver, said this weather makes his job a nightmare.
During the holiday storm, he was forced to walk to work down his neighborhood's unplowed streets. He said the Department of Sanitation seems to be on top of its job this time.
"I've been seeing snow plows. They have the main streets, but I don't know about these little side streets. The snow is still here from last time," Thomas said.
Claudette Longchamps became an early victim of the heavy snow. It trapped her car in her driveway.
"It's terrible. I tried to get inside, but I can't. It's terrible," Longchamps said.
Snow plows were out early as weary Queens residents prepared to get socked by yet another storm.
But Howard Goldstein said he's confident the city won't forget his street this time around.
"[The mayor] hears. That's the important thing," Goldstein said.
Getting around the city overnight and digging out Thursday morning will certainly be an unappealing chore but, as Thomas said, it's par for the course at this time of year.
"You have to deal with it. What you gonna do?" he said.
The storm's earlier-than-expected arrival caught many by surprise.
"I was expecting this a little later in the day like everyone else," Michael Gomillioa of Park Slope said earlier Wednesday.
"It caught me off guard. We're taking her to the doctor's this morning and so we're out here. We didn't realize it was going to be this bad," said Qiana Spellman of Park Slope.
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Even busy streets were quickly covered by a white blanket of wet snow. Snowplows, salt spreaders and sidewalk shovelers all scrambled to get ahead of the surprisingly strong storm.
City bus driver Paul San Filippo predicted overnight and Thursday morning chaos.
"Snow-wise it looks like it's going to be a lot. Driving-wise it looks like it's going to be hell.
Jersey City's Teneisha Johnson is ready to book her trip to the tropics.
"I'm hoping that today is going to be it. No more snow. We don't want no more snow. Newscasters, no more snow."
Along with the snow, Long Island could see some coastal flooding from the storm.
Across Nassau County, salt supplies were being drained and sand was at a premium as villages and towns worry about their nearly-depleted snow budgets halfway through the winter season.
Homeowners like Bridget Forde of New Hyde Park are losing pay.
"Five days at least," she told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan. "Snowed in, yes, and then the snow plows come and the plow is in the driveway and I cannot get my car out."
Many suburbanites, leaving their cars behind in yet another storm, were depending on mass transit. Despite the inclement weather, trains were on time into the City.
"I'm happy it's here, and it's empty," said a giddy rider about to board her LIRR train.
Asked about his commute, another passenger said, "Not too bad. A little slushy but pretty good."
Long Islanders told McLogan they love living near the ocean but all these storms moving up the coast are tiring and getting depressing.
"A lot this year, but we have no control over it," Mamaroneck resident George Maroulis told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis. "All we can do is roll with it."
"This is a Florida message. Come on down. It's warm," joked Ray Corrado of Garden City.
The storm also turned the Garden State into the Winter Garden State, with snow blanketing pretty much everywhere in northern New Jersey.
Removing even more snow from parking lots in the state and more from driveways, Peter Buontempo, whose last name means good weather in Italian, can't take it anymore.
"I think we had enough. I was in three days in Florida. I should have stayed there but they had bad weather last night in Florida," he told CBS 2's Christine Sloan.
The conditions were even worse for those who work outside, including sanitation workers.
"My hands are cold. I doubled the gloves but it doesn't stop the water from getting through, you know? My hands are still freezing. My feet are cold. I got on jeans underneath these. It's crazy," said garbage collector Darrell Washington.
The one thing to remember in the Garden State, remove snow from your entire car or you'll be ticketed.
"We're taking the snow off so it doesn't get on other cars. Trying to abide by the law," said Gary Ruane of Cranford.
Asked about the driving conditions, he said "It's OK today. It's not bad. I think we're getting used to that in New Jersey."
