CBS 2's Jessica Schneider Comes To The Rescue Amid Rock Salt Shortage
SECAUCUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- CBS 2's Jessica Schneider came to the rescue in Secaucus, N.J. Wednesday evening, as residents suffered from a severe salt shortage.
Lauren Colangelo was watching the CBS 2 News at 5 p.m., and tweeted Schneider – reporting that her father had had trouble finding rock salt for the sidewalks in his Secaucus neighborhood. Area stores had all run out
Schneider had a supply of rock salt in Mobile 2, and Colangelo asked her to drop by her parents' house. And that was just what Schneider did.
Colangelo's father, Robert Zych, said the winter had been "terrible."
"The sidewalk's been very icy. We have a double driveway here – it's murder trying to clear out the driveway itself and then cleaning off the cars, and we have a snow emergency on the main street here," Zych said.
Municipal governments in New York and New Jersey have been suffering from a salt shortage, to the point where New York State has decided to send about 3,500 tons of salt to New York City and Long Island. But towns and villages on both sides of the Hudson River have said they are as close to a salt emergency as they can get – and it is not any easier for those just trying to buy bags of salt for their own personal use.
"It's very hard to find. They have no more salt at Home Depot, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart – no salt at all," he said.
But Schneider had a bag of rock salt for Zych and his family to keep the sidewalks clean and ice free.
Schneider also delivered a bag of salt to another Secaucus man, Freddy, whose neighbor had run out.
"They're drying up. There's a big demand for it with all the snow that we've been having in the past couple of weeks and then we've got a major storm coming Sunday," Freddy said. "It's a high-demand product."
Schneider later got in contact with Nick Matteillo of Secaucus, who said he could not find salt anywhere.
"My dad had sent me to, like, Home Depot in Secaucus, and Wal-Mart, Sam's Club – nothing out there, nothing; Lowe's, nothing. It's like, it's crazy," said Nick Matteillo of Secaucus, who received a bag of salt from Schneider.
The salt shortage has sparked concerns with drizzling rain still coming down late Tuesday, and fears that the water will coat the roads and turn to ice.
A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 10 a.m. for the five boroughs of New York City, northeast New Jersey, the northern suburbs, southern Connecticut, and all of Long Island. A threat of black ice remained in place for the Thursday morning commute.
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