Piles Of Snow, Falling Ice Causing Problems Around City

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The cleanup continued Thursday after a snowstorm slammed the area, and so did the frustrations.

As CBS2's Raegan Medgie reported, the Tuesday snowstorm may not have brought the staggering accumulations that were once anticipated. But it is still turning into a pain as solid rocks and boulders of dirty ice and snow take up space everywhere.

Streets were still lined with snow on Thursday, and cars were frozen in time. Traffic was a mess on expressways and local roads alike in the city Thursday, and tempers were flaring.

"This is ridiculous!" one motorist said.

In the Financial District, CBS2's crew had trouble finding a place to park. It seemed like Old Man Winter was taking up too many spaces – with many cars wedged into place by piles of plowed snow.

The situation was no better in Midtown, where parking spots were blocked by piles of snow and ice.

"It's basically shutting down my business," a food truck vendor on 52nd Street told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck. "It's going to be a rough day. They've left a lot of snow on the sidewalk. It would be nice if they got it out of here."

Falling ice also made for a dangerous situation. A man had to be taken to the hospital Thursday after being hit by a piece of ice at 48th and Fifth Avenue, 1010 WINS' Schuck reported.

Nearby at the intersection of 52nd Street and Sixth Avenue, yellow tape and cones warn pedestrians about ice falling off a building there.

The Sanitation Department said after March winter storms in the past, temperatures warmed up and melted snow. This time, that is not happening.

"The challenge with us this year is that, you know, a March storm usually brings favorable weather afterwards; favorable temperatures," said Sanitation Department First Deputy Commissioner Dennis Diggins. "We're not getting that. We've stayed in the teens; we've stayed in the 20s."

Crews on Thursday did get an early start preparing for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Overnight, an army of snow removers began clearing Fifth Avenue and filling dump trucks with snow.

Diggins said the ice made the cleanup more difficult, because it first must be broken and then hauled away through traffic.