January 25th, 2016
SENATOR JOSE PERALTA, ASSEMBLYMEMBERS FRANCISCO MOYA AND MICHAEL DENDEKKER, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS REACT TO CITY’S RESPONSE TO RECORD-BREAKING SNOWSTORM
Senator Jose Peralta, Assemblymembers Francisco Moya and Michael DenDekker, and community leaders react to City’s response to record-breaking snowstorm
In light of the insufficient response by the City to plow streets in Queens after the weekend's massive snowstorm, State Senator Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), Assemblymembers Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) and Michael DenDekker (East Elmhurst), and several community leaders issued the following statements.
Streets in the Jackson Heights neighborhood were blanketed with a record-breaking 34 inches of snow, while East Elmhurst, Corona and other parts of Western Queens, were impassable Monday morning even with assurances from City Hall that streets would be cleared by now.
“First, I want to thank all Sanitation, Fire, Police and all other workers who did a great job by trying to keep the streets clean and safe under these difficult conditions. However, we were clearly left behind by the Administration, and this is very frustrating. The City’s street plowing response to the record-breaking blizzard was poor in Queens, and this is unacceptable. Unfortunately, our borough, which is the City’s biggest, again got the short end of the stick. This situation comes after Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Administration assured us that they were prepared to respond adequately to the storm,” said Senator Peralta. “This Administration promised that the streets were going to be cleaned and plowed by this morning, but this is not the case. We must learn from this experience and build upon the mistakes that were made in order to be better prepared for future storms.”
“The city’s storm response has been unacceptable,” said Assemblyman Francisco Moya. “We were given assurances that the streets of Queens would be plowed by Monday morning and yet many streets remain covered in snow. Our borough deserves better. It is simply unacceptable for Queens to be left behind yet again. Year after year, the storm response in Queens has been inadequate. Although we commend the Mayor’s office for remaining in continued contact with Queens elected officials this year, the plows have simply not come fast enough. While the rest of the city is getting back on its feet after the storm, parts of Queens are still snowed in. It has created a potentially dangerous situation for our residents.”
Assemblymember DenDekker said, “Even though Jackson Heights had the largest snow fall totals during this storm, the street plowing in our community was less than adequate. Parts of our community endured tens of hours without ever seeing a snow plow on their street. While I praise the Sanitation Workers who work tirelessly during these storms I question the necessary staffing and equipment assigned to our area. I look forward to working with Senator Peralta and Assemblyman Moya to work with the City to better prepare and plan for future snow responses to our community.”
Reverend Patrick Young, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of East Elmhurst, noted, “It is unfortunate and unfathomable that the Mayor of New York City as well as the Commissioner of Sanitation would allow a major blunder of not planning adequate clean up and snow removal in the Borough of Queens, particularly in the neighborhoods of Woodside, Ridgewood, Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. Furthermore, the Mayor of New York City has decided to open schools Monday with the acknowledgement that many communities in Queens have not had snow removed which will prohibit school buses to pass through safely. This act can endanger the safety of our children who ride the buses from these various neighborhoods. It is always appropriate to err on the side of caution and it seems our Mayor has not yet learned such important lesson.”
Corona community activist Jim Lisa said, “As a community activist, I feel disheartened that Queens is the forgotten borough and it's not fair for the taxpayer in Corona Heights.”
Rose Marie Poveromo, President of the United Community Civic Association, noted, “We were the forgotten borough once again. It is very sad that the residential areas surrounding LaGuardia airport were buried under, well over 2 feet of snow. We had visions of the old Lindsay administration under the de Blasio Administration. Yet on TV we saw Manhattan totally cleaned.”
