New Year's Eve snow a surprise for some

Some residents in Elmont and Franklin Square might chase that traditional New Year’s Day hangover with a backache, as a surprise snowstorm hit the community last Thursday morning.

Catching some homeowners off guard, the storm dropped several inches of accumulation on a community that had just gotten rid of the more than a foot of snow that fell days before Christmas.

“I think the [town and county] were caught off guard just like the weather service,” said resident Tony Minero. “All of the weather that was on, nobody really said this was going to stick like this. The weather people didn’t really give you the actual information.”

From Belmont Racetrack to the Franklin Square/Munson firehouse and beyond, homeowners and shopkeepers were pushing the accumulated powder from their driveways and into the street, and trying to keep sidewalks clear in the hours before 2010.

Some residents, like Bob McDonald, thought the snow removal was well done, considering the circumstances.

“I think they have trucks out and they’re doing the best they can,” McDonald said. “I was prepared for it, that’s why this is working now.”

McDonald was pushing his snowblower down the sidewalk on Landau Avenue in Elmont, clearing the snow from in front of neighbors’ houses and cars. He said that when inclement weather hits the community, people up and down the street all pitch in to make sure everyone can travel safely.

“We all help each other out — whoever’s home,” he said. “I work a rotating shift, so I’m here today. Some other neighbors usually get to it, but I’m here right now.”

On Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, local merchant Eugene Philips was doing his best to make sure customers could get into and out of his jewelry store safely.

He said he wasn’t sure how many customers to expect given the weather, but was hopeful at least a few people would show.

“I don’t think so many customers will come today, but it’s possible sometime,” he said. “I expect at least the people who have to come in and pick up their jewelry to be here, and maybe I’ll get a few more.”

Philips had spent over an hour shoveling snow from the sidewalk in front of his store, wearing a heavy hooded parka while he worked to keep the wind at bay.

With just a few hours left in the year, many residents said they would change a few things about snow removal in the community as a kind of New Year’s Resolution, but in the end they trusted that everything would work out. “You can’t blame them for everything,” Minero said. “And this is nothing compared to last week.”