After the storm: locals recover from December blizzard

The after-effects of the Dec. 26 blizzard that blew through the New York region, dumping some 16 to 24 inches of snow throughout Nassau County, were relatively mild in Malverne and West Hempstead.

Area residents headed out with shovels to begin the long and tiring task of clearing snow off their walkways, driveways and cars — some of which were covered in snow deposited by plows clearing the streets.

Many roads throughout the Village of Malverne and the Town of Hempstead were plowed soon after the storm settled late on Dec. 27, but the sheer volume of snow made for sloppy results in some areas.

“It seems the plow drivers were in such a hurry to get things done quickly that they were very sloppy,” said Malverne Cinema co-owner Anne Stampfl. “However, we do commend them for being out there for hours and hours.”

Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, said snow was poorly plowed when it came to street intersections in West Hempstead.

“Some attempt must be made to ‘round’ off the corners instead of leaving the piles of snow in the middle of the street,” Norton said. “I don’t know if any training is given to the snow-plow operators, but there should be some knowledge provided to the drivers to enable them to treat intersections different than what happened in this and other snow storms.”

West Hempstead resident Barbara Hafner said her street wasn’t plowed until after 9 a.m. on Tuesday. “Walker Place is a dead end and trying to get out of the street onto Hempstead Avenue was treacherous,” she said. But, still, Hafner had a blast shoveling her driveway with her husband, Emil, and daughter, Emily.

Keith Friedman of Keith Thomas Realty in Malverne said he thought the village did a “terrific job” clearing snow.

“We were out of the office for one day, [but] we kind of cheated: we are hooked up with full remote access, phones, computer, etcetera.” Friedman said. “But it was really quiet. No one was knocking on our door, going to buy a home in the middle of the blizzard this year. In the hot market, that really did happen.”