Valley Streamers dig out — again

Despite a bigger than expected storm Wednesday night into Thursday, Valley Stream residents were in good spirits as they cleaned out snow yet again. More than a foot of snow was dumped on Long Island, the third major storm in the last month.

According to the National Weather Service, 14.2 inches of snow fell on Valley Stream during a 13-hour period last night. That topped predictions of 4 to 8 inches just 24 hours before.

For Al Giovanelli, who was cleaning off his car on North Cottage Street, said this comes with living in New York. “It’s the Northeast,” he said. “You’re going to get snow.”

Giovanelli had a rare day off from work because of the snow. He works at a junior high school in Ozone Park, Queens. Joanna Carbone also had an unexpected snow day as a teacher in New York City, where schools rarely shut down because of winter weather. “I never though I’d get a day, but here it is,” she said.

Carbone added that after clearing out the driveway and sidewalks on Oxford Street, she and her fiancé John Kelly were going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the warm house.

Fausto Pagadoa, who also lives on Oxford Street, says it took him about three hours to clear his driveway this morning. He doesn’t mind the snow, but said he doesn’t like this much snow. At least he had the day off from work. “My job, they called me and said stay home cause it’s too bad.”

And for the retired Kevin Mullins, who lives at Carpenter Street and Emerson Avenue, he had the whole day to clean up. “I wasn’t expecting this,” he said of the amount of snow. “It’s so heavy, too. That’s what makes it so difficult.”

Michaela Conway, 21, who attends college in Suffolk County, had the day off. She and her brother, Brereton, 14, also home with Valley Stream schools closed, spent the morning shoveling. But they didn’t get out right away. “We stayed warm, ate a good breakfast and then came out,” she said.

Conway added that the show was very heavy with a layer of ice at the bottom. She said it would probably take her and her brother most of the day to get all of the snow clear — with breaks, of course.

David Kim, of Carpenter Street, enlisted the help of his two sons, Andrew, a fifth-grader at Wheeler Avenue School, and Steven, a second-grader. “After this, we’re going to have a snow fight,” he said. “But they have to help me out clear the house first.”

The snow may have closed schools, but local businesses kept going. Tony Costanzo, co-onwer of Pizza Express on Franklin Avenue, made sure there was a clear path to his eater. "The plowing and shoveling went good today," he said. We have been fortunate to be here 17 years to serve the community. To this day, we have not missed one day where we were not able to deliver our product to our customers."