By:Andrew Coen
Merchants and residents gathered shovels and rock salt and went to work, digging out of the area's first major snowstorm since Presidents Day 2003.
The snow began falling just after noon on Saturday and continued through Sunday morning, with blizzardlike conditions and winds gusting up to 50 mph. The snow finally stopped late Sunday morning as the sun broke through, leaving residents, storekeepers and town, county and village workers with a messy cleanup.
Children took advantage of the snowfall, sledding at Grant Park in Hewlett and in Atlantic Beach, enjoying a three-day weekend when school was canceled on Monday.
School cancellations
The cancellation of school in the Lawrence district particularly affected Lawrence High School students, who were scheduled to take exams. The tests were postponed until Friday. But the school closing took away a day that many students would have used for extra help on other exams, according to Lawrence Central Council PTA President Nikki Greene-Douglas.
Greene-Douglas said she was a little surprised that school was called off on Monday, but understood the decision after seeing the condition of the roads. She added that many teachers live in Suffolk County, and would not have made the trek in.
Hewlett High School students did not have exams scheduled for Monday; instead, they got an extra day to prepare for their Tuesday midterms and Regents exams. "It worked out rather well, other than students who may have lost that last day of extra help," said Teri Stein, co-president of the Hewlett High School PTA.
District 14 officials said that the school properties and sidewalks were clear of snow on Sunday after extensive shoveling and plowing, but the bad conditions of side roads prompted them to cancel classes on Monday. "There was some concern on our part of narrow corridors [on side streets]," said Dr. Peter Weber, Hewlett-Woodmere's assistant superintendent for business, who was involved in the decision. "When we looked at the road conditions, it didn't merit opening."
The new communications system in District 14 is in its second year of use, allowing the superintendent to contact all students and parents about school closings. Parents received calls around 10:30 p.m. Sunday night, according to Stein, though many found out beforehand by checking TV news reports and Web sites. "The word got out really fast, so a lot of people knew even before they got the phone call," she said.
The snowstorm also prompted Lawrence-Woodmere Academy and St. Joachim School in Cedarhurst to close. The yeshivas were not affected, since the students were in the middle of their winter break.
Villages and town clean up
In Cedarhurst Village, 10 plows and two snowblowers were used, with workers getting little sleep as they cleared the roads from 5 p.m. Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday, before returning four hours later and working until 4 p.m. Sunday, according to Mayor Andrew Parise. Parise said the village changed its snow-removal tactics for this storm by pushing all of the snow in the street into piles rather than pushing it to the curb, as has been done in the past, which made it hard for people to cross the street.
Contractors were brought in to help haul the huge snow piles from Central Avenue to the site of the former tennis courts at Lawrence High School, which is now the village's Department of Public Works yard, next to Peninsula Boulevard. In the past, the village dumped the snow in Cedarhurst Park, where it was allowed to melt, but Parise said the village decided to use the tennis courts this year because the snow piles would create hazardous conditions for the start of the Cedarhurst Little League season in the spring. "It was like a lake [in the park]," said Parise.
Cedarhurst resident Joseph Walter, who measured 15 inches of snow on his street on Oakwood Avenue, said the village's snow removal was effective, but that it was difficult to walk on his narrow street. "[The roads] are in good shape, but they could have used the plow closer to the sidewalks," said Walter. After the snow was removed, the village sanded the roads on Tuesday.
The Village of Atlantic Beach was spared flooding during the storm. Snow cleanup went well, according to village officials. Buildings Superintendent Steve Cherson said two plows were used over a 24-hour period, from 2 p.m. Saturday until 2 p.m. Sunday. Cherson said that most village residents cooperated by moving their cars off the streets, with only about 10 left on the roads during the plowing.
Despite 50-mph winds that caused snowdrifts, the cleanup went very smoothly, according to Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler. "All the roads are passable," he said.
Snow removal also went on without a hitch in the villages of Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Neck and Woodsburgh, according to Marie Velotti, the clerk for all three villages. A Woodsburgh maintenance crew member and some contractors helped plow the roughly 10 miles of roads in the three villages from 3 p.m. Saturday until Sunday afternoon. "All the roads are in good shape," said Velotti.
The Town of Hempstead's sanitation department used 250 plows and sanders and 42 tons of salt to clean up the town's roads. According to town spokeswoman Susan Trenkle, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray announced a state of emergency for the town at around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and urged residents to move their cars off the streets to make snow removal easier.
Hewlett resident Sandy Weiner said the snow was very heavy, but she hired a private company to plow her driveway on Midgely Drive. Even though there was still a lot of snow on the ground Monday afternoon, she was able to walk through her neighborhood. "Most of the sidewalks are pretty clear," said Weiner.
Customers flood stores
Given enough warnings, residents prepared for the storm by rushing to local supermarkets and hardware stores. Waldbaum's in North Lawrence prepared for the rush of customers by ordering extra bread, milk and eggs for Friday. "People were really stocking up," said Louis Lottio, Waldbaum's store manager. "We did great business."
Justin Pearlstein, the owner of Justin's Hardware in Woodmere, ordered an extra shipment of supplies on Friday in preparation for the storm, and it paid off, with customers crowding the shop on Saturday morning. "There must have been between 30 and 40 people on line, but everything was very orderly, and they got what they needed," said Pearlstein. All 15 of the store's snowblowers were sold, as well as many shovels, brushes, ice melt and firewood, according to Pearlstein.
Police and fire depts. busy
Lawrence-Cedarhurst firefighters ventured out in the storm to extinguish a small fire that erupted in a fireplace on Roselle Avenue in Cedarhurst. They quickly extinguished the blaze, according to Fire Chief Edward Koehler. Many members stayed at their Central Avenue headquarters during the storm in preparation for other weather-related emergencies. Fourth Precinct Lt. Larry Feffer said police received several reports of weather-related car accidents during the storm, but no one was seriously injured.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
