Thursday, October 1, 2026
The city’s public works crews were out in force over the weekend and continued their snow-removal operations this week, as the city dug out from what has been called a record-breaking storm that dumped two-feet of snow on the area.
The City Council passed a resolution at a special meeting on Tuesday affirming the city’s declaration of a state of emergency on Jan. 23, saying that the large amount of snow that has piled up as a result of plowing and clearing city streets “has also created an emergency that seriously threatens public safety.”
“We typically have about 26 inches per winter — and we got it all in one day,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said before the meeting.
He added that the retroactive declaration means the city could potentially be reimbursed for storm-related costs, and that the city is now focused on hauling away snow that has already been plowed, continuing to work on clearing storm drains and fire hydrants, and improving pedestrian access.
“In the immediate term, as part of our snow-removal operations … under our emergency we’ll be able to expedite a bid so that we can take the snow that our crews have plowed out of the way and remove the big mounds of snow and haul them away, so that we can keep our streets clear,” he said. “Particularly in the narrow streets in the city, after our crews plow, there is nowhere to put the snow. With the amount of cars that we have, there is nowhere to put the snow, and this action provides the ability to, on a quick turnaround basis, bring some folks in to remove the snow that’s already been plowed.”
The storm brought the city to a standstill — the Long Beach Public Library and all city recreation facilities were closed and all weekend school activities were cancelled. By Monday, service on the Long Island Rail Road remained suspended — it resumed on Tuesday — and there were reports of at least two school buses that had trouble in the snow.
