Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Tuesday afternoon, hours before the first snowflakes appeared, business was brisk at F.M. O’Rourke Hardware on West Beech Street, as customers restocked their shovels and ice melt just 16 days after digging out of the post-Christmas blizzard that buried the city in nearly two feet of snow.
“A lot of people are coming in to replace broken snow shovels — due to the amount of snow we had last time, people came back to restock their supplies,” employee Jennifer Bella said. “I think everybody doesn’t want this storm to come, and people are hoping it doesn’t hit.”
Although a snow emergency was declared in Long Beach on Tuesday after the National Weather Service issued a storm watch predicting accumulations of a foot or more, the latest storm to pummel the Northeast proved mostly uneventful for the city, blanketing it with a little over half a foot of new snow.
Although Long Beach schools — like most others in Nassau County — were closed, City Hall was open on Wednesday and city buses were running on a normal schedule, City Manager Charles Theofan said. Crews operated 60 plows throughout the night and into the morning, and city officials said that this snowfall was more manageable to clean up than last month’s.
“We had very good planning and very good execution and a tight chain of command,” Theofan said. “We tightened up our procedures.”
Fire Chief Scott Kemins said that there were few emergency calls, and none were related to the snow. “We didn’t really have any calls, and the roads are extremely clear,” Kemins said. “We’ve had no snow-related incidents. We had one ambulance call overnight and less calls than normal.”
The major challenge snow-removal crews faced during last month’s blizzard was negotiating narrow streets, particularly in the Canals and the West End, where vehicles were abandoned or stuck. Many of the plows themselves got stuck, and high winds led to further accumulations throughout the week on roads that had already been plowed, Theofan said.
In an effort to make the process of removing Tuesday’s snow more efficient, Theofan said on Monday that the city would be divided into four sectors — the West End, the East End and the northern and southern parts of the city’s center — with designated crews responsible for snow removal in these areas. While accessing narrow roadways is always a challenge, Theofan said, the new approach better addressed the removal of snow on secondary roads.
“Specific people are going to have responsibility over these various sectors,” Theofan said. “Last time, everybody was in trucks with plows. Now, certain people will take a managerial role. During the last storm, I think we did a good job, but we’ll be much better prepared.”
Theofan said that it was too early to determine the cost of snow removal thus far this winter, although he expects to have those figures soon. He explained that the city’s budget for snow removal and overtime pay is included among its beach maintenance, sewer maintenance and other department line items.
On Wednesday morning, many residents said the city did a good job of clearing the streets.
“It was absolutely perfect — all of the roads are completely clear,” said Boyd Street resident and school board Trustee Roy Lester, who had described Boyd Street as a “complete disaster” after the blizzard. “This time it was perfect, no complaints.”
City Councilman John McLaughlin said he was busy helping some of his elderly neighbors dig out on Wednesday, but from what he had seen and heard, the streets were pretty much cleared throughout the city.
“I think we did good — everybody is calling me and saying the streets are great,” McLaughlin said, adding that crews had concentrated on the narrow streets, like those in the Canals. “They adjusted to the problems they had last time and worked around those glitches.”
East Beech Street resident Alyson Goodman was shoveling her walkway Wednesday morning; her street still had its share of snow. “I think the city really learned from the storm two weeks ago, and from what I can see did a much better job,” she said. “There was still snow on the roads that needed to be cleared away. But it was nice that [the city] realized they needed to make more of an effort.”
At West End Pizza, employees were preparing for a busy day and already had orders for deliveries at 11 a.m. “Everything is actually pretty fine — it’s business as usual,” employee Lori Enright said. “During the last storm there were a lot of calls for deliveries, but the weather got so bad that drivers couldn’t get around. It’s going to be really busy today because the kids are off from school and no one wants to go out.”
Comments about this story? Arifilato@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
