Thursday, October 1, 2026
Rob Catell lives on a wide, historic street in Long Beach, West Penn Street. His wife is five months pregnant, and six days after last week’s blizzard began burying Long Beach with nearly two feet of snow, Catell said, the street had yet to be plowed.
For days, Catell said, he could not leave his home. The plows, he said, did not come until Friday. “I waited a couple of days and nothing was happening,” he said. “It wasn’t just my block; it was all of West Penn.”
Catell was one of many residents at Tuesday’s City Council meeting who voiced their disapproval of the city’s handling of what has been called the worst blizzard to hit the area since 1996 — one that brought the Long Island Rail Road to a standstill and left countless motorists and residents stranded.
“It’s inexcusable,” Catell told the council. “All I’ve heard is excuses about why things weren’t done.”
Long Beach declared a snow emergency on Dec. 26, and informed residents through its website and automated calls that the city would clear snow emergency routes — such as West Beech Street and West Park Avenue — first so that fire trucks, ambulances and other essential vehicles could make their way around town.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Kevin Mulligan said that crews spread more than 1,000 tons of salt and sand along city streets throughout the week. Snow was being plowed and payloaders were deployed, with dump trucks transporting the snow to a vacant lot along Laurelton Boulevard. Although the overall cost — including overtime — was not immediately available, Mulligan said that the city does budget for snow removal and overtime pay.
City Councilman John McLaughlin likened the blizzard to a “Category 3 hurricane in the winter,” and said that the weather ultimately overwhelmed the city’s snow-removal plan. “We were caught by a lack of preparedness — our attention to the city’s narrow roads was lacking,” he said.
City Manager Charles Theofan said that the city began preparing trucks and equipment for the blizzard on Sunday morning. By Sunday night, 40 to 60 vehicles were working “round-the-clock” shifts, he said.
