By Andrew Coen and Nicole Falco
Well over a foot of snow blanketed Valley Stream from Saturday night into Sunday, creating treacherous driving conditions, downing trees, disrupting the Long Island Rail Road, canceling events and closing schools. Weather officials reported a total of 17 inches at nearby Kennedy Airport in Jamaica, and wind gusts reached 60 mph in some parts of Long Island during the nor'easter.
The Valley Stream Central High School District and districts 13, 24 and 30, along with private schools in the area, were closed Monday because of the storm. While it created headaches for Valley Streamers who had to shovel their driveways and dig out their cars, many children took advantage of the first significant snowfall of the season by heading to Mill Pond with their sleds.
The snow day made many students and faculty members happy, including Danielle Infantino, 12, a South High School student who spent her day off on the rolling hills near Malverne High School. "So far I've just been sledding and snowboarding," Infantino said. "It's been a really fun day."
Not everyone was as excited about the snow. Teneyck Avenue resident Jimmy Lassus lost his enthusiasm for the white stuff long ago. "When I was a kid I enjoyed the snow, but now it's a major inconvenience," Lassus said. "I'm a car guy, and snow is like an arch-nemesis to a car guy."
The timing of the storm was unfortunate for at least one Valley Streamer. Austin Street resident Ceil Sorrentino was headed for a warmer climate when the nor'easter hit. "I was supposed to be in Florida right now, but my flight was canceled," she said Monday afternoon. "I can't get a flight until Wednesday, so here I am shoveling my driveway."
Some lucky residents had a little help from a snow angel. Ivy Place resident Tom Roche wasn't selfish with his snowblower -- he rarely is. According to a neighbor, the good Samaritan helped neighbors on both sides of the street dig out after the storm. Roche usually has a little help from Board of Zoning Appeals member Gerry Frusci, another Ivy Place homeowner with a snowblower, but Frusci was lucky enough to be in sunny Florida when Mother Nature blew in.
The storm made life difficult for people who are forced to work outdoors, like Valley Stream letter carrier Johnny Yeung, who was spotted delivering mail Monday afternoon. "When it snows, it takes more time for me to do my route," he said. "It makes it harder to walk."
Valley Stream Mayor Edward Cahill praised his crew for a job well done. The mayor, along with other village officials, spent most of Sunday touring neighborhoods with Nick Camarano, deputy superintendent for public works. Cahill said he was pleased with the snow removal, and getting through the nor'easter with few problems or complaints. He even received compliments from residents. "Everything went smoothly," he said.
Village Clerk Vinny Ang called the snow removal effort one of the best he has ever seen. "With 90 miles of road, they did a great job," Ang said. (The Town of Hempstead is responsible for snow removal in unincorporated areas, including Mill Brook and North Valley Stream.)
Crews started pretreating the roads with liquid calcium and chloride salt at 4 p.m. Saturday. Village employees worked through the night into Sunday morning in 12-hour shifts. Snow removal efforts continued all day Sunday and into Monday, and included salting, sanding and plowing. By Monday morning, more than 160 yards of sand and 240 tons of salt had been spread on village streets in an effort that took 1,000 man-hours.
While crews found fewer cars parked in the streets and fewer residents shoveling and blowing snow into the streets, those were still the major hindrances to snow removal for village crews, Ang said. In all, code enforcement issued about 30 summonses to vehicles parked in the street, about half the number of tickets issued during the last major snowstorm. And the village plans to crack down on residents who shovel snow into the street after it has been removed.
"This was a very difficult storm," Ang said. "There was heavy snow. There was a lot of snow. [Our crews] really stayed on top of it."
Mike Schnitzel contributed to this story. Comments about it? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
