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120 Cars Towed And Counting: Albany Snow Emergency Continues

WAMC Photo by Dave Lucas

Many Albany residents were caught off-guard by the city's first significant snowfall in almost two years. They woke up today to find their cars had been towed away for non-compliance with snow emergency protocol.

Winter driving can be tricky and treacherous at times. Some Albany motorists say the same about parking on the streets of New York's capital city, where 120 cars were whisked away by tow trucks overnight.   "I know that a number of residents woke up this morning and found that their streets had not been cleared of snow on the odd side of the street, and that's because we had such high non-compliance and couldn't move the cars fast enough."

Mayor Kathy Sheehan spoke with reporters Friday afternoon act City Hall, noting that the usual number of towaways per storm is around 100. Sheehan says they could have towed many many more but for lack of time, equipment and manpower.  "Lack of awareness is a huge contributor. We haven't had a snow emergency in a long time, so we have residents who are new to some of these neighborhoods, who may not be aware of what it means when there is a snow emergency."

Credit City of Albany

Sheehan says Thursday's snowfall exceeded what was expected.    "The snow started falling about when the forecasters had predicted it would start, but it was heavier than anticipated and it lasted far longer than what we anticipated. I believe in the city of Albany, in certain areas, we got 11 inches of snow."

The mayor wants to make certain residents and visitors know the snow emergency rules and move their cars accordingly.    "We're hoping that we can get the word out and ensure that people know that there's a snow emergency and at 8 o'clock tonight that they move over to that odd side of the street so that we can get as much snow as possible."

Some of the towed cars had been parked on so-called "conflict streets" that may have odd and even numbered buildings on the same side of the street.   "It can be confusing. So one of the things that I have asked our sign shop to do and our traffic safety operation to do, is put permanent signage on these conflict streets."

The signs would designate "odd" and "even" sides of the street.   Sheehan says with another storm or two on the way for tonight and Monday...   "It's really important that we get this snow out of the way, because every time we declare a snow emergency it costs us a significant amount of money.  It costs us money in overtime, and then we have to bring in extra equipment to help us get the snow out. We wanna be able to clear this snow, in the hopes of avoiding having to declare another snow emergency. We don't know, we'll see...the predictions right now are still a little difficult to bank on, but we need to get this snow out now."

For SNOW EMERGENCY information, call 518-476-SNOW or visit the City of Albany's website at albanyny.gov, facebook.com/CityofAlbanyMayorsOffice, and twitter.com/AlbanyCityHall (see other information sources below).

If your vehicle has been towed, call the City of Albany Police Department Traffic Safety Division at 518-438-4000 for information on how to retrieve your vehicle. Snow emergency brochures, which outline all of the Snow Emergency procedures, can be picked up at any City firehouse, police station or branches of the Albany Public Library. Thank you for your cooperation.
 
IMPORTANT CONTACTS DURING THE SNOW EMERGENCY:

  • The Snow Emergency Hotline is 518-476-SNOW (7669); for general snow inquiries call the Department of General Services at 518-434-CITY(2489)
  • To report power outages and determine area repair schedules, call National Grid at 800-642-4272; in an emergency, call 911
  • If you would like to receive a text or email about a snow emergency, you can sign up for Nixle alerts at http://www.albanyny.org/Government/Departments/PoliceDepartment/Nixle.aspx
  • For real-time weather information, visit the National Weather Service

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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