Tuesday’s Headlines: Rain, Sleet and Snow Edition

The forecast was for up to five inches of snow in parts of New York City on Monday night, according to Gothamist.

Streetsblog’s staff were skeptical we’d see that much of the white stuff this late in “winter,” but it seems we may have been proven wrong. The Washington Post called it the city’s “biggest snowstorm of the season.” Total accumulations were still pending as of publication (and due to the rain/snow line wavering all night over Brooklyn).

If the city wound up with more than a little powdering, Tuesday should mark the first, and maybe only, time this year New Yorkers get treated to “sneckdowns” — the de facto sidewalk extensions that form when city snowplows make their way down a street.

It may also be the only time this winter that the Department of Sanitation gets to use its spiffy growing fleet of narrow snowplows, which it unveiled in late 2021. The mini-snow plows are meant to clear narrow bike lanes. If you see any in action, let us know!

In other news:

• NY1‘s Juan Manuel Benitez rode along with a UPS driver — and pegged a push by our sister organization Open Plans to repurpose free parking spots as designated commercial delivery zones.
• Chuck Schumer said the obvious — that a Republican-controlled House is not going to rescue the MTA from financial doom. (amNY)
• The LIRR launched full service at the transit boondoggle formerly known as East Side Access, now called Grand Central Madison. The NY Post and amNY covered the GCM grand opening — from the perspective of commuters pissed over the reduction of serving between Long Island and Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal. The Post also found riders to complain about “poor signage” and the time it takes to get from the new station to the surface.
• MTA officials have touted the use of third parties to operate elevators and escalators — but a review by Council Member Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) found the privately run facilities take longer to get fixed than those operated by the MTA itself. (Daily News)
• The NYPD arrested a man for allegedly puncturing the tires of seven police vehicles near the 112th Precinct station house. (QNS)
• A single half-block in Inwood is going to get $7 million in improvements. The result will be a great public space, but also some raised eyebrows over in Accounting. (Patch, NYDN)
• The Parks Department plans to spend over $1 million each on pre-fab, modular public toilets starting with one park in each borough, four years after first floating the idea (which itself was years after public toilets were promised to the huddled masses). (The City, NY Post, Gothamist, Curbed)
• Songwriter and author Rupert Holmes told the Times he’s “embarrassed” to not have his driver’s license. We at Streetsblog, however, commend his lack of driving knowledge.
• Also in the Grey Lady: Marianne Williamson says she’s an agent of change, but then used very tired language to express herself, saying America is “on the wrong road.” Of course, we’re on the wrong road — we shouldn’t even be on roads anymore. How are we going to get rid of car culture if we can’t even wean ourselves off tired car metaphors. (NYT)