From Potholes To Power Outages: Winter Weather Takes Toll On Tri-State Area

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Weekly snowstorms are creating major headaches across the Tri-State area.

Con Edison crews were working Monday to restore power to some Brooklyn residents who spent the weekend without electricity. The outage has been affecting residents at Seventh Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope.

Resident Ted Hudson said he and his wife can tough out the power outage, but it's their one-month-old daughter Cora that they're worried about.

"Warmth is obviously the primary concern," Hudson said.

"I've been telling her that the world isn't always going to be this cold, we're doing the best we can, and we call her our little polar bear, a sense of humor helps," his wife said.

The Hudsons and their neighbors lost power Friday, CBS 2's Kathryn Brown reported.

After a weekend of frustration and freezing temperatures, Hudson sent messages to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Con Edison on Twitter asking for help.

"After a period of a lot of challenging weather, it finally clears up and now we have power outages, so that's sort of baffling to me. I want to know what happened," Hudson said.

Con Ed said the power problems resulted from a combination of issues including manhole fires, salt-burned cables, and snow melt.

Parked cars and piles of snow have also prevented crews from gaining access to areas where repairs are needed, CBS 2's Elise Finch reported.

The utility hopes to have power restored to residents by Monday afternoon.

However, power hasn't been the only problem for New Yorkers this winter. In parts of the city it's 'walk at your own risk' because of sidewalks that remain covered by snow and ice, CBS 2's Andrea Grymes reported.

Most sidewalks have been shoveled but there are exceptions including a particularly egregious stretch of Avenue M off of Ocean Parkway.

"We're going around the community, we're asking people nicely, now if people haven't listened we are going to encourage the sanitation department to issue tickets," City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn), told 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon.

The Department of Sanitation said that property owners or tenants must clear sidewalks within four hours after snow stops falling. If the snow stops after 9 p.m. they have until 11 a.m. the next day.

Elsewhere, snow and ice are weighing heavily on rooftops, causing dozens to collapse.

Over the weekend, eight families were ordered out of their homes in Paterson when a warehouse caved in. There are fears it could collapse entirely.

In Teaneck, solar panels gave way, crashing down and trapping dozens of cars beneath a mound of metal and ice.

"Too much weight, too much ice. It's just pulling all gutters away from houses," Clifton roofer George Solimene told CBS 2's Maggie Ruper.

Solimene said that he has been seventy to eighty calls a day this winter. Snow left to sit on roofs and in gutters can wind up costing homeowners thousands of dollars in repairs.

Potholes have also been popping up everywhere.

Crews worked through the night Sunday to repave part of the FDR Drive.

Things are likely to get worse before they get better and many New Yorkers have been suffering from winter fatigue.

Parents looking for things to do with their kids told CBS 2's Emily Smith that almost anything is better than staying at home fighting cabin fever.

"it's very hard with small children. My son is a February birthday so we have to find something to do," one parent said.

In Manhattan some people found relief in food.

"It's kind of chilly outside and this warms my heart a bit, makes me feel warmer," one New Yorker said.

The area is expected to get another three inches of snow Tuesday morning.

The New York City Department of Sanitation has issued a snow alert starting at 3 a.m. Tuesday, meaning crews will load salt spreaders, attach plows when necessary, prepare tire chains and notify supplementary personnel as needed.

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