Demanding Answers: Snow, Ice Make For Dangerous Conditions At Bus, Subway Stops

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Getting around the city during the snowstorm this week was particularly difficult for anyone trying to catch a bus or get to the subway.

The snow and ice made some of the conditions downright dangerous, with buried bus stops and crosswalks.

CBS2's Andrea Grymes was demanding answers Wednesday. She had to contact several government agencies, and the bottom line was that they are working on it.

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CBS2 witnessed one woman getting off a bus on Main Street in Flushing, Queens on Wednesday. That was the easy part.

But figuring out how to get to the sidewalk was a different story. In skirts and tights, the woman tried climbing over a mound of snow, but she slipped and nearly fell.

"Terrible," a man said.

"Oh my God," a woman said.

Countless commuters were seen hopping and leaping over snow mounds that were piled high at bus stops, while others reached out for a helpful hand.

"You can actually fall down and take yourself out," said bus rider Derek Eaddy.

Eaddy braced himself on the bus when he got off, as he walked over the snow in the street.

A bus shelter on Hoyt Avenue in Astoria, Queens has been salted and shoveled, but people have to walk through the snow to get to it.

"It's absolutely horrible," a woman said. "Like, someone's going to break their neck."

It was not just bus stops. On social media, people posted pictures of snow and icy subway stops. The steps to the D Train at 179th Street in the Bronx were virtually covered in snow, and the Forest Avenue M Train platform in Ridgewood, Queens was covered in ice.

A commuter tweeted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, "How is this acceptable?" CBS2 wondered the same thing.

The MTA is responsible for subway platforms and stairs. A an agency representative said: "Our snow fighting crews have been working non-stop since the onset of the storm to clear snow and ice."

CBS2 saw the MTA crews working at the Carroll Street station in Brooklyn. CBS2 was told that by 10 a.m. Wednesday, crews had cleared three quarters of all stations.

As for bus stops without covered bus shelters, a Sanitation Department representative told CBS2 Wednesday afternoon that more than 500 snow laborers were shoveling crosswalks and bus stops, and added: "Thousands more are being registered. More will work this evening."

One rider cut the city some slack.

"Maybe they're not finished," she said. "I've seen worse."

Across the city, there are more than 14,000 bus stops and a lot of ground to cover. The Department of Transportation said a private contractor is responsible for clearing bus shelters, and workers have been at it since Tuesday afternoon.