This too is Yonkers—By Eric Schoen
I have to start out by thanking the many readers who reached out to me, wishing me well as I continue my journey to good health. Sept. 5 was right knee full replacement and Nov. 28 was left knee full replacement. Rehabilitation is going well, and part of the rehab is putting pen to paper (or finger to iPad keyboard), sharing my thoughts with you.
Thank you also to Editor Dan Murphy for his get well wishes and saying such nice things about me. One minor correction: You know how we are all so vain about our weight… Before I had the gastric sleeve procedure a year ago, I got on the scale and I was 285 pounds. Before my latest surgery, I got on the scale and was 195 pounds – 90 pounds lost.
Now when I go to my general practitioner, he reminds me that at my maximum I was 290 pounds; 290 less 195 equals 95 pounds down! But I don’t want to be greedy, and will settle with a 90-pound loss. That’s a few more pounds than Murphy mentioned in his well wishes last week. I’ll share more about my health journey in future articles, but if you see a man dancing up a storm at local holiday parties, it may be me.
The man staying away from the eggnog and the pigs in a blanket (my limit is one) is definitely me!
Now on to the topic of the day…
As they say, come back with a bang! Shake things up! I am going to defend the lousy snow removal we had Thursday, Nov. 15, a week before Thanksgiving. It is a day that will live in infamy around these parts of the world.
The weather forecasters were predicting flurries; maybe an inch of snow for our area. We ended up with 6 inches, the majority of it hitting between 3 and 6 p.m., when kids are piling onto school buses to go home from school. The time when public works crews are finishing for the day. The time when most people are heading home from work, looking forward to a glass of wine and a nice dinner. Other than rush hour, the 3 to 6 p.m. timeframe is the worst time for snow to blanket our area.
And we panicked. School children were stuck on buses for eight hours. Commuters were stuck in traffic jams for more than eight hours. The 15-minute commute took four hours. Cars were abandoned on the sides of the road. People were sleeping in their cars for hours. Cars were sliding like they were ice-skating at Rockefeller Center.
We usually find out later in the winter how many people can’t drive in the ice and snow, when the “weather outside is frightful.” This year we found out early not only how many drivers need to stay home with their hot cocoa when the weather is bad, but also the deficiencies in our automobiles that need repair before that big storm hits.
We also learned how our vehicles maneuver in the snow. And how many idiots out there drive like race car drivers and end up in accidents or stuck on the side of the road waiting for tow trucks. Usually we have the choice of whether to go out in the snow. On this day, as minimal snow was forecast, we did not.
I was heading home from New Rochelle around 2:30 p.m. as everything was starting to break. Rumsey Road off the Saw Mill was a skating rink. I maneuvered around, but knew I wasn’t going to get up Spruce Street to my apartment, as buses – particularly the smaller ones – were slip-sliding down the hill with cars trying to get up the hill. What a mess.
I tell my Yonkers friends every year that if you want to have good snow removal, it’s simple: Don’t allow cars to park on the streets of our fair city. It’s a vicious cycle. The plows plow the snow onto the cars, drivers want to get out and shovel the snow back in the street, and on and on it goes
So with the mess Nov. 18, cars dancing under the stars, who did the public blame? The mayors, superintendents of schools, public works commissioners – basically anyone who has anything to do with snow removal.
My question to you is: Why? Do you think your mayor or superintendent of schools or public works commissioner is God? Can he or she predict whether we will have a dusting of snow or 6 inches.
He or she gets their information from one or more of the paid services that predict the weather. Trained meteorologists make predictions using the latest tools they have. They transmit this information all over the country to individuals and organizations.
When the meteorologists call for a dusting of snow, is Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano supposed to say, “No, wait. I think it’s going to be 6 inches?” If the meteorologists say 6 inches of snow, is Yonkers Superintendent of Schools Edwin Quezada supposed to say, “No, I think it’s going to just be a dusting – let’s keep schools open?”
Readers know I am the first one to criticize public officials when they don’t do the right thing. But in this case, everyone worked with the best information they had, making the decisions they did. Believe me, a superintendent of schools does not want a 6-year-old child to be on a school bus for four, six or eight hours, and a mayor doesn’t want the streets of his city at a standstill.
Just thinking, where is George Burns who played God in the movies when we need him?
Final thoughts: Tell me I didn’t read that the new, hot trend is ax throwing. And that it’s coming to Yonkers. Tell me I didn’t read that Yonkers city officials are considering giving taxpayer subsidies to this endeavor?
America paid its respects this week to George H.W. Bush with a National Day of Mourning. One of the reasons Bush lost to Bill Clinton was because of a weak recovery from a national recession. So, do you think this staunch Republican would want to see the stock market closed, banks closed, the post office closed in the middle of the holidays for a National Day of Morning in his honor? Something to think about?
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com or follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show on Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. on WVOX 1460 AM or download the Simple Radio app for free from the App Store.
