Brooklyn, NY – New York City Councilman David Greenfield (D-44th District) is proposing a new law regarding snow removal for commercial and residential properties to protect pedestrians from accidents related to unshoveled sidewalks.
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In a press release published Tuesday, Councilman Greenfield proposes using the city’s public employees to shovel the walkways, then bill the property owner $250 or more for the removal depending on the size of the property needing to be cleared.
If a property owner fails to clear the sidewalk within four hours after a snowstorm, the current fines start at $100, however the sidewalks typically remain unshoveled even after tickets are issued, causing a safety hazard to pedestrians.
Councilman Greenfield hopes his new proposal helps to meet the goal of actually clearing the sidewalks.
Currently, the city has a group of temporary laborers it uses for snow removal during major storms. Councilman Greenfield intends to expand this program with his new law.
“It’s vital that all residents can get around safely, especially in a community like ours with so many families and seniors. This winter has made it clear that the current law does not provide enough motivation for many property owners to do the right thing. My law would increase the fine against those who flout this important responsibility, while also achieving the goal of making sure that every inch of sidewalk in New York City is safe and passable,” said Councilman Greenfield.
Those who shovel a three inch wide path to be “yoitzeh” should also get the fine.
When you shovel, shovel
Those who shovel a three inch wide path to be “yoitzeh” should also get the fine.
When you shovel, shovel PROPERLY.
If you are handicapped or old or too ill to shovel, then hire someone to shovel for you.
If you are out of town on vacation, ask a neighbor to ensure that your property is shoveled and pay him or her to take care of it.
There are no excuses, and I agree that you should be penalized if your property is not shoveled.
Do the public employees do such a great job at clearing the crosswalks which they are supposed to do that you can spare them to make money for the city?????
I hope DeBlasio plans on having these new snow shovelers unionize so that they are eligible for health car coverage, sick days, vacation pay & pensions when they retire.
good idea but needs some refinements for the elderly (maybe can be shoveled for free) and of course give 4 hours after shabbos
U shovel your had, & 4 so called councilman Greenfeld what’s with the side wolkes what the is the cities & they don’t clean it 4 days ho gets the ticket first take care of that
This bill could open up the City to a whole new avenue of liability. Say someone doesn’t shovel and the city workers come and shovel. Then someone falls and sues the adjacent landowner. The adjacent landowner then blames the city workers for not doing a proper job shoveling. Will the city ultimately be held liable for this injury?
David Grenfield should also impose a fine for the city a credit to all people living on a block were the city did not do their job in cleaning the snow and picking up the garbage, a councilman is to work in favor of all who voted for him.
SHAME on those who create a danger for those walking on their sidewalks which they didn’t clear of snow. Hope you get SUED!
Actually, if you own either a one or two family home, you are not subject to liability if someone falls on the sidewalk. You become liable only if you clean the sidewalk, but fail to clear every bit of ice.
you need more manpower? all those able bodied young men who are living off the govt and refuse to work should be required to shovel and do other tasks for the community.
Before you impose more fines and taxes on homeowners, how about passing a law that fires city workers and their bosses when they don’t clear the streets of snow and repair the potholes expeditiously. I traveled today on the belt parkway and the southern state parkway. The belt parkway looks like it was hit by thousands of asteroids with deep and wide craters all over the place. The southern state parkway is nice and smooth. Try to find a parking spot for your car in Brooklyn. Yes the middle of the streets have been plowed and salted. But there are mounds of ice and snow on the sides making parking impossible. The potholes in Brooklyn are also all over the place. My suggestion is take 10 billion dollars out of the welfare budget and hire people who want to work to repair the infrastructure that has been destroyed this winter. Lets also talk about the mounds of garbage and recycling that has been piling up due to the snowstorms and legal holidays on Mondays. How about addressing that. Furthermore, has Big Mouth Greenfield tried going to Home Depot or Lowes lately to buy a bag of salt or ice melt or a snow shovel. They don’t have any.
It’s unfair to ticket or force shovel after 4 hours. People are out working.
The city will take advantage of it and sen in shovelers at 2;00 in the afternoon.
I witnessed a crew of about 9 city workers – DSNY- salting and shoveling a sidewalk today on Fountain Avenue in Brooklyn in front of private homes. This was near right after making a turn from Flatlands avenue onto Fountain Avenue. I took this detour to bypass the impassable Belt Parkway and take the Conduit instead. It would be nice to have this free service in Flatbush Midwood for taxpayers and not just East Flatbush for welfare recipients.
I still haven’t received an answer to my question ….Why doesn,t the city have to shovel sidewalks along property of the subways ,or keep those properties clear of thick weeds ,which becomes a DOH issue when it is private property ,& the city fines the owner to clean the lot ????
vos vet zain mit Shabbos
Four hours?
What if the snow falls on Shabbat or Yom Tov?
Its very interesting …I just came back fom Miami and met some of my friends who were walking with their father on the Boardwalk..They told me they came to Miami to be Kibid Av Vueim….How come when those men are back in New York and their parents home is full of ice and snow ,why dont they be Kibid Av and shovel the front of their houses….They all have big children home and they could drive over for 15 minutes and make sure the homes are shoveled and salted…I am sure their father would appreciate this great mitzveh as much as shpatzirin on the boardwalk…..
How about going after the price gougers like Ace hardware that are charging double the regular price for salt and ice melt. When it was available in Home Depot 3 months ago it was 8 dollars for the 50 pound sodium chloride ice melt and 17.00 for the 50 pound Calcium Chloride Pellets. Now it is double that or even more in ACE according to their advertisements, and not available in any Home Depot. How can you fine people for not salting when there is no salt available for purchase? How about impeaching Obama for not allowing salt to be shipped to Jersey City in a foreign flagged ship.
Mr Greenfeld why don’t you focus on your dear city you represent.
1) Let the city show an example of doing their share, like getting those public employees to clear the crosswalks on corners which are very dangerous but noooo there is no money there rather look at the homeowners….
2) What justifies $250 ? what happens if they get hurt while shoveling, it’s easy for you to propose laws. if clearing snow in 4 hours is that simple why can’t the city manage in 36 hours…?
3) What happens when it stops snowing at midnite am I supposed to sit &wait; then go out to shovel till 2 AM especially this winter where before the four hours were up another storm came in.
Mr Greenfeld I agree with you there are careless inconsiderate homeowners out there and they should be fined… However, there is nothing wrong with giving 12 hours time to shovel snow before fines set in. Also after 12 hours $250 is a bit more justifiable.
In my opinion having outsiders shovel your snow will be another Obamacare fiasco loaded with corruption etc…
the garbage matziv is beyond disgusting i feel like we live in gaza or sumthing. every shul n yeshiva in boropark has a trash mountain. it stopped snowing come on!
Its about time. Most of my neighbors don’t shovel. I feel like saying an extra tefilla when leaving my house so I pass my neighborhood safely. And my neighbors all have their houses paid off and drive fancy cars. My landlord doesn’t shovel either. We hired a goy to shovel our pathway. If they can sit on parking tickets and garbage fines this is way more important!
Mr. Greenfield is delusional….
It is way overdue that this issue was revisited and addressed to deal with the intolerable and dangerous situation out there.
Did anyone notice that this ALREADY the law? The reason for the current fee/ticket is to cover the cost of shoveling. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/16/1/16-123
Mr. Greenfield , I’m with u but hey, how abt the huge mountains on the sidewalks near the muni meters! I don’t understand how u expect Pple 2 get from their car 2 the muni meters and then back 2 put the receipt in the window! It’s literally sackonos nefoshos!!!!