'Hard to keep up': Those venturing out on LI find it's tough sledding

As the snowstorm buried Long Island on Saturday, streets and roads largely were quiet, but some hardy people tried to shovel to stay ahead of the accumulation. A gas station manager in Mount Sinai, despite seeing limited business, vowed to stay open all day. A snowplow driver in Riverhead was making his rounds, again and again. And the dogs still needed to be walked.

Tough task in Long Beach

About 4½ inches of snow were on the ground before 9 a.m. in Long Beach. Building porter Zack Boylan took a break in the garage entrance from shoveling the sidewalk along West Broadway.

"There really isn't much point in me shoveling now because it just blows back," the 23-year-old Freeport resident said. "Probably better for me to wait until the wind dies down."

— James T. Madore

Drifting in Mattituck

Joe Brynda, a snowplow driver in Mattituck on the North Fork, talked about the conditions during a break Saturday morning. The wind wasn't helping. "There's some drifting, you know, around the side roads in Jamesport, and Herricks Lane," he said.

Asked about the worst part of the storm, Brynda answered quickly. "The wind. I hate the wind."

—Cecilia Dowd

Dogged determination

In Long Beach at 11:30 a.m., the wind had picked up.

The streets were largely clear of motorists and only a couple of people were seen walking dogs or removing snow and ice from vehicles.

The plows were out in force, but the blowing snow and ice still made for slippery streets.

"It looks like they're going to need tomorrow to remove this mess," said Jen Wallace, 32, of Long Beach who was walking her dog along Grand Avenue, referring to the plow drivers.

— James T. Madore

Open all day in Mount Sinai

At the Sunoco gas station on Route 25A in Mount Sinai just after noon Saturday, Susantha Rajapaksha, the station manager, said business was limited mostly to those who were driving plows or trucks.

Still, the station planned to stay open all day.

"If something happens, we may need to close, but right now we plan to stay open 24 hours," Rajapaksha said. "We came in early in the morning and I think we might be able to stay open."

Rajapaksha said the early-morning conditions were about the same as they were just after noon: blowing snow, and a lot of it.

— Jean-Paul Salamanca

Advice from Riverhead: 'Just stay home'

Scott Sulzer, who works for the Town of Riverhead, was plowing a sidewalk downtown on Saturday. He said he had been working since midnight.

"The wind, and the amount, is hard to keep up with," he said. "I go through my route and before you know it, I'm redoing it again and it doesn't even look like I did anything."

Sulzer said there was "nobody" out.

"There shouldn't be anybody out. And the ones that are getting out here, they're joy riding to see what's around, but they're getting stuck. ... just stay home," he said.

—Cecilia Dowd

An overnight at Town Hall

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin said he spent the night at Hempstead Town Hall with his Wheaton terrier, Brady, surveying the town’s 1,200 miles of roads. He said he brought the dog along as company, and that he enjoys the snow.

"The snow is fresh and the roads are in good shape, but it’s definitely slick," Clavin said Saturday morning.

— John Asbury

Early breakfast in Eastport

In the ghost town that is downtown Eastport — and most of the East End — during big snowstorms and other inclement weather, Citarelli’s Market is always first to open. Sometimes it’s the only place for plow truck drivers and locals to catch breakfast and a cup of coffee. "We have a tradition of being open," said owner Joe Lennon. "People expect you to be open."

He has owned the shop, which has been around since 1938, for the last five years. "We’ve got good people working here," he said.

Most live nearby. And everyone pitches in, shoveling the walkway, packing shelves.

As for the plow truck drivers who frequent the place, Lennon says keeping open for them no matter the weather, and at 5 a.m., is a "two-way street."

They have a place to catch an early breakfast, and Citarelli’s does a brisk business.

"They know it's open. They're out there, they're working hard and they're hungry. Where they going to go? They're going to go where it's open," Lennon said.

— Mark Harrington

Baby rescued from locked car

A Suffolk County police officer rescued a baby accidentally left inside a locked pickup truck as brutal conditions persisted outside, Suffolk County police said.

Officer James Garside responded to a 911 call and used a lockout kit to unlock a door of the Dodge Ram in a parking lot in Huntington Station on Saturday afternoon.

"It took me two to three minutes from start to finish to open up the rear door on the passenger side," said Garside.

The officer did not know how long the baby was stuck inside the truck but said the parents were relieved to be reunited with their infant.

"People lock themselves out of a car on a daily basis but when it’s a blizzard and temperatures are freezing it’s even more of a concern," he added.

— Lorena Mongelli

Taking calls for assistance

In the depths of the Town of Huntington Highway Department building on Rofay Drive in East Northport, behind a maze of offices and through some hallways is the pulse of the department.

There you will find a gaggle of cubicles placed tightly together where the department’s dispatchers dispatch. They are all dressed comfortably in layers because when they left home Friday night, they knew they would be spending a long time at the office.

"We worked a normal day yesterday, 7 to 4, went home and came back at 8 o’clock," said Ashley Pastore, a dispatcher for three years.

It was about 2 p.m. Saturday and the workday wasn’t even close to being finished.

Pastore is one of a team of staffers who work behind the scenes every day at the Rofay Drive headquarters, a second facility in East Northport and on Oakwood Road in Huntington.

They take calls from residents about downed trees, potholes and requests for overgrowth cutbacks along the town’s 800 miles of road. On a snow day things can get particularly busy with calls coming in from distressed stranded people or panicked homeowners concerned because of a power outage.

Highway Superintendent Andre Sorrentino said the dispatchers, there are about a dozen and all women, are the unsung heroes of the town’s response to storms.

"Being in the street is hard but to do what they do, to deal with complaints and people who are not happy, it’s tough," Sorrentino said. "And no one complains."

Pastore said because of the timing of this storm there were slightly fewer calls.

"Right now, it’s a little bit slower just because we’re getting so much snow and it’s a Saturday, so we lucked out on that because there is no school and people aren’t trying to get to work," she said. "Tomorrow I think we’re going to experience a little bit more calls coming in because people are getting cabin fever."

Dispatcher Toniann Lattanzio, said storm coverage is all in a day’s work.

"It’s our job to make sure the roads are safe and that’s part of the duty of working for the Highway Department," she said. "It’s what you sign up for, it’s your job to watch the weather and know if you’re going to be called in."

— Deborah Morris