Long Beach digs out from Nemo

The city’s snow removal vehicles ran throughout Friday night and into Saturday as residents began the arduous task of digging out from the first major snowstorm since Hurricane Sandy.

City spokesman Gordon Tepper said that about 8- to 10-inches of snow covered the city, and that DPW crews were out sanding and salting the streets in the aftermath of the storm.

A coastal flood watch was in effect through the early morning last Saturday, though city officials said that the temporary sand barriers constructed on the beach in the aftermath of Sandy held during the blizzard, and protected the city from any significant flooding.

Jim LaCarrubba, commissioner of the Department of Public Works, said last Friday that city crews constructed sand barriers along the beach to protect the city during winter storms in the aftermath of Sandy because the city is still “vulnerable.” Crews are replenishing the beach with sand from “Mount Sandy,” the once five-story-high pile of sand removed from local streets that was trucked to the vacant Superblock property. All sand that was used to replenish and protect the beachfront received approval from the Department of Environmental Conservation, LaCarrubba said.

Governor Cuomo last Friday, who urged New Yorkers to avoid traveling and stay inside their homes until the worst of the storm has passed, had declared a state of emergency. Cuomo urged residents to stay off the roads, but by noon Saturday in Long Beach, Tepper said that roads in the city were “safe and passable.”