City sidewalks frozen: what's an owner to do?

After snow and sleet storms gripped New York City streets in sheets of ice, property owners were once again faced with a choice of clean up or pay up.

Any owners who did not spend the time chopping away the ice were confronted with $50 fines. But, warned Dan Margulies, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, "they can give you one every day."

Technically, the law says that an owner or shopkeeper must clear the sidewalk of snow and ice within four hours of the end of a snowfall. If it stops snowing between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., the clock starts at 7 a.m., so the walk has to be cleared by 11 a.m. If the ice is frozen so hard that it cannot be removed without damaging the sidewalk, the owner can lay down ashes, sand, salt, sawdust or other suitable material and the ice must be cleared as soon as weather permits.

"You must keep the sidewalks clear," advised Jack Freund, acting president of the Rent Stabilization Association. While owners try to do that to the best of their ability, Freund thought it was preposterous for the city to be ticketing private owners heavily when the city itself was unable to keep the streets clear. "Once again there is a double standard for private owners. There should be a break for owners who are trying to do their best."

Over the weekend, the Sanitation Dept. started reminding people it was their responsibility to clear sidewalks and Sanitation would be giving out warnings. "On Monday we started to give out tickets," said spokesperson Kathy Dawkins. Between Monday and Thursday, there were 2,752 violations given out. A persistent offender with six or more tickets could receive a $100 fine, she added.

"As long as there was a path or some indication people had made an attempt to put some kind of abrasive down, we did not give out tickets," Dawkins said. "Even when the weather thaws, we only require a path," she added.

Marguiles said the Sanitation crews were trying to give the owners a break by allowing just a path to be cleared. "They give out 500 tickets every day normally," he noted.

Owner Mike Laub, a partner in the Realty Group that owns 4,500 units around the city, was glad he hadn't gotten a ticket but credited that to his employees, who he said do "too good" a job. "My staff is out there with their shovels, their ice picks. calcium chloride, salt and snow blowers," he said. "All my men are out working and trying to maintain the best sidewalks."

Laub's experienced staff and attitude seemed to be typical of the other owners PEW talked to.

Morris Sopher, president and owner of Sopher Real Estate, who owns about 60 buildings with 300 store properties, said while the tenants clear most sidewalks, there are occasional vacancies and driveways that are cleaned by his own crews. "We have gone through about a dozen bags of eighty pound salt in a week," he said, after the weekend storm had abated.

"Our crews have had to attack those to provide a path for pedestrians. We have done that without' any known accidents or violations taking place."

Sopher noted this has been historically the worst weather, - with a combination of snow, ice, freezing rain, freezing sleet, freezing snow, - the owners have ever encountered. "We've had to prioritize to minimize hazards to pedestrians," he explained.

Each vacant location takes the crew an hour or two to clear and Sopher complained the vacant stores are an easy target because no one is there to fight or negotiate, particularly on a regular, daily basis when the ticket agents are 1ooking for litter. "It's an oppressive, unfair violation," he said.

Howard Cohen, CPM, president, H.S.C. Management Crop, who owns and manages a number of residential buildings throughout the city that contain stores and some offices, 'said his company tries to prepare in advance for the winter.

"What we always do is prepare by ordering adequate quantities of pellets and so forth," he said. "We use different types of materials to protect and not to wear away the sidewalks." For larger buildings, Cohen contracts with private companies while his superintendents keep the home walks clear for the smaller ones. "We've been doing this for many, many years and we've not gotten any fines, thank heaven," he said, calling on deity greater than the Sanitation police.

Cohen will not be alone, either, in a prayer for a quick end to the accumulations inherent in winter weather.