Staten Island, Not Upper East Side, Has Most Snow Complaints This Winter

It’s been a blustery battle of the boroughs over which neighborhood has it the worst when it comes to unplowed streets.
 
When a snowstorm snarled traffic on Park Avenue Jan. 21, Upper East Siders said the city’s snowplows forgot about them.
 
"They screwed up," one woman quipped the next morning.  
 
Two weeks later, when another snowstorm hit, it was Staten Island that made the news for complaining about unplowed roads.
 
"Every time it snows, we either never get plowed, or it takes three days for the plows to come through," said Richard Cisak, as he dug his car out of a snow-covered street. 
 
So as another storm swirled toward the tri-state, the I-Team analyzed New York City 311 complaints and tallied the score on snow woes this winter. 
 
The winner -- or loser, depending on how you see it -- is Staten Island, hands down. 
 
So far this winter, more than 900 calls have been placed to 311 from each of Staten Island’s three community districts to complain about "snow removal." The Upper East Side had just over 250. 
 
The Upper East Side is smaller geographically, but has a slightly larger population than each of the three Staten Island districts.
 
And it didn't even rank second, third, or fourth when it comes to the most 311 complaints about unplowed streets.
 
Places like the Bronx community district near Williamsbridge, and the Queens districts that include Hollis and Floral Park all called in more complaints. 
 
 
Even after the Jan. 21 storm, when so much of the attention seemed focused on the Upper East Side, two of Staten Island’s three community districts were calling in more complaints than Upper East Siders, who logged 186 complaints over three days. 
 
Frank Morano, who chairs Staten Island Community Board 3, was frustrated to learn his neighborhood logged more complaints and yet problems on Manhattan streets seemed to suck up the post-storm publicity.
 
"Once again, we're the forgotten borough," said Morano. "Once again we're the step-child of the city."
 
Staten Island has led the city in snow-related 311 complaints going back to at least 2010, the data show. 
 
NBC 4 New York asked one Upper East Side resident whether she thought it was possible that her neighborhood was blowing its problems out of proportion.
 
“No, no, no, no,” said Doreen Levy, who lives on 62nd Street. “People with carriages could not even get across the street. ... You could not go anywhere.”
 
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