IT WAS ASKING FOR IT

NYC sanitation workers destroy a Ford Explorer

(Thanks to Jeff Meyerson)

Belated Bad Language Advisory: The language is not good.

Comments

[Jeff Meyerson]

I guess I should have noted "bad language" in case they mind that at work.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Thanks, Jeff, for helping them destroy a Ford.

[Loudmouth]

Friendly municipal snow clearing service.

[Jeff Meyerson]

I can't take any credit for this one.

I know the streets of Brooklyn Heights are narrow but this is moronic.

[Theresa]

Real smooth move!

[queensbee]

the video is hilarious. the workers, not so much.

[nursecindy]

Did these morons not hear the crunch of the car while they were 'doing their job'? Please note these were male drivers.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Yup - yelling out the window at a snow crew who's probably been working double shifts in freezing weather just to keep the roads clear is moronic. Those guys have probably had it with people screaming at them to keep their city clear during a blizzard.

Yes, they shouldn't have hit the Explorer. But the moron yelling out the window wasn't helping. He coulda gone downstairs and helped shovel them out instead of sitting cozy in his shorts and fugly bare feet. Maybe that's the difference between city people and country folk. We help each other. Booger.

[Jeff Meyerson]

But if he went outside he wouldn't have been able to get the cool video! And he'd have had to get dressed.

Yeah, the long shifts etc. might be an excuse but if you've seen these guys in action on a daily basis some of them are just cowboys who don't give a sh!t.

[LeDud]

This was like Team America in action. I envision the tow truck driver saying "No need to thank us citizen" to the Fords owner.

[Clankazoid]

When you hire Laurel and Hardy to clean the streets, what do you expect ?

[nursecindy]

Sorry but I think these guys could have done a better, more professional job. I've worked double shifts before and I still had to do it in a professional manner. Mainly because if I hadn't someone may have died. I'm sure there's a number they could call to report drivers that are parked illegally. Instead of crunching the car I would have towed it out of the way first. Of course I'm not a NYC worker.

[nursecindy]

I would like to add something to my comment of which I am slightly ashamed. I am not a NYC worker however, I did flip a guy off in the Walmart parking lot earlier today. I was waiting for the car in front of me to move and he started blowing his horn at me so he could back up out of a parking space. I'm not sure where he thought I was going to go since there was another car behind me. So I'm not a NYC worker but occasionally I do act like one.

[Not My Usual Alias]

Snow removal in Chicago is an art as much as it is a science, especially in an election year. .

In the burb where we live, there is a really really big piece of equipment at the train station that can clear a lane of snow at a swipe. Big as in the guy climbs on the top of a pickup to get to the ladder. If you leave your car at the train station overnight, you might not find it until Spring.

Still, those guys are absolute sculptors with the machinery. They clear the snow to within six inches of my exposed bumper. Usually the crews for the parking lot come after clearing the streets for the city.

I understand that the Explorer was city-owned, so it might be a case of wrong guys with the wrong tools. You have to love overtime limits taking out experienced crews.

[pogo]

The commentator and the subjects are examples of how many of us perceive NYC - a place everyone should be required to visit once every 5 years - an amazing place with amazing stuff and a lot of rude, uncaring people.

[Steve]

Years ago, when a stoplight turned green and I started through an intersection I had to slam on the brakes as a car went through the intersection from right to left.
Inside were two little old ladies. Literally, since the driver could barely be seen above the door. From what I saw, she was well dressed and distinguished.
As they went by, the driver glared at me and flipped me an absolutely perfect bird.
I have admired that lady for most of my life, now.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Here's the latest from the horse's mouth (so to speak) rather than mindless speculation: the woman who owns both cars damaged by the Sanitation guy was on the news, hiding her identity for fear of retaliation.

The two cars were parked legally. Her husband does work for the city and it was his Explorer. They said it will be "handled internally" i.e. we the taxpayers will pay for it. They smashed it into the wife's Corolla in front of the Ford, doing damage to the windows, etc. You couldn't see the passenger side of the Explorer but it was a wreck.

Incidentally, she was thankful the guy was filming to document what happened. She and several other neighbors were out yelling at the guy to stop, to no avail.

He got his supervisor on the phone, who told the woman, "We have work to do" and hung up on her.

[Annie Where-but-here]

nursecindy, I read somewhere that there were 148 ambulances stuck in the snow in NYC. That's the main reason they were trying to clear the streets and doing it in a hurry (Fords-be-damned)-for emergency vehicles to get thru. And for nurses like you to get to work. :)

I can just imagine the screaming the tow guy was getting from his boss over the radio, never mind the people watching him scrape the Ford. NYC isn't equipped for snow like this, so they freak.

For his sake, I sure hope that foul-mouthed dork in the shorts doesn't need a ride to the hospital anytime soon.

[Wes S.]

I'm sure this footage will find its way into a campaign ad for whoever runs against Bloomberg, come the next election...

[KrisL]

People who don't care if they damage cars that were legally parked deserve to have to go looking for work.

The last time I flipped someone off was when I was in a parking lot and was waiting for this guy to pull around so that I could get where I wanted to go (slightly confusing parking lot, he was pulling out of a drive-thru). For some reason, he started making stupid faces at me. I sat there for a few seconds, getting more and more irritated, and then flipped him off. It's not like this guy knew me and was trying to be funny. Maybe he was trying to be funny, but it was an odd thing to do to a stranger. Normally, I consider it dangerous to flip someone off, so I try to avoid doing it.

[O the U(manity)]

The last time I observed a person so inept @ operating an articulated front-end loader, we left him in a snowbank ... by spring, only a few bones (those not consumed by the coyotes) could be found ...

Merely sayin' ...

Really? Of COURSE NOT!

Another guy found his gloves, and I managed to salvage his boots ... they weren't in bad condidtion, once I got the remains cleaned off of 'em ...

[Moe]

Perhaps, for some weather-related reason, the regular scraper driver couldn't make it to work and this poor guy got to sub in. I would not want to operate one of those in the snow, especially in NYC...attached to a grumpy tow truck driver playin' crack the whip.

[nursecindy]

*makes note to never drive a front end loader in front of OtheU* Of course first I would have to figure out what a front end loader is.

[nursecindy]

btw, since Dave is posting does this mean he is back from vacation? If so what did he bring us?

[hogsatemysister]

This will NEVER happen when the TSA starts to pat-down municipal workers. Then, all Fords will be safe.

[queensbee]

just one point.... bloomie is in his last term. nobody will be running against him. he is done. so, nobody is going to run any ads about the poor removal of snow....he will be gone, and he doesnt care. he's the richest SOB, he just doesnt care.
he tricked new yawkas into changing the city charter so he could run for a 3rd term. somehow, he won. but he is now toast. he cant run again, because this time they changed the charter so he cant have 3 terms. nobody can. anyway, in the last week over 400 city workers were laid off. that's not an excuse for poor work, but there is just so much to do, and not enuf people, many whose attitude stinx.
the city has insurance to cover costs of what they did to that family's vehicles. insurance, not the city, will pay for it. BUT - it would be nice if the workers who did it could pay. but that isnt how insurance works. and what good would it do to fire them?? just adds to the unemployment rolls. demote them, or penalize. it can be done, and they have the evidence on tape.

[O the U(manity)]

n'c' ... "Articulated front-end loader" is a sumwhut generic nomenclature for machines that resemble that orange one smackin' the autos in the video ... "articulated" becuz it bends in the middle (some, having a rigid frame, do not), for shorter turning radii and greater maneuverability ... "loader" becuz that's whut it does, mostly, it scoops up stuff and moves it around and then dumps it, often into a "truck" (NOT a "pickup") whereupon it is hauled to some other location and dumped (hence: "dump truck") ... "front-end" becuz the loading device (bucket) is on the front, in the direction that the driver faces during operation, rather than on the "back" which is really more of a "backhoe"-type operational status ... merely FYI, and becuz y'all asked so very nicely ...

[O the U(manity)]

... and, no ... we din't really abandon him to the coyotes and mountain lions ... we merely made him walk home ...

(This is the general type of werk which I do ... winter time means movin' snow ... I'm fortunate enuf -- so far -- that I get to run the small loader ("skid-steer" or "Bobcat") tho lately I've been drivin' the snow plow ... only wiped out one mailbox so far ... (our "Champion" destroyed four boxes in one swipe, last year) (Yes, we also replace mail boxes ... )

[Jeff Meyerson]

They do things a little differently in Boston, apparently.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Articulated Front-End Loader would NOT BAGNFARB, however.

[Loudmouth]

Articulated Front-End Loader would NOT BAGNFARB, however.

Really the roadies who pack and unpack the semi, not the band.

[Meanie the Blue]

♪ If I can crunch it there, I’ll crunch it anywhere
The tab's on you - New York, New York! ♫

[Annie Where-but-here]

The other night I myself nearly scraped a few Fords driving this articulated one-horse. Driving that thing is way harder than it looks!

Tonight I'm being taken out for a drive in the Cinderella coach. I feel like such a princess!

Oh, and no snow. Just clip, clop, clip, clop....jingle...

[Not My Usual Alias]

The last time I saw a horse-drawn contraption, the driver was wearing a bear suit. The passenger's cigarette accidently hit his costume, setting the mask on fire.

He was a furry with a singed-off top.

[Afkat]

As a Canadian, one of the coolest things I like about attending this blog is the insight it gives me into how our American cousins think. On so many diverse issues.

And this particular thread is a perfect example of that.

I can honestly say that I have never met an American that I did not like. Canadians and Americans...we are so close, but yet different in so many ways.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing :)

[nursecindy]

Good one, NMUA. As for the parking situation in NYC and Boston, all of this just makes me love my driveway even more.

[Annie Where-but-here]

*snoooork* @ NMUA!

(as for the front-end loader, not sure why he didn't use his bucket to lift his front tires out of trouble. That's what we used to do.)

[Wingnut]

Got all the way to the bottom before someone came up with the solution but I'm proud of you, Annie for knowing that you can just put the lip of the bucket on the ground and use the tilt to push the machine back. Didn't need a tow truck.

[Elon]

Annie, you can write and get a truck out of snow? That's practically renaissance woman-worthy.

[pogo]

Annie - you beat me to it! At one point it was too late though. The back end of the loader was so close to the parked car that bending it at all would have forced the butt end into the car.

A little better might have been to ease the loader down hill away from the parked vehicles and use the WINCH on the tow truck to snake it back up hill. The tow operator acts like he doesn't know he has one.

[Meanie the Blue]

I'll bet a border collie would have had that loader out in two minutes without the tow.

[Jeff Meyerson]

A blind border collie could have done better, Meanie.

That was an ugly job.

[pogo]

Border collies are wise enough to stay put of places like that - there's no space, no open land, and no livestock to work. For them it has a lot in common with hell.

[Steve]

A few miles south of the Atlanta airport on I-75 is an exit ramp to the town of Flippin GA.
A couple of years back, we were driving by when I noticed the sign.
Casually, I told my kids and wife that it was a famous place. My wife took the bait and asked, "Why?"
"Because it's the Flippin off-ramp," I said.
Sounds like the fame is spreading.

[Annie Where-but-here]

We had a Ford 335 front-end loader when I was growing up. But it wasn't articulated. And yes, we often used it to clear snow.

My dad was management for the New York State Dept of Transportation. He said he preferred hiring female machine operators because they were easier on the hydraulic systems of the equipment. Sexist, perhaps, but saving your tax dollars.

Pogo, I agree - at that point he was in too far to 'bucket' his way out, but he could have pulled forward, I think. Rather slick going without chains...

Just read that the 911 response times in NYC were horrible - 200 ambulances stuck in the snow! One woman in labor lost her baby - so sad....I'd like to think this snow crew was scrambling and wrecking stuff just to clear the dang streets so emergency vehicles could get thru...

[Ernie G]

"Belated Bad Language Advisory: The language is not good."

But appropriate.

[Spiny Norman]

I'd like to think this snow crew was scrambling and wrecking stuff just to clear the dang streets so emergency vehicles could get thru...

Well, I don't think haste excuses incompetence.

Where I used to live, heavy snowfall was fairly common. It was perfectly legal to park on the street, except when it snowed, then this notice came into play:

Vehicles blocking snowplows will be towed at owner's expense.

If you were parked on the street, you were automatically "blocking" the snowplow. I can only imagine how many hundreds of $375 impound fees the City collected every winter.

[nursecindy]

Imagine if someone had been in the cars they destroyed?

[Telecomdropout]

We have new street signs in our neighborhood, too.
I don't have the exact verbiage, but you can't park your cars on north/south hills anymore when it's raining. We live in the Station Fire area, and got the new signs last spring. So far so good - we haven't had any slides, but there are still people who don't read the signs - the tow trucks were VERY busy during our rainstorms !

[Annie Where-but-here]

Hi Tele- my commute takes me thru a fire area...lots of little slides oozing toward the road...makes for an interesting drive. Lots more rain coming our way, too. Near freezing for the Rose Parade campers - yikes.

[Telecomdropout]

Hiya Annie !
We're hoping the slides remain little. We did a safety drive around the neighborhood this weekend, and we still look ok - but neither one of us is a geologist ! The county has been doing a good job of keeping the catch-basins clear - been dodging skip-loaders and dump trucks all week.
So glad I don't do the Rose Parade anymore - we did it every year of hi school - but then, we could walk home afterwards. I'd need an RV to do it now - for the bathroom, mostly, but also for the warmth !!!

[oneblankspace]

I remember a bad snow in Chicago in Jan'99. Hizzonna got on TV saying something like "Okay, I've got half of you complaining that we haven't plowed your streets/alleys yet, and half of you complaining that we have."

[Caitlin]

As a NYC resident, I'd just like to add they weren't working double shifts - because there's no overtime being allowed in NYC right now - which is why three days after the storm half the streets in Brooklyn and Queens aren't plowed and most of the above ground subways aren't running. People are really pissed, which I suspect added to the tension in the video. Honestly, though, there was empty space BEHIND the Explorer that they could have backed up into to give the Explorer more room. Plus, if that's really a NYC car, then my tax dollars are going to pay those drivers and will be paying to fix that car...which we really need when the city's already broke.

[O the U(manity)]

HAR! @ JEFF & LOUD' & ANNIE & NMUA & a bunch of y'all others ...

I gotta admit tho ... today while drivin' the snowplow (NOT an AFEL, or Back-end-loader, either) ... I wuz kinda sorta tempted to do a similar job on sum folks who parked their vehicle ON the road I wuz tryin' to clear ...

Not as if it wuz an "emergency" situationalness, either ... they wuz goin' cross-country skiing ... RECREATIONALIZATION!!! Sum folks got no sense ...

Now, if I'd've had an AFEL, I could've scooped up a bunch of snow & built a little fort around their SUV ...

Fortunately, for all concerned, the itch to chastise wuz brief, and I've still got a job ...

[Kev]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it yet, but the Auto-Tuned version of that video is pretty amusing...