Serving Long Island & New York Area    516.263.CHEF

BLIZZARD 2003 DOESN'T STOP DJ CHEF

Dedicated caterer "DJ CHEF" Marc Weiss delivers during historic storm.

With a dinner party booked in Manhattan for Monday evening, February 17, 2003, chef Marc Weiss knew there was a problem brewing when the weatherman predicted the worst storm of our time was going to hit New York Sunday & continue into Monday night. "Are you going to be able to make it" says Stacey Spencer of Manhattan."They're calling for up to 2 feet of snow with blizzard like conditions! It's going to be tough, but if I get my car out of the snow--I'm there.", Marc replies. Marc hired car & driving expert Peter Rubenstein and with waitress Joan Baim the team was in place...."Blizzard 2003" was the headline on every station:

     Newsday reports; "There really is no such thing as a 'perfect storm' but this is definitely historic," said John Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton. "Fifteen or 20 years from now, people are going to say 'I remember the Presidents Day storm of 2003,' and everyone will know what they're talking about." The snow totals were eye-popping. The weather service confirmed 23.5 inches in Farmingdale, 22 inches in North Babylon, 21 inches in New Hyde Park, 18 inches in Plainview, 21.5 in West Islip, and 15 in Southold. Even the laggards had plenty to shovel; Valley Stream had 14.1 inches and Islip 14. Blinding winds of more than 30 mph - gusts topped 55 mph all day - toyed with the legions of road crews, who managed to clear highways only to see drifts bury on-ramps and off-ramps from Long Beach to Westhampton. Hour by hour, the drifting snow erased gains made by the plow drivers, who found that the roads, while lonely, were not entirely deserted. "We're in a state of emergency but, incredibly, people are still driving around," said Bill Masterson, highway superintendent for Southold Town. "People are kind of crazy. They're calling us and saying 'How are the roads to Manhattan?'" Even as plows rumbled through the streets, the storm transformed Long Island into a snow-muffled network of ghost towns. Homeless people in Nassau used a new hot-line system to call into local agencies and ask for help as the storm front approached; 19 people were provided shelter in this way.

Photo: E.G. & Stacey Spencer in their west village loft enjoy DJ CHEF Marc Weiss' four course meal with friends during "Blizzard 2003".

       

Elsewhere, residents apparently had heeded officials' warnings to stay off the roads and remain indoors. By noontime, children emerged for snowball fights, and a few residents ventured out to clear their walks and driveways.With the plodding storm forecast in plenty of time, local and state governments were able to respond with overwhelming force. At the storm's height, at least 2,000 trucks and plows were clearing the roads. The state Department of Transportation dispatched 197 plows. Suffolk deployed 75 county plows and another 175 private contractors, and Nassau deployed 115 vehicles to remove snow and throw down salt and sand.

Driving conditions were so wicked in the morning that road crews worked without impeding traffic. "We didn't have that early morning got-to-get-to-work thing, and that made it easier for our folks," state DOT spokeswoman Margaret Conklin said.
Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney declared a snow emergency as of 8 a.m. yesterday, banning anyone without snow tires, all-weather tires or chains from driving on major highways.

Huddled with other senior officials at the Suffolk police command center in Yaphank, Suffolk Police chief of patrol Thomas P. Compitello said most calls from the public came from people stuck on side roads that had not been plowed.

Suffolk police assigned six four-wheel-drive vehicles to the Long Island Expressway and another six to Sunrise Highway to assist motorists, he said. Additionally, he said the National Guard was supplying six Humvees to the department - one per precinct - driven by military personnel but with a police officer accompanying them for rescue work.

  

"Most people aren't moving around," Compitello said. "Of course, there's always the large SUVs going 75 mph and spinning out of control. Those people don't use their heads."

At midday, Gov. George Pataki declared a snow emergency for New York City's five boroughs, Long Island and a dozen upstate counties. New Jersey took a heavier hit, with snow depths up to 24 inches, collapsing roofs and coastal flooding. As of 6 p.m. Monday, the snow depth in Central Park stood at 19.5 inches, making the wintry juggernaut of Feb. 16-17, 2003, the fourth-largest snowstorm in Gotham's 134 years of recorded weather archives.

Another 0.8 inches and the Presidents Day Blizzard would become No. 3 all time, surpassing the 20.2 inches of the last major storm, on Jan. 7-8, 1996.


"As they say in Hollywood & The Catering Business.....The show must go on!" -"DJ CHEF" Marc Weiss  2/17/03

Copyright © Marc Weiss, DJ CHEF  1996-2003

Drake Media Network Inc.

"DJ CHEF" ™  is a registered trademark

Permission to reproduce limited to editorial use in newspapers and other regularly

published periodicals and television news programming. All other rights reserved.