Orange’s own ‘Stormin’ Norman salted the sidewalk outside his home on Thursday, Dec. 14, after a relatively light snowfall the night before. He was at it again on Friday, Jan. 5, after the blizzard on Thursday, Jan. 4, that prompted Gov. Chris Christie to declare a state of emergency across New Jersey.
EAST ORANGE / ORANGE, NJ — New East Orange Mayor Ted Green was sworn into office Monday, Jan. 1, just ahead of Winter Storm Grayson, the first blizzard of 2018 to hit New Jersey on Thursday, Jan. 4.
During his 12 years as 3rd Ward councilman, Green was known for organizing free snow removal for East Orange senior citizens and others not physically capable of shoveling their own properties. He put that experience and his network of volunteers to good use on Friday, Jan. 5, to dig out from the snowstorm that caused outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Christie to declare a state of emergency Thursday, Jan. 4.
According to city officials, Green started his second day in office on Tuesday, Jan 2, planning with key members of his team and the Local Emergency Preparedness Committee to ensure that East Orange city streets would be passable for travel and that citizens would receive real-time updates on winter advisories and closings or delays through a coordinated communications effort with the East Orange Board of Education. Board officials could not be reached for comment as the Record-Transcript went to press this week.
“You can never fool with Mother Nature and I am glad that we prepared for the worst case scenario, despite earlier predictions of only 1 to 2 inches of snow,” said Green in a press release on Friday, Jan. 5. “Our DPW team has been working tirelessly around the clock, since early Thursday morning, to keep our streets clear. As I rode around the city, I noticed that the major hindrances to our clean-up efforts were parked cars and people throwing snow back into the street.”
According to Christopher Coke, acting director of the East Orange Department of Public Works, in the press release, two dozen trucks began prepping the roads with approximately 350 tons of salt, starting at 2 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4.
“Plow operations continued until 8 p.m. and started again at 4 a.m. on Friday,” said Coke in the press release on Friday, Jan. 5. “I urge property owners, especially those of large multifamily buildings, not to throw snow back into the street.”
Moving forward, Green said his administration would execute “an aggressive enforcement campaign to get cars off the road in preparation for the next storm.” He also planned to coordinate with churches and other business owners to provide free parking to motorists who need to find “alternative parking” during major storms.
“Parked cars and counterproductive illegal activity, such as throwing snow back into the street, will not be allowed to jeopardize the safety of our entire community,” said Green. “The 3.9 square miles of our city makes snow removal a very manageable process. But we need the cooperation of everyone to make cleaning it up a success.”
In Orange, Mayor Dwayne Warren’s administration issued a winter weather advisory via email blast Wednesday, Jan. 3, that included links to the city’s official snow removal guide, and contact information for the city’s Snow Removal Hotline.
A list of church parking lots throughout the city that are authorized for usage by Orange residents during a snowstorm was also disseminated via email; these include: Bethel Baptist Church, 229 Wallace St.; Orange High School, 400 Lincoln Ave. and Clarendon Street; Saint Matthews AME Church, 336 Oakwood Ave.; Unity Baptist Church, 212 Pierson St.; and Our Lady of the Valley Church, 510 Valley St.
Residents using Our Lady of the Valley are authorized to park at the far end next to school only for snow removal. They are also advised to see snow parking signs.
Residents using Saint Matthews AME Church are authorized to park in that lot during snow storm. There are restrictions, however, on Sunday Services.
For information on snow removal or no parking rules, call the East Orange Mayor’s Office of Constituent Services at 973-266-5151. To receive community notifications, sign up at www.eastorange-nj.gov or visit Facebook and Twitter@EOCityHall.
For the Orange Snow Removal Hotline, call 973-266-4030, and for the My Orange Hotline, cal 973-280-1621.
Sister Cities cope with Winter Storm Grayson added by Chris Sykes on
View all posts by Chris Sykes →