Eyewitness News Rides-Along With Snow-Plower During CNY Storm
By: Rachel Polansky
Updated: December 27, 2012
The biggest snowfall to hit Central New York in 2 years is here. Area
cities and surrounding villages usually urge people to stay inside
during a storm. But for some people, their job is to be outside, keeping
you safe.
Eyewitness News reporter Rachel Polansky spent the morning riding along with Art Risucci, an area snow-plower. He spent all day and night plowing over 40 driveways. But he says keeping people safe is what keeps him going.
"We got up at 2am, we went out at 3am, we went 3 times around with everybody," says Arthur Risucci, Art's Tree, Stump, Snow Removal.
Risucci says when a storm hits, he makes sure his customers are taken care of.
"ItLs a long-term relationship. when I get a plowing customer, I always tell them, it's not something I want for 1 year. I'm gonna do it the rest of my life so I wanna have customers that are gonna stay with me for a lot of years," says Risucci.
And he says he's been doing it for over 30 years, and for a few of the same customers.
"I still probably have 10-15 customers that I've done since day 1," says Risucci.
"I don't have to call him, he's always there when the snow is there," says Margaret Morris, Deerfield resident.
"I live all alone so it's rather necessary," says Evelyn Perry, Deerfield resident.
"I'm 81 years old. What if I had a heart attack, you gotta get out, so we need that driveway open," says Morris.
But Risucci says snow-plowing is no easy job.
"When it's snowing hard, we're looking for the addresses of drive ways, so it takes us a little longer. Everybody tries to go around you. It becomes dangerous," says Risucci.
Risucci says snow-plowers face more obstacles than people might think. The placement of your recycling bins and garbage cans, for example, can cause quite the delay.
"Either move the garbage pales or go around them. If you get out of the truck 20-30 times on your route, usually you're pretty wet," says Risucci.
And during a storm like this one, Risucci will plow at least 4 times for each customer.
"So we'll go back, sleep for a couple of hours and try to get back out by 2 o'clock this afternoon and do a final clean up," says Risucci.
We also spoke with the Utica Department of Public Works. They say they've been working day and night plowing over 200 miles of road. And they're planning to do another sweep at 10pm.
And due to the snow, the city of Utica is still under a snow emergency. A parking ban will be reinstated tonight at 10pm. At this time, all vehicles must once again be off city streets.
Eyewitness News reporter Rachel Polansky spent the morning riding along with Art Risucci, an area snow-plower. He spent all day and night plowing over 40 driveways. But he says keeping people safe is what keeps him going.
"We got up at 2am, we went out at 3am, we went 3 times around with everybody," says Arthur Risucci, Art's Tree, Stump, Snow Removal.
Risucci says when a storm hits, he makes sure his customers are taken care of.
"ItLs a long-term relationship. when I get a plowing customer, I always tell them, it's not something I want for 1 year. I'm gonna do it the rest of my life so I wanna have customers that are gonna stay with me for a lot of years," says Risucci.
And he says he's been doing it for over 30 years, and for a few of the same customers.
"I still probably have 10-15 customers that I've done since day 1," says Risucci.
"I don't have to call him, he's always there when the snow is there," says Margaret Morris, Deerfield resident.
"I live all alone so it's rather necessary," says Evelyn Perry, Deerfield resident.
"I'm 81 years old. What if I had a heart attack, you gotta get out, so we need that driveway open," says Morris.
But Risucci says snow-plowing is no easy job.
"When it's snowing hard, we're looking for the addresses of drive ways, so it takes us a little longer. Everybody tries to go around you. It becomes dangerous," says Risucci.
Risucci says snow-plowers face more obstacles than people might think. The placement of your recycling bins and garbage cans, for example, can cause quite the delay.
"Either move the garbage pales or go around them. If you get out of the truck 20-30 times on your route, usually you're pretty wet," says Risucci.
And during a storm like this one, Risucci will plow at least 4 times for each customer.
"So we'll go back, sleep for a couple of hours and try to get back out by 2 o'clock this afternoon and do a final clean up," says Risucci.
We also spoke with the Utica Department of Public Works. They say they've been working day and night plowing over 200 miles of road. And they're planning to do another sweep at 10pm.
And due to the snow, the city of Utica is still under a snow emergency. A parking ban will be reinstated tonight at 10pm. At this time, all vehicles must once again be off city streets.
