How Often Can Homeowners Be Expected To Shovel?

The Daily News ran a story yesterday about the rising number of tickets being given to property owners  by the Department of Sanitation for failing to shovel their ice and snow, including an account from one Westminster Road man who’s fighting his fine.

Ditmas Park’s Oscar “Isaac” Theil (here’s why that name sounds familiar) tells the paper that he shoveled in front of his home on the morning of January 3, but received a ticket at 8:50pm that night. A neighbor who saw him shoveling has since signed an affidavit on his behalf.

The DSNY says the large number of tickets they’ve handed out so far in 2014 have a lot to do with the incredible 19 inches of snow that’s already fallen this year. So far the borough tallies are 51 tickets for Staten Island, 90 for Manhattan, 603 for Queens, 636 in the Bronx, and 656 in Brooklyn.

Homeowners and superintendents are required to shovel and salt walkways in front of their buildings within four hours of snow stopping, with the exception of snow that continues to fall until after 9pm. But what happens to commuters when, say, the snow stops at noon? Folks who are away from home for the workday are at a clear disadvantage, even if they shovel before leaving in the morning while snow continues to fall.

What do you think the answer is in cases like Oscar’s? And has anyone else received a ticket following the recent snowfall–or been surprised when irresponsible neighbors didn’t get one?