Winter Storm Juno has Brooklyn jumping

January 26, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The city is getting ready for winter storm Juno. AP Photo/Richard Drew

Share this:

Officials in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Coney Island and other Brooklyn communities didn’t wait for Juno to make her appearance to start preparing for the monster winter storm.

Even before the first snowflakes hit the ground, storm preparations began.

Community Board 10 (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights) officials monitored the weather reports carefully and made the decision Sunday night to postpone the board’s monthly meeting that had been scheduled for Monday night at Shore Hill, 9000 Shore Road in Bay Ridge.

“Chair Brian Kieran has tentatively postponed the January General Board meeting to Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7:15 p.m.,” Beckmann wrote in an email she sent to board members Sunday night.

The location for the re-scheduled board meeting has yet to be determined, Beckmann said.

The community board’s district office at 8119 Fifth Ave. would remain open on Monday, according to Beckmann, who said she would be keeping in close touch with the New York City Department of Sanitation throughout the day to obtain information on the agency’s progress in plowing local streets.

In any major weather-related event, Brooklyn neighborhoods become like small towns where neighbor helps neighbor. Councilmember Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park-Red Hook) said that is certainly the case with Winter Storm Juno.

Menchaca wrote in an email to his constituents that a number of civic organizations in his council district were “gearing up to assist residents in the coming days – with special attention paid to our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Menchaca, who was keeping in close touch with these organizations, said he planned to disseminate the information on how homebound, vulnerable residents could get help shoveling snow from their sidewalks and get help with other necessities.

And he urged any group that is interested in providing help to get in touch with his office by calling 718-439-9012 or emailing [email protected] so that he could get the word out.

Menchaca also said he wanted to hear “questions or concerns” from residents “in advance of, throughout, and after the storm.” He would forward all inquiries to the city’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

“They will dispatch the appropriate response team,” he said.

In the southern end of Brooklyn, Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst) expressed concern over the snow storm’s possible impact on the coastal areas of his district. He urged residents to be prepared.

“For those living in coastline areas prone to flooding, this is not only a snow event. This will be a coastal event as well with potential of severe beach erosion and flooding,” Treyger posted on his Facebook page.

The councilmember, who said Coney Island and other parts of his district were severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, also posted a memo from OEM.

“Moderate coastal flooding during Monday night into early Tuesday morning. High surf and significant beach erosion expected,” the memo read in part.

Treyger said he would be closely monitoring developments relating to the winter storm. “I will be in touch with various city agencies throughout the day to provide everyone with the latest information,” he wrote told his constituents on Facebook.