I’ve had it. What’s up with Troy?

I live here, pay exorbitant rent that single-handedly covers property taxes, admire the Fire Department and believe the Troy Police do a terrific job in a hard town…and think the City Council and the Mayor need to go. If not for the political in-fighting (remember the City Hall Takedown debacle and resulting fines?), finger-pointing, questionable ethics (as evidenced by last week’s corruption indictments), and good-old-boy-club deals (anyone else notice there are no women on City Council?) than for this: there is zero mandatory snow emergency policy that I can find. Nothing. Anywhere. Correct me if I’m wrong. But it has to be “m-a-n-d-a-t-o-r-y”.

You got it. It’s “voluntary”, as in the city is under siege from the snow and has a lack of a coordinated emergency snow removal policy that tells drivers where and when to park their vehicles and on which side of the street or face summary towing.

This afternoon, Feb. 1, local media outlets listed Snow Emergencies in Effect. All of the towns/cities have declared snow emergencies and have a policy telling drivers what to do. But guess what? Right the first time. This from Troy:

“City of Troy:

Mayor Harry Tutunjian called a “voluntary snow emergency” today “asking” people to park on the even side of their street on Thursday starting at 8AM and odd side of their street on Friday also starting at 8AM.”

Seriously. Are you kidding? This isn’t an invite to tea. “The pleasure of your company is requested on the other side of the street…” It’s time to make a definite statement in the face of another major storm. And this “please if you feel like it” is business as usual. Track it back for yourself.

This is a city and the streets are a mess with minimal clearance on either side and enormous banks. There’s no safe way for the elderly to get out to medical appointments or to buy food, unsafe conditions for school kids waiting for buses and crossing the street, negative conditions for emergency services trying to reach locations, and a killer for commerce…and its “voluntary”?

And where are these “volunteers” moving their cars? There’s NO ROOM. The streets are choked with snow.

Some of the streets are now so narrow they’re within inches of being impassable on either side. And we’re waiting for the teeth of this latest major storm.

It’s “Lord of the Flies” in Troy, NY.

Inexcusable.

And if there was a mass incident, it would magnify the disaster.

Fires in a crowded city…a relative with a heart attack or stroke…a child who can’t see over or around a massive snow bank without stepping into traffic…an elderly person who falls and is badly injured…or…

Can’t happen here. Keep thinking that way.

Let’s make it harder for everyone.

And where is the City Council in all this? Most of the residents in Troy, in the city, no matter the neighborhood, have no place to park BUT the street. How about some support for your constituents?

Does Troy even have plows? I’ve seen a few around but they can’t do much. Why? Because no one moves their car because there are no consequences. There’s no snow emergency policy like Albany has where you either move your car or it disappears until you find it and pay the fine.

Maybe the citizens of Troy are complacent accepting their lot from the Mayor and the City Council, or maybe they’ve just given up. Troy may go its own way on some other issues but this is a public safety issue. And it’s being mishandled.

High time to develop a coordinated mandatory plan for snow emergencies and snow removal.

What’s that date again for the next city election?