As news broke Monday that Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine is away on vacation as residents cope with the blizzard's aftermath, Three Village Patch readers reported more than 70 streets in town untouched by plows.
"This situation has gone from mere incompetence to outright negligence," commenter Shawn Nuzzo said.
Public school officials in Three Village were forced to cancel school a second day, with a school spokeswoman saying the dangerous roads were the reason why school officials made that decision.
"What I can not understand is there are streets in our area that are so clean you can see the blacktop, then there are streets with 30 inches of snow that have not been touched!" commenter JA said.
Commenter Deborah in the neighborhood of Old Field South said: "This is disgraceful. There are no excuses anymore for this."
Commenter Joseph, who lives on Caroline Avenue, said: "It is the smallest street and every surrounding street is done... did they just somehow forget this road?"
Brookhaven Town officials have not responded to multiple requests for comment regarding streets that have not yet been plowed as of Monday evening. On Sunday, Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, who lives in the Three Village area, wrote a scathing open letter to Romaine and acting highway superintendent Michael Murphy.
"Understanding that this nearly 30 inches snow fall is perhaps the worst in record – there still appears to be a complete and systematic breakdown in the ability of the Town Highway Department to respond to this crisis. ... We need to fully assess all town, county, state, and maybe national ability – as well as private means – to clear these local town roadways," Fiore-Rosenfeld wrote in the letter.
He warned that emergency responders were going to have a difficult time reaching people who needed help, and he was right. Fire chiefs from both the Setauket Fire Department and the Stony Brook Fire Department acknowledged their crews had trouble reaching those in need during urgent calls for help.
Two areas that appeared to have fewer problems with plows were the villages of Poquott and Old Field, both of which had to establish private contracts after the town ended its policy of plowing snow for the villages last year.
"The Town no longer provides snow removal or salt/sanding for any Brookhaven Village. We’re all on our own," said Poquott Mayor Barbara Donovan. "Considering the amount of snow we received, our contractors did a great job."
Old Field Mayor Michael Levine echoed her sentiments. "Our village did fine, thanks to our snow removal contractor, Joe LaRosa. He was incredibly on top of things, and our residents were extremely satisfied with the way the main roads in the village were cleared," he said.
Late Monday evening, some commenters on the Three Village Patch Facebook page reported that plows had started to come through at last. But one commenter reported that a payloader plowing snow without any lights reportedly destroyed a cable junction box that took out services to that block's residents in East Setauket.
"This is truly pathetic...one local storeowner said it best... 'it's like we are living in a third world country!'" commenter Reality Check said.
Has your block been plowed yet? How do you feel about the situation in your part of Brookhaven Town? Keep the discussion going by logging into Patch and commenting here.
