by Jordan Allyn
As snowflakes began to bury New Haven’s streets Sunday morning, East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Smith mobilized the Neighborhood Snow Team.
Through her email newsletter and Instagram, Smith assembled 30 volunteers in a WhatsApp group. “We can message each other, and it can grow over the course of time to be responsive to snowstorms,” said Smith, who just began her second two-year term representing Ward 9 on the Board of Alders.
While she has recruited shovelers informally in the past, this winter storm required more planning. “Given the severity of the storm and the unpredictability of potential impact on neighbors,” said Smith, “it felt important to me to really make sure we had a snow team in place.” By 6 p.m. on Sunday, 10 inches of snow covered New Haven.
East Rock residents Debbie and Abigail Rossi needed support. “There’s so much snow, and my mother and I both have health issues, so we can’t do a lot of cardiac stuff like shovelling,” said Abigail. So the Neighborhood Snow Team ascended.
Andy Hathaway arrived 30 minutes early on Monday. “We’re not meeting until 10 a.m., but I was bored,” said Hathaway, who manages the Goatville Community Garden in East Rock.
Smith, then, climbed over the powdered heap with shovels at the ready. “A couple of them might be ones that I acquired when I was in college,” Smith said of the shovels. She started organizing neighborhood snow diggers in 2014 as an undergraduate at Yale.
Two cars and a fire hydrant hid entombed on East Street.
Emily Houston, Michael Hurst, Michelle Dewyngaert, and Julia Castner joined the winter excavation.
In the ten minutes before class, Rania Rakhshani delivered homemade brownie balls to the crew. “I’ll just leave them here. These are frozen to the plate,” said Rakhshani as she dashed off to class.
In between brownie bites and snow scoops, the team freed the hydrant and cars.
“Not everybody can lift a shovel. It’s actually pretty dangerous for some people,” said Houston, an ICU provider from Colorado. “It’s life or death,” Hurst said.
Dewyngaert added, “We have to care about our neighbors, it’s just, there’s no other option.”
Helping out the Rossis.
Alder Smith at work.