Another Great Snowstorm

With blizzard conditions socking it to the area, we started discussing bad snow storms that we could remember. Then one of our industrious staffers did a search for the worst snowstorms. He found one in particular, from the evening of January 28, 1922 that had a record 25 inches of snowfall. Three miles away was a slightly different measured amount of 30 inches. 

Photo credit: WeatherBook.com

Apparently, several hundred people fought their way through the greatest snowstorm in Washington DC’s history to see a show at the Knickerbocker Theater, then the city’s largest and most modern moving picture theater of the time. Unbeknownst to the theater patrons, the Knickerbocker Theater’s flat roof was tremendously burdened by the weight of the snow. 

Shortly before 9:00 p.m., the Knickerbocker Theater’s orchestra was play­ing for the intermission. The lights had dimmed and the people were returning to their seats. Suddenly, a loud hissing noise filled the room. The ceiling, weighed down from the snow, had begun to split apart down the middle. The few people who had noticed the splitt­ing ceiling dove under their seats or ran for the door. As the roof fell in, it collapsed the theater’s balcony and pulled down portions of the surrounding brick walls, killing 98 people and injuring 133. Some of Washington’s prominent politicians and business owners were among the casualties. The disaster ranks as one of Washington’s worst in history, and the snowstorm continues to hold the record for Washington’s single greatest snowfall. 

Looking into the orchestra pit of the Knickerbocker Theater. 
Photo credit:WeatherBook.com

Locally, in separate incidents years ago, the Town’s two bowling alleys also experienced roof collapses due to snow weight. The Elmsford Lanes on Saw Mill River Road, had a roof collapse from snow weight but was repaired and reopened. Ultimately, it became what is now known as Sportime USA. Also collapsing from the weight of snow was the roof on the old Skytop Lanes on Knollwood Road. It was subsequently torn down and replaced with office buildings. More digging, no pun intended, by staffers found numerous roof collapses in the area due to snow. It’s more common than you might think. In fact, ABG has just learned that a sports bubble in Mt Vernon, NY, has just collapsed under the weight of today’s snowstorm! We’ve always questioned the stability and safety of inflatable domes.

We even recall back in the late 1960’s there was a significant snow storm in our area that shut down just about everything. In fact, one staffer recalls that Olivieri Construction, along with others, used bulldozers to create a path in several neighborhoods to allow access by emergency vehicles. He even recalls seeing a Volkswagen Beetle being the only vehicle able to fit in the path. Apparently the driver went for supplies for the neighbors. 

We've already learned of several deaths due to today’s storm. If you don’t need to go out, stay home, play some games, watch a movie, catch up on house work or just relax. But please stay safe. It helps us have A Better Greenburgh. 

Sports Bubble Collapses Along With Feiner’s Dreams

A news article from Waldwick, New Jersey, where GameOn 365 claims they operate their smaller, “sister” sports bubble, revealed their bubble collapsed yesterday under the weight of the snow! At the last Town Board meeting, Mr Jones, the latest Feiner convert to join the Board, stated he had visited Waldwick to see the bubble and as any good “Feinercrat” is wont to do, he began espousing it was in a residential neighborhood. The bubble he referred to is buffered with a ball field adjacent to the residential neighborhood, but is still in an industrial park. The entire complex is most probably paying commercial tax rates, not residential. This will not be the case with the 8-story bubble Mr Feiner plans to “green light” in the latest scam with GameOn 365. The bubble will be imposing to any of the homes near this latest proposal at the golf driving range.

Photo Credit: CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM: Mary Beth Lane Nappi

At the last Town Board meeting when the discussion of the GameOn 365 Zoning Change Request was brought up, so was the issue of safety. The speaker claimed he had heard of a bubble that had just collapsed, which if correct, now makes two that were unable to withstand Mother Nature. Yet the bubble that collapsed yesterday is almost the size of the one to be installed on Dobbs Ferry Road! Each time GameOn 365 has met with another obstacle, their plans get revised and increase in size, getting grander and bringing in “partners” to work with them. Their intent now is to create a sports “complex”, promising an estimated 500 cars a day to the location.

The original proposal was slated as an oversized project on the former Frank’s Nursery property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road. Mr Feiner proposed illegally leasing the property to GameOn 365 and having the Town finance the funding for it. The surrounding neighborhoods rallied against it for numerous reasons.

Mr Feiner and the Board turned down $3.5 million in cash for the property including site remediation. Mr Feiner crafted a specially and carefully worded referendum to guarantee passage, allowing him to say the residents want this. When a lawsuit stopped him, Mr Feiner said he would hold an auction for the property. Every scheme Mr Feiner and GameOn 365 have agreed to, to gift the property to GameOn 365, has failed. Had Mr Feiner simply followed the law, this wouldn’t have been an issue. If the Town Board had done their job as well as their fiduciary responsibility and “due diligence ” for the taxpayers and not Mr Feiner or GameOn 365, this wouldn’t even be happening!

The safety concerns of a never-before-seen bubble of this size cannot and should not be ignored. What also must not be ignored is that this 8-story bubble does not belong in a residential neighborhood. The fact that a smaller bubble, and perhaps a second one at that, has collapsed, cannot, should not and must not be ignored!

Bubbles began being used to create an indoor atmosphere for three months during the year. It is not a panacea for “paper” companies to incorporate, start a business and avoid paying their fair share of taxes as would a brick and mortar facility. If GameOn 365 were serious about becoming a part of the community, the safety of its guests, employees and visitors, safety would be paramount. It’s not – only their profits are. Otherwise, they would be proposing a brick and mortar building, following building and safety codes, paying the regular rate of taxes and working with the communities and doing it in a commercial location. How many other good neighbors play by the rules? Many. Those are the ones we want to help us make A Better Greenburgh.