Are these New York City workers indicative of most? Or are they special cases?

[cherokeeprogressive]

This is truly one of the most incredible acts of stupidity I've EVER seen. Note how the heavy equipment driver uses the SUV for leverage after being pulled halfway around it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt_r-jO3lKE

[jody]

1. Probably "indicative of most" but that's just a Southerner's opinion. n/t

[baldguy]

2. That's one frame of a 48-hour movie.

During a weather emergency some property will be damaged. Why not blame to SUV owner for not moving it to allow the road crews to clear the snow?

[Travis_0004]

3. Where do you move it to?

You get several feet of snow. No way to move it now. Even if you wanted to, where do you move it. Its not like everybody owns a garage and driveway.

Until the roads are cleared, its impossible to drive anywhere, and once they clear it your car is covered.

Also, what if the SUV drive is at work, or even out of town. Plus, if they wanted the SUV moved, they had a wrecker. They could have easily moved it.

I agree that cars will be damaged during snow removal, but there is a difference between an accident and gross negligence. The first time the loader hit the car, it was an accident. The rest of the video was just negligence.

[baldguy]

9. It looks like a one-way street.

With time-restricted or alternate parking. Here in Buffalo, if a vehicle is parked illegally or blocking snow-removal efforts, it's removed & impounded.

You're making an assumption that the front-loader driver is being negligent. What are the parking regs for that street? Was the SUV parked legally? Was there a snow emergency in effect? If there was, it's the vehicle owners responsibility to ensure that his vehicle won't hamper snow-removal. In such an emergency the road crews - including the wrecker - have the primary job of getting rid of the snow. If the SUV gets in the way, too bad.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. Chains.

The bucket lifts the front end of the loader, and the guys install chains. The wrecker lifts the back end, and the guys install chains.

Instead, the NYC taxpayers and EVERYONE who uses the same insurance company as the SUV owner pays. Good thinking.

[uppityperson]

17. I kept waiting for the front end loader to use the machine in a 5 legged way, so to speak

Use the bucket to lift the rest with. You can move one of these around using the bucket to lift with.

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. I've actually done that with a Bobcat. n/t

[uppityperson]

21. I have lusted after a small front end loader/back hoe/etc machine for yrs

Didn't ever want a pony as a girl but one of these machines.

[cherokeeprogressive]

25. I worke for a landscaping company in Austin in the early 90s driving a Bobcat.

The guy who taught me could take a dumptruck full of sandy loam and landscape a house, giving it perfect drainage in an hour or less. When he was done, there was not a mark on the freshly spread dirt at ALL.

I used to get in the bucket, and he'd put it straight up, do a wheelie with the Bobcat, and spin in circles til I got dizzy. How stupid was I? Pretty stupid but I had supreme confidence in his abilities after watching him.

[uppityperson]

27. My relatives sold/serviced heavy equipment. I was looked down upon for

wanting a mini-machine and not a big cat of some sort. They were fun to play on and in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing, incredible.

For those who say "omg ice, what COULD he have done" haven't spent time watching machinery in mid-west or interior AK.

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Perfectly stated. I've seen some pretty incredible feats with good operators on small, medium, and

heavy equipment.

Those guys screwed up. "baldguy" sounds like a city worker LOL.

[baldguy]

18. Again - it's a five minute clip on one street

From an event that's been going on for three days over 300 sq miles.

What happened before the guy started filming? Maybe the chains fell off. Maybe they didn't have chains. Maybe they do have traction bands on, only they're black and you can't see them.

Or maybe the front-loader was sitting on a huge patch of ice and wouldn't have been able to get a grip whatever they did. You don't know.

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. I have NO DOUBT that I could have used the boom and bucket to PUSH it backward.

No doubt.

These guys were dumb, in a hurry, and didn't think this mess through before going full speed ahead.

[baldguy]

23. How much traction do you think steel has on ice?

The answer is: Not much.

And they've probably have already been working 16-18 hours and have at least another 20 to go before before they're done.

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. Why would there have been ice in that spot? Had it snowed before then melted?

There would only be ice in that place if there was ice BEFORE the snow started to fall. I don't think there was. At my house here in the mountains, after snow falls on dry cement, the cement is still dry when I go shovel it UNLESS it has melted then refrozen.

Fail. They fucked up. That's all.

[JVS]

29. It's too bad there was no live camera so that you could fly out from California to tell them how...

to do their jobs.

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. Would that there were, JVS, would that there were.

I hope the city sees that footage, and that those guys get fired.

I could have prevented that if only things were as you stated. If only...

[baldguy]

33. I guess you missed the part where the front-loader SLIDES FROM SIDE-TO-SIDE

and the tow truck SLIDES BACKWARD trying to pull it out.

If you had any experience with snow (and apparently you don't) you'd know that snow turns into ice when it gets compacted. It doesn't need to melt first.

[cherokeeprogressive]

37. Um, I live at 6700 feet ASL. Do you have any idea how much it snows here when it snows?

Last January we had 5 feet from one storm. I was snowed in for five solid days because that's how long it took the plows to get to my neighborhood and don't remember hearing about any city workers up here damaging cars during snow removal.

Tonight it's supposed to snow another foot on top of the three we got last week.

So, yeah, I don't have the same experience with snow that you do. :shrug:

Look closely, the tow truck moves backward because it's IN REVERSE.

[baldguy]

41. And when you get that snow, you just throw it on top of the pile on the roadside.

At least temporarily. Right?

Can't do that in NYC. There are no open spaces to pile it in.

[cherokeeprogressive]

50. True, sorta.

It's temporarily stored on street corners and such until a dump truck and loader much like the one in the video can take it to designated areas next to the lake.

One crazy thing they do on the main drag here, which is about a mile and a half long, is to just plow it onto the sidewalks leaving pedestrians nowhere to walk but in the roadway.

It's gonna be a mess here again tomorrow but hopefully we'll power through it. I hope you guys catch a break soon, long enough to clear it all out.

Peace, baldguy.

[uppityperson]

35. Compacted snow turns into ice, esp places with maritime influence

It happens here, snow falls, compacted by driving or walking on it and voila. Ice. Or it falls onto pavement that isn't subzero and hence the lower levels, that that falls first, melts giving an underlying layer of ice.

Ice can form AS snow is falling, depending upon temp not just of air but of the ground. So yes, there could very well be ice.

[Travis_0004]

42. You know what did NOT happen: They didn't tow the suv to a safe location

I'm not saying its the only solution, but it is one they did not do. If the car was there illegally, tow it, and let the owner pay to impound it. If it is there legally, tow it, and put it back when the loader is unstock. Or call the police, get the liscense plate, and have them call the owner. Maybe he was inside watching TV, and could have moved it if called.

The bottom line is, incompetence cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars. I'm a bit surprised anybody would defend these actions. If they hit the car once or twice trying to get it out, then it would have been an accident.

I"ll quote Einstein and leave it at that: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results "

If the first idea doesn't pan out, try another idea.

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. The bucket on that loader would have lifted the front tires off of the ground. Chains.

The wrecker would have lifted the back tires off of the ground. Chains.

That isn't so hard to figure out, even for a city worker.

[JVS]

6. The road crews have to clear the snow before anyone can move anything.

[sammytko]

7. Others would have complained if they didn't get the snow plowed

One SUV - few thousand dollars damage - probably still driveable.

[high density]

20. They may have been beyond tired and frustrated...

That is still no excuse to destroy property. Where is the professionalism? The drivers of both vehicles seemed to have no clue what they were doing. I'd love to see what that front-end loader driver would've done to me if I rented a front-end loader and crashed it into his car multiple times like that.

[JVS]

4. He parked too far from the curb. That's what happens when you park too far from the curb.

[Lisa0825]

8. Pises me off how most in the comments blame it on "union workers."

Some blatant racist shit there too.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. I'd never trust the scabs that work for New York City. Those guys MUST have been scabs.

Right?

[JVS]

11. Someone took that link to an asshole of the world political forum.

Anyone who thinks the actions of a road clearing crew are somehow caused by Obama and his HCR is delusional beyond all belief, and that's the kind of shit in those comments.

[baldguy]

14. I like how the guy filming is nice & warm in his bare feet & PJs

Yelling & swearing at the people trying to dig his sorry ass out of the white shit.

[uppityperson]

32. Seems he doesn't need his "sorry ass" dug out of the white shit.

Maybe he uses transit? Maybe he works from home and walks to the store? Lots of assumptions there. Or would you rather he was outside helping direct the tow truck driver? Oh yeah, now THAT's a good idea.

[baldguy]

36. Well, he's certainly not outside helping dig out.

But he's bitching at the people who are.

[uppityperson]

38. No, he's been woken up after working all night at the ER and is bitching

about the damage they are causing by their ineptness. Trashing a SUV by yanking a front end loader into it over and over is inept. Plain. Simple. Inept.

[baldguy]

43. If he was working at a hospital when the snow hit, he probably would have been mandated.

Meaning: He would have been required to stay at the hospital, working, until the emergency has passed.

See, in an emergency public workers don't have the luxury of sitting around waiting for other people to come help them. They're the ones tasked with going out to help other people.

Whining at them when they're doing their job is like complaining that the ambulance driver is driving too fast while he's taking you to the hospital. Or telling the firemen that they're using too much water when they're putting your house fire out.

[uppityperson]

46. Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Being appalled at an unnecessary trashing of a SUV by incompetents = complaining to an ambulance driver that he's driving too fast? img, you slay me! No, complaining that your sidewalk was cleared when you aren't quite ready to go back to work would be about the same as telling an ambulance driver he's driving too fast (unless of course he is and has gotten or caused several accidents on the way).

And wtf? If he'd been working at a hosp he'd have been mandated to....what? Mandated to work out his shift? No, they don't require nurses to stay until the snow is gone but until there is adequate staffing to relieve them or until they were no longer capable of doing their jobs. See, I know because I've been there, done that.

You seem to take issue at someone who is staying home, staying out of the way of workers who are clearing the road and trashing the suv. Odd that you would be upset at someone staying home and being appalled at the incompatence he sees. Guess you want him to just shut up and take it. No complaining about this shoddy work.

You slay me.

[Posteritatis]

16. It's safe to assume Youtube comments are irredeemably horrible and just ignore them, really. (nt)

[madrchsod]

13. actually they did a good job getting the bucket loader out

i`ve driven smaller machines like that and they are a pain in the ass in tight spaces

[high density]

26. Smashing up two sides of a parked vehicle

and then sliding that car into another parked vehicle doesn't seem like a "good job" from my point of view. A good job would've been either winching it at more of a sideways angle or utilizing the bucket as others have recommended.

[the redcoat]

15. Now that's some classic NYC commentary.

[uppityperson]

24. I'd call them Special rather than broadbrushing all working in the snow.

[Rabrrrrrr]

34. Doing the best they can in shitty conditions? Pretty typical. Every one makes mistakes,

and some times when you get a couple feet of snow things don't go like they normally do.

Cut 'em some slack.

The asshole who shot the video is nothing more than an asshole.

[baldguy]

39. Doing the best they can

With some hipster dufus yelling at them for it.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

44. a hipster would have been cheering them on while the smashed the SUV

[baldguy]

45. No, hipsters hate people who actually work for a living.

But they own an SUV in NYC, or know someone who does.

[uppityperson]

47. Wow, now you know this guy is unemployed! You are amazing.

I bow down to you and your rather odd definitions.

[JVS]

49. The guy is 46. You can't be a hipster at 46, you graduate to old fart by then.

[NoPasaran]

51. If the "asshole who shot the video" sent it to Julian Assange instead of posting it on YouTube

He'd be the next DU Hero.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

40. it is the east coast mentality, indifference and misanthropy.

I think it is inevitable when you combine an extremely high cost of living with relatively bleak quality of life and a day to day experience that is such an assault on the senses it can only harden people.

[DeadEyeDyck]

48. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity