Metro

No visit from plows leaves some Suffolk residents stuck in homes

It’s the land the plows forgot.

Infuriated residents of an eastern Suffolk County neighborhood remained stuck in their homes yesterday after failing to get even a single visit from Town of Brookhaven plows.

The sole road leading into and out of the cluster of roughly 200 people off of Route 112 in Coram was still impassable yesterday evening as desperate residents were forced to trudge across massive snowdrifts to buy basic necessities from distant stores.

“This is the cycle on Long Island,” said seething New Jersey Port Authority worker William Cendales as he trembled in knee-deep snow. “If it’s not LIPA getting you with Sandy, it’s the Town of Brookhaven not plowing your streets.”

Cendales braved the ice to give his shivering Yorkie a bit of fresh air yesterday. “This is beyond disgusting,” he said. “I can’t go to work, I can’t do anything.”

City school teacher Jachan Watkis said that he was forced to abandon his car on a street near his home during the storm because the entrance lanes to his development had not been plowed. Watkis, who has three small children with his wife, Shelita, said that he ran out of heating oil — and that delivery trucks are unable to get to him. “We’re living on two space heaters,” he said. “And I still haven’t seen a plow,” he said.

“I came outside and a plow that was clearing the main road just pushed it out of the way and damaged it,” he said. “Now I come out to see if the car was okay and they just towed it away! This is getting ridiculous.” All that remained of the abused vehicle yesterday was a running board that had broken off.

“First I couldn’t get the car to my house,” he said. “And now I can’t get the car.”

Residents of the community off of Kensington Gate Road said they had all called Town of Brookhaven phone lines repeatedly and were told to leave messages or send e-mails.

A link at the Town’s Web site urged residents to send e-mails alerting them to streets that required plowing. But neighborhood residents said they abandoned that course of action after the first two days of inaction.

“My father is on oxygen in my house,” said cable technician Daniel Murphy. “If there’s an emergency, these ambulances can’t get through. It’s unbelievable.

“They forgot about us over here. Forget about calling or whatever. We just gave up.”

Kenneth Tax, an operations manager at Farmingdale State College, said that he pays nearly $9,000 annually in property taxes — but can’t get out of his own driveway because of the plow disappearance. “I’m trapped on my own street,” he said. “We all are.”

Capenter Laborde, a technician at JFK Airport, was forced to abandon work today after being unable to leave his block. “Of course I expected to get plowed,” he said. “It’s been three days and not one! I see them drive by, they just keep going.”

A Town of Brookhaven plow-truck operator refused to comment when asked about the forgotten island of ice just down the block from him. “We’re getting to everyone,” he said before rumbling off in the opposite direction.