PSA: Shovel That Roof, Before It’s Gone

The National Weather Service and the city are urging property owners and builders to clear rooftops, awnings and overhangs of snow ASAP, to avoid potential collapses when an ice storm is expected to hit New York Tuesday.

Between two and five inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain are expected to drop on the city, adding weight to rooftops already straining from snow and ice accumulated during recent storms.

The city’s Department of Buildings is asking property owners to clear ice and snow from flat rooftops and overhangs and to clean out gutters to allow water to drain. “Property owners are legally obligated to maintain their properties in a safe condition,” says a Buildings Department statement. Property owners are also expected to clear snow and ice from areas used by the public.

While the Buildings Department has recorded no roof collapses caused by the most recent snowstorm, rooftops throughout the Northeast have fallen in because of this winter’s heavy snowfalls, among them roofs at a Massachusetts gas station, a Rhode Island elementary school and a former car dealership in Connecticut. NECN News reported that two horses in Somers, Conn., had to be euthanized after the barn they were in collapsed from the weight of snow.