Storm topples trees, power lines

The rare pre-Halloween snowstorm that socked Riverdale on Saturday littered the neighborhood with debris and left hundreds without electricity. 

Snowflakes, some the size of baseballs, started falling on Riverdale Saturday morning, continuing into Saturday night. The heavy, wet snow — which accumulated to as much as six inches — dragged down entire trees, branches and limbs across the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area, damaging power lines, cars and homes. 

Downed power lines caused nearly 6,000 Bronxites, half in the Riverdale area, to lose power, according to the Bronx Borough President’s office. Homes in Fieldston, North Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Kingsbridge Heights also lost electricity. 

Most of the snow had melted by Monday afternoon, in time for trick-or-treaters to hit the streets, but many homes were still without power. 

On Tuesday morning, more than 100 Con Edison customers in North Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil were still waiting for power to be restored, according to Con Ed’s online outage map. The Ethical Culture Fieldston School closed on Monday because the school still had no electricity. The lights came on and school was reopened on Tuesday.

Some residents said the storm hit Riverdale harder than Tropical Storm Irene and everyone interviewed said they had never experienced such a severe snowstorm this early in the year. 

Contractors working with the Parks Department and private companies hired by homeowners were still busy chainsawing and woodchipping branches on Tuesday. Con Ed trucks, coming from as far as Coney Island to help, and Cablevision trucks descended on the area to restore power and cable.

Trees along Manhattan College Parkway — which did not fare well during the storm — were still protruding into traffic on Tuesday morning. Many lawns in Fieldston were still covered in debris and downed trees blocked a lane of traffic on Tibbett Avenue, north of the Horace Mann School. Wave Hill  closed on Tuesday to continue cleanup of the many trees that fell during the storm.