Brookhaven Residents Report Delayed Plowing After Blizzard of 2026, Crews Catching Up

Brookhaven neighborhoods reported unplowed side streets and long waits for snow removal after the Blizzard of 2026, with some residents saying they waited more than a day to see snowplows in their neighborhoods as crews worked to catch up. Town officials acknowledged delays while crews prioritized main routes for emergency access.

The storm that struck Long Island on Feb. 23–24 brought heavy accumulations and high winds; meteorological reports showed more than 20 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour across the area, while other parts of Long Island recorded as much as 30 inches. The volume and drifted snow increased cleanup time and disrupted routine municipal services across the region.

Local accounts and municipal logs showed side streets and cul-de-sacs in sections of Brookhaven remained covered, leaving some residents effectively stranded inside their homes. Complaints centered on a perception that there have not been as many plows visible on neighborhood streets, particularly in low-traffic dead-end roads that serve only a handful of houses.

Brookhaven Town Highways Superintendent Dan Losquadro framed the problem as rooted in staffing and operational priorities, calling it "a larger societal issue" tied to "the number of people engaged in the type of work," and saying "it cuts across every segment of society." Losquadro explained the department's triage during the storm: "Not to say that we don't plow them during a storm, but our priority during the storm is just to keep roads passable that fire, police, or first responders can get down that road, and that may only be one pass up and down, during the storm."

Losquadro gave residents a recovery timetable and a reality check on workload: "After the snow stops, the plows need at least six to eight hours after a storm before residents see another pass through every road in the town." He added that large storms slow neighborhood cleanup dramatically: "I think you and I had spoken about that when you're pushing this much snow, every cul de sac takes three-four times longer than it does pushing a couple of inches of snow."

To free personnel and equipment for snow removal, officials in Oyster Bay, Islip, Babylon, Hempstead, Riverhead, Smithtown and Brookhaven canceled garbage and recycling services on Tuesday. One municipal post instructed residents directly: "Garbage and recycling pickup has been canceled until Thursday so that all crews can be dedicated to snow removal throughout the week," and urged: "Please keep your garbage and recycling cans off the street and away from curbs. Plows will continue operating on local streets." Another town message advised that "collection will resume on your normally scheduled pickup day this week."

Losquadro said the town is seeking additional contractors to accelerate recovery — "So I'm always looking for more contractors, because I know the more I have, the faster the recovery will be" — and cautioned that equipment needs vary: "But every storm is different. Some storms require more sanders than plows, others require dump trucks, depending on the consistency of the snow." Town officials say crews remain focused on clearing primary routes and will continue post-storm passes until side streets and cul-de-sacs are pushed back clean.