The Bronx was up, Brooklyn was down

Eruv Vs. Snowpocalypse

By Mayer Fertig

Issue of February 18, 2010, 6 Adar 5770

The Bronx is up, the Battery is down, goes the old song, but after the record-setting snowfall last week, Brooklyn was down — or the Flatbush eruv, more specifically. The eruv in Riverdale (i.e. The Bronx) was up, thank you very much, as was the one in the Five Towns, just barely.

“One of the strings that came down was one that was not fixable before Shabbos,” said one of the people responsible for the maintenance of the Five Towns eruv, which also includes Valley Stream. He asked to not be named in the newspaper.

“It was 30 feet up in the air, on a tree that was iced over and there was snow on the ground. There was no way to get a bucket truck there before Shabbos.”

A temporary workaround was created, he said, and at about 1:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon the eruv was certified for use. Repairs required as a result of the blizzard some forecasters took to calling “Snowmageddon” cost an estimated $1,000.

Residents of Great Neck were not as fortunate as those in the Five Towns. Repairs were completed on the Great Neck eruv on Tuesday. And Flatbush residents who usually use the eruv had to make do without, as well.

“For some reason this storm really hit us hard,” said Eli Feit, chairman of the Brooklyn Eruv Association. “We’ve had other storms that caused us problems but not as many lines were down on other occasions.

21 lines were down, he said. It was checked on Thursday, as usual, “and the guy that we use to fix it was busy fixing other stuff and he just couldn’t get it done in time.”

The Flatbush eruv, which hasn’t been down for Shabbos in recent memory, Feit said, is “probably the largest eruv around” — extending from Beverly Road all the way to Shore Parkway. Two other eruvin — one operated by the Syrian Jewish community — encompass part or most of the same area and also were not operational for Shabbos.

The Staten Island eruv was up. So was the one in West Hempstead, where Richard Miller said, “Our eruv has really been fine. I’ve been living here for 24 years — it’s never been down.”

“Railroad tracks, phone wires and even wires on the Southern State” Parkway comprise the West Hempstead eruv, Miller said. When it was constructed, it included “backups to the whole system and we’ve never been down.”

Three volunteers maintain the West Hempstead eruv.

“If repairs are needed, once in a blue moon, we have a guy with a cherry picker go up, and the shul [Young Israel of West Hempstead] pays for it,” Miller said. “But that’s a very rare occasion.”

In Flatbush the eruv costs an estimated $10,000 to $15,000 a year to operate, mostly to cover the costs of a paid mashgiach and the telephone hotline residents are advised to call each Friday to confirm that the eruv is in operation. In the Five Towns the eruv is currently operating at a deficit; contributions are definitely welcome. The eruv organization owns its own bucket truck.