Snow’s Free for Taking in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. —  After a recent 7-foot snowfall, Buffalo thought it couldn’t give the stuff away.

Wrong.

The nearby city of Rochester, still green as its winter festival draws near this weekend, has offered to come take some of the snow away.

“The more the better,” was Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello’s reply.

A convoy of trucks is to make the 90-mile trip west today to collect the snow.

In five days beginning Christmas Eve, Buffalo was socked with 81.5 inches of snow--nearly a winter’s worth--and has all but run out of places to dump it. At the same time, Rochester is embarrassingly bare of snow, despite a weekend full of events planned to promote winter tourism.

“If anybody else wants any, we’ll send it anywhere they want,” said Buffalo Streets Commissioner Paul Sullivan. “Send the trucks in and we’ll load them up.”

While Rochester asked only to “borrow” the snow, it is a pretty sure bet no one in Buffalo will ask for it back.