Yorktown Businesses Throw Out Food, Lose Thousands of Dollars in Snow Storm Aftermath

The store shelves that were filled with yogurt, ice cream and other frozen foods just a few days ago were all empty on Tuesday as many of the business owners around Yorktown who lost power had to throw out the spoiled food.

Evelyn Turco, owner of  grocery store said she lost thousands of dollars after power went out on Saturday around 6 p.m. She had generators going for certain parts of the store and was able to salvage the meat and fish and some of the produce.

She said she threw away packages of potato salads, ice cream, frozen foods and "everything else that was in the fridge."

The store will be receiving fresh produce deliveries on Wednesday and in the meantime the owners have reduced prices on produce for a quick sale.

"I won't keep stuff. I want everything fresh," Turco said. "That's what we're known for."

Most of the businesses in the Yorktown Heights hamlet did not get their power back until Monday night and small business owners were struggling with the snow storm's aftermath.

Walter Eng, a manager at , said they lost power Saturday evening and since they did not have a generator, most of the frozen items, like yogurts and ice cream, had to be thrown out. 

"The stuff we could salvage we sent to other Mrs. Greens stores (in the area)," he said. "Once it gets to a point where if you lose refrigeration, you can't take any chances."

For Joe Giuliano, owner of the , the loss of electricity meant he had to throw away 300 pounds of pizza dough, 15 gallons of pizza sauce, 15 gallons of tomato sauce, 20 gallons of soup, 25-30 pounds of sausages and 25-30 pounds of meatballs, as well as onions and lemons. 

"Basically everything that was in the refrigerator we lost," he said.

Part of the problem why they had to throw out so much food was because the pizzeria was overstocked on items, he said. Halloween weekend is typically their biggest and busiest weekend.

Although he kept the business open over the weekend, without any electricity, and had a sign on his car that was parked in front that they were open, he said no one came in.

Giuliano said he plans on buying a generator both for his home and business in anticipation of future storms.

Yorktown business owners said this has been the worst they've seen in years.