Nice Neighbors Help Near West Side Burrow Out From Snow

NEAR WEST SIDE -- While the weekend blizzard signaled sledding and snow fun for some, inneighborhoods across the Near West Side, residents could be seen rolling up their sleeves andgetting to work.

Chicago was hit with more than 19 inches of snow over the weekend, canceling Super Bowl plans forsome and leading Chicago Public Schools to cancel classes Monday. The totals were enough to rankthe weekend blizzard as the fifth largest snowstorm in the history of Chicago.

In Little Italy, residents helped not one, but two, UPS delivery trucks get unstuck near Flournoy andLytle streets on Monday.

"They did an amazing job helping out. I really appreciate all these guys over here," said a UPS driverwho was stuck for more than 1½ hours but was helped -- along with another driver who got stuck --by a group of eight to 10 residents in the area.

"I've been in that situation before. We've got to stay together. ... It's very heart-warming to knowthat people are still willing to jump out right away to help their fellow man," said Aji Ayeni, 21, astudent at the University of Illinois at Chicago who lives in the 1300 block of West Flournoy Street.

DNAinfo/Dave Newbart

Anti-dibs

Turns out not everyone is pro-dibs in Pilsen.

Juan Cute, who was helping his neighbor Gabrela Urbana dig her car out on the street in the 1900block of West Cullerton Monday, said they won't resort to saving her clean spot when she leaves forwork Tuesday morning.

"This is a community where we live -- we don't like to put anything," Cute said. "Legally, it's notright, and just because we clean doesn't mean that we have to take the [parking spots] like 'it's mine'-- arguing with people."

And even if they did save the dug-out spot -- there are plenty willing to ignore the unwrittenneighborhood code, he said.

With help from her neighbor, the shovel job took about 20 minutes, Urbana said.

Check out more snow snapshots from the West Loop, Pilsen and Little Italy in our slideshow.

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