The Albany Park Car Frozen Until Spring Has Been Sprung

By Jon Graef in News on Feb 15, 2014 5:30PM

Photo courtesy of Whitney Becke.

There are winter miracles, and then there are winter miracles. According to Whitney Becke, the Albany Park resident whose car was frozen over until spring due to a water main break around the corner from where she lives, she's having a winter miracle.

Becke sent Chicagoist a follow-up email to let us know that, thanks to the kindness of strangers and neighbors alike, as well as a few tenacious phone calls, her car was sprung from its icy trap.

"I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that the Department of Streets and Sanitation took care of me [Tuesday]!," Becke wrote. "They towed my car from the glacial ice chunk to a nice clean spot about one block north."

Her car appears to be in good condition.

"I took my car for a cruise around the neighborhood and it seems to be in fine working order," Becke wrote to Chicagoist.

But before that, the car needed to be cleared off as best it could. Becke and a companion set to the task at hand.

Here's how that was done, according to Becke's email.

When the weather improved and the sun peeked out, we set out to take care of the mess on and around my car. Clearing the car proved to be was quite easy. The mallet worked great. Ice was falling off in huge sheets with each tap. The tricky part was the 5 inches of water that had surrounded my tires and froze solid. After clearing the outside of my car and the perimeter, we were unable to break the solid glacial structure that had formed and encased my tires. We tried to hammer away at the ice with metal shovels and rods that neighbors had provided. It was quite John Henry-esque.

A complete stranger came out and set two metal shovels and a metal rod in the snowbank next to my car. She must have noticed us struggling with a mallet, a children's plastic shovel and a broken window scraper. While she walked away she told us to leave them in her front yard when we were done. She mentioned that she had errands to run, but she would help when she returned. I actually saw her on this video (the woman with a metal rod) helping other neighbors.

Next thing we knew, a man joined us with two more shovels.

The video to which Becke refers is a CBS 2 report about the water main break.

The man with the shovels is a neighbor of Becke's. To show her gratitude, Becke said she baked cookies for the man and left a note for him that read, "to the gentleman on the 3rd floor who helped me dig out my car."

I called the 39th ward Ald. Margaret Laurino's office and got some disappointing news. First, [Ald. Laurino's staff] informed me that there was nothing that could be done. The man I spoke with was super friendly and I feel like he actually reached out to The City of Chicago Streets and Sanitation Department. He informed me that our ward was actually out of salt. Alderman Laurino's staff suggested I go to the local hardware, buy up as much liquid de-icer as I can afford and call up five strong men to help me push.

She also wrote to a employee at Streets and San. After that?

Two days after I wrote emails and made my phone calls to the city, I went to check on my car and it was gone. After searching the City of Chicago's website for information on relocated cars, I found my vehicle. It had been towed by Streets and San one block north of where it had been stuck. This information was all outlined nicely on the City of Chicago's site. I went back outside to check on my car and sure enough there she was! I started it up and took it for a spin around the neighborhood to make sure everything was fine.

The city that works just may actually work! Though, for her part, Becke says, "Drake Ave. is still a mess."

But at least its a mess her car is clear from now.

Here's before, just in case you forgot:

Photo courtesy of Whitney Becke.

The after image is at the top.