At three in the morning during a January storm, Union Turnpike belongs to the plows and the light spilling from apartment lobbies. Novus Maintenance works those hours, clearing snow from driveways, parking areas and building walkways, cutting a path from the door to the curb, and salting the steps and the slope before anyone tries them in dress shoes. Kew Gardens and Briarwood are built for walking, which means one sidewalk left undone stops a whole block cold. The job is finished when people can move again — before the first commuter comes down the stairs. Ice gets the same treatment as snow: caught early and kept ahead of.