SNOW STACK

SNOW STACK — Eight-year-old Oleksii Kostanian received a lift Tuesday from his older brother, 16-year-old Matvii Kos-tanian (far right), as he and middle brother Tymofii Kostanian (far left), who is almost 12, placed more icy slices of snow-sleet mix on a unique tower they built outside their home in Union City’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood. They are the sons of Konstantin and Olena Kostanian, who came to Union City from Ukraine, where heavy snowfall is not unusual. Locally, snow that fell Saturday was dry and powdery, and it was topped Sunday by sleet, compacting it and making it more suitable for slabs or blocks. Tymofii called their creation a “Jenga tower.”