The overabundance of snow that has shuttered schools, snarled mass transit and drained salt supplies has also turned into an unexpected boon for many of the city’s poor and unemployed. On Thursday, the Sanitation Department hired 518 snow laborers for the day, including 230 laborers in just the Bronx, which has an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, the highest in the city. It was the 10th day this year the department had called out the laborers.

The snow laborers program, which was started in the 1990s, is financed through the department’s $57.3 million annual budget for snow operations. Keith Mellis, a spokesman, said that it was intended to supplement the efforts of 4,600 city sanitation employees during periods of particularly heavy snowfall or cleanup. “We look at it as an extension of the department,” he said. “We are the front lines, but the residents who make up this city are just as responsible as we are. We’re one big team.”

The jobs are open to any city resident 18 and over who has a valid identification and Social Security card, and does not require a physical fitness test (though sanitation workers will ask applicants if they can perform physical labor). Mr. Mellis said that he was not aware of any laborer who incurred a major injury on the job, though some have slipped or fallen on the ice. The department supplies the shovels, picks, orange vests and gloves.

Rosario Polanco, 26, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, and two other women worked alongside nine men on the Grand Concourse. Ms. Polanco, who lost her waitressing job eight months ago, said she needed the money to support herself and her 4-year-old son. “It’s not hard for me,” she said. “Hard is when you’re looking for a job and you’re not finding it.”

Mr. Colon’s group of five hauled shovels and picks along the street, stopping from time to time to work a stubborn patch of ice. At a bus stop, they cleared away a mound of snow for Maria Soto, 82, who was pushing a stroller.