Blizzard of 2010

Are you kidding. We are up to nearly two feet of snow. The roads are not passable and the sidewalks are not easy to walk on. I guess it is different in each part of the city.

@hhusted I uploaded this post at 8am when it really didnt look so bad and the husband went off to work but it has definitely got worse during the afternoon. I haven't even ventured out because I really don't have a reason to, but did see some enthusiastic folk walking their dogs and strolling in Carl Shurz Park. Guess they don't mind getting wet and walking through all the slush.

Was there really two feet of snow? It didn't seem THAT bad. I'm surprised that there is still snow everywhere - I dug out my car when the snow was fresh on the ground, but now there is a wall of icy snow around it where the plows pushed snow out of the roadway. I guess I won't be driving anytime soon...

Do you have to do something special to cars to prepare them for winter, like make sure the engine doesn't freeze or something?

Just make sure your antifreeze is good, I suppose. The stuff cools the engine when it's hot and keeps it from freezing when it's cold....

That blizzard was insane! The entire city shut down. A girlfriend of mine works in the service industry and she got called off of work because nothing was open. I went outside and sunk into about a foot of snow. And, how about the howling wind? It was like something out of a Poe story.

This would be my third memorable NYC blizzard. Does that mean I'm getting old? Hmm.

@uptowngirl Yeah, I saw a few late revellers and beautiful people trickling out of a club on the Bowery a few days ago, and couldn't believe the girls trotting around in bare legs and high heels. Has no one made them hip to the dangers of pneumonia? I was burrowing into my huge coat and many layers and still feeling like I could barely walk from cold and wind.

@Uramiumfish perhaps they are all stocked up on hot toddys and immune to the cold...

Ugh, I think it's in poor taste not to dress for the weather. And it's NOT fashionable to dress like it's summer in 30 degree weather. I actually like winter weather fashion - you have the opportunity to drape yourself in so many beautiful things, why would you want to go out wearing hardly anything?

@BroadwayBK It even seems a bit desperate. I mean, how do you want to pretend it's not as cold as it is and who do you think that will impress?

Well, according to official reports, Central Park had only 10 inches of snow. In fact, the snow changed to rain early Wednesday before it changed back to snow. That cut the accumulations down some. Long Island got bombed though.

It looks like we're about to get hit again - they're promising some rain in the mix this time, though. Hopefully whatever rain we get washes away the wall of ice surrounding my car :)

@Uraniumfish I know; I don't understand it. Were these really young girls that you saw? Sometimes girls of a certain age can be trying too hard.

Feel sorry for the private school girls! School uniforms at Chapin, Brearley, etc., consist of short skirts, blouses, and socks - nobody even wears stockings/tights! And I don't think you can wear sweatpants underneath them, either. Those girls develop thick skin young!

@BroadwayBK, Uraniumfish Guys can also be vain, by the way. You'll see guys coming out of clubs wearing thin dress pants and a thin leather jacket and of course they think it's totally uncool to wear any type of hat or scarf, and so walk around with no covering whatsoever.

Whenever I see these young, underdressed girls shivering in the snow I want to rush right over to the poor things and offer them my coat.

@ajadedidealist I often see the Chapin school girls out and and about on East End Avenue and almost always wonder how can they stand the cold in their short school uniforms though this year I have seen quite a few sporting those 'au courant' leggings under their skirts.

I don't really know how they can wear anything that exposes the skin to the cold. Cold is uncomfortable no matter what. This is why I long for spring, followed by summer. Too bad we don't live in an environment where it stays hot all year round. That would be so cool.

@hhusted I have lived in countries where is hot all the time and which have just one long summer season which is punctuated by monsoon rains though I have always heard New Yorkers remark that they like to live here because they truly do enjoy the change of seasons. So I know we are cribbing and moaning about this endless winter but perhaps we actually like witnessing the change of seasons apropos to one , unending stretch of summer?

Cleared away snow & ice on some sidewalk today, since no one else was getting it done. That was fun. But I'd rather not have to do that again for the rest of the year if I can help it.

as someone who lived in Italy for a while, I can safely say that the weather is nicer overall in NYC. Rome is great 6 months a year, but fall/winter/early spring are beyond miserable and rainy. NYC may not be as gorgeous in the summer, but at least we get proper snow, not miserable sleet, and a decently non-miserable Falla nd Winter.

England is just always miserable...

I heard about England weather. It can be consistently ugly. You know the tales. London fog and all. I really don't mind if we only had summer all year, as long as there was a way to kill bacteria. That is the reason for winter and snow: to kill bacteria that can harm us. So you might say our Grand Creator decided to institute the seasons for a reason.

@DBlack according to Self magazine shoveling snow for an hour burns as much as 450 calories so if you worked at it for 60 minutes you got a great workout. I can however understand how tedious it might seem if you had to do it regularly.

@uptowngirl I seem to remember it raining most of the summer... I'd completely forgotten how we'd been scammed out of a summer, but thanks for reminding me!

@ajadedidealist I really liked the weather in London; maybe I am just suited for rain, but I thought the temperature was always perfect.

Just realized how bad I just contradicted myself **sheepish grin**

@uptowgirl Thanks for that. I was feeling like quite the under-sung hero for shoveling the street out of the goodness of my heart.

Owners are supposed to shovel snow from the sidewalks in front of their buildings - if someone slips and hurts themselves on the snow, they can be held responsible. They can also be fined for not doing it.

http://law.onecle.com/new-york/new-york-city-administrative-code/ADC016-123_16-123.html

There is one building on my block where the owner only carved out a narrow path in the snow, and another that is for sale and sitting empty where no one bothered to shovel at all - luckily both houses are on the opposite side of the street...

@BroadwayBK I can assure you I was definitely grumbling about what building owners are supposed to do as I was shoveling that snow. It was a patch in front of an untended building, and I always have to pass by on my way home. I can't say I did a great job shoveling, but I just tried to make it walkable. Oh, and I definitely grumbled.

I wish all the snow would melt already! Looks like we have a few 40-degree days lines up, so hopefully that will do the trick!

I'll just say it one more time, since it's been all of an hour or two since someone has chimed in with this sentiment:

Man, I'm really tired of winter and of snow.

@DBlack Shoveling someone's else's patch of street surely ranks up there on the list of heroic deeds. I think I'd be one of the people who just gets fined for not doing it.

@Uraniumfish your rant took the words right out of my mouth.

In England if you try to shovel public spaces someone else's driveway, and someone slips/falls, you're liable for damages (but not if you do nothing and leave it alone, in which case you're fine.) How's that for Good Samaritans?

@ajadedidealist I guess its their much maligned Health and Safety rules at play yet again.

@ajadeidealist That's really great. That should make DBlack feel a whole lot better now...

I agree with you guys. I can't wait for summer to come. I'm tired of the cold weather.

A block of ice has formed around my car - and of course it was parked on the wrong side of the street when alternate street cleaning kicked back in today. I'm pretty sure that the street cleaner didn't even come down our street - how could he clean anything with so much snow still in the street! - but of course I still got a ticket.

@BroadwayBK Oh-No!!! that's so unfair...you would think they would be a little considerate...

I feel a whole lot better now--

<Grin>

I just got tired slipping on that one patch of the street. I have to cross it every single day. I know it wasn't my bizness doing it. But you know. Better way to work out my frustrations than to throw something. The only thing I don't understand is why oh why no maidens came rushing at me with steaming mugs of coffee as I worked?

@uptowngirl My roommate - you all know him - actually informed me that if I contest the ticket online, they automatically lower it from $45 to $35. This sounds amazing - I'll be sure to let you know if it works out. And to be fair, I am the only person on my block to actually let a block of ice form around the car. Hey, I'm from Florida - I was hoping it would melt!

@DBlack I slipped hardcore last night - and landed right on my hip. The best thing is that the sidewalk had actually been shoveled... there was a path through the ice, anyway.

Yes, I'll be soooo glad when February is over!

@hhusted - I am really the only driver on this street who hasn't dug their car from under the snow, and I have a feeling I am somehow responsible for this. Don't think I haven't considered it, though. I am pretty sure the street cleaner didn't even come down our block, but the ticket guy sure did.

@BroadwayBK its worth a try anyway I say ..let us know how it works out. Were you not wearing your snow boots last night when you slipped?I just came back from running some errands and it was actually much warmer today ,most of the snow in my neighborhood has melted away and this morning I actually heard birds chirping that always signals to me at least that spring is around the corner.

@uptowngirl I was wearing snow boots, yes. Such a thing could only have happened to me.

And I saw a cute little non-pigeon bird the other day, just hanging out on top of the ice cube my car is in. I think it was a sign of spring, too, even though the bird was juxtaposed with the ice cube.

@BroadwayBK: How did you make out with the ticket? I know with the warm weather you dug out of the ice by now.

@hhusted Thanks for reminding me - hopefully I have 30 days to pay that thing? I should do that now...

@BroadwayBK: Are you going to fight it or just pay it this time?

@hhusted My roommate said if you contest it online, the fine is automatically reduced from $45 to $35. If it works, I'll be sure to let you guys know.