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Sunday, February 12, 2006

Beautiful, Quiet, Snow

It's snowing pretty heavily here, at least by New York standards. I've just taken 2 pictures which I think are quite pretty, but before I show them I have to note this:
New York City is pathetic.
It's not like they've never had snow before - yet, every time it comes, they panic and shut down the city.

I was in Cleveland last week, and was very quick to notice how they plowed the streets after a quick drop of about 8 inches of snow: With brains! In Cleveland, they sent 3 plows together, the first one in the middle of the road pushing snow to its right; the second about 15 feet behind and 5 feet further right, doing the same; and the third another 15 feet back at the right edge of the road, pushing the snow up off the streets. This actually removes the snow from the streets, which is the whole point of having a snowplow plow snow on streets!! And oh yes - the plows are quickly followed by salt trucks, also spaced out, which drop salt evenly across the pavement. No, not all in one spot every 20 feet or so, but rather, all over the ground.

Contrast this with New York City: In New York, the city sends out lots of snowplows, which proceed to drive right up the middle of the road. This accomplishes a great deal, pushing snow not off the road at all, but only succeeding in helping to trap any parked cars in an extra layer of wet snow that then freezes into ice. Brilliant. The city then sends out salt trucks which create nice little round patterns of pavement in between 20-foot patches of ice. Even more brilliant.

There is a very good side, however: The entire city of New York is shut down. It's peaceful, it's quiet, and the snow covers up the nasty gray feel the city has most of the year. [Though it was incredibly obnoxious that someone had the front door buzzer of their building held down for about an hour. How inconsiderate can you be?!] Have you ever been to Central Park in the snow? It's such an escape from the typical NYC feel... Serach & I went there on our third date for a few hours, just walking around or sitting down on a bench and talking. (Followed by Starbucks, of course... :) )

Anyways, here are a couple of pictures from my apartment window. Notice the nice, even, pretty snow. I like the second picture, which - because of the angle - captured a nice reflection of my own apartment superimposed on the front entrance of the building. Combined, they give me that 'fireplace' feel - know what I mean?Enjoy the peace and quiet! I know I am.

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11 comments:

  1. We didn't have 8 inches of snow last week! Maybe 2 or so! (Even Beachwood didn't have 8 inches!)

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  2. Yes, NYC is pathetic, but I am enjoying the falling snow from the comfort of a warm room, and not being able to go outside today means I can catch up on a lot of the blogs I have not had a chance to check so much this week...

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  3. Yeah reminds me of Minnesota.. you could have 4 feet of snow on the ground, but people went on with their lives as though it were sunny and warm. Some cities just don't know how to react.

    Dallas has got to be the worst city I have ever lived in. Literally, you can have 1/16" of snow on the ground, and the entire Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex shuts down completely.

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  4. You'd have thought New Yorkers would have learned by now!

    I'm about to go out and take some pictures myself. We have a boardwalk, and piles of snow look really, really cool!

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  5. Mommy - There WERE 8 inches in Beachwood (at least it looked like it to me...!)

    MCAryeh - Amen!

    Tovya - Baltimore is the same way. My nieces are probably having a ball right now.

    Irina - NYers never learn. Ever. About anything. :)

    Put up the pics! I'd love to see them.

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  6. Snow's cool... till you have to shovel it for the third time. I sorta like having the whole NY shut down... especially since I have a test tom (that I of course didnt start studyin for...)

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  7. Shua!!!! :) When are YOU coming to visit?! It's been a while, man...!

    Amen - I'm glad I'm not in Cleveland, where I used to spend hours shovelling - only to find my work was a waste of time.

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  8. where I live it doesn't snow so when I was in Queens last year it was so exciting when it snowed! first thing i did in the morning after i looked out the window was take pics. it was great fun. especially when it snowed one night while we were waiting for a bus. (although after a week the novelty of it wore off a bit, the freezing hands and the many layers of coats and hats and scarves were annoying while exploring NY city!)
    enjoy :)

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  9. Yeah, the snow in NY is usually quickly turned into slush. It gets pretty nasty, actually. We'll just enjoy it while it lasts...

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  10. Baltimore is the worst city to handle snow. Dallas, Atlanta and other more southern cities may not handle it so well, either, but they don't get as much as we get here! You'd think Baltimore would learn; we get snow every year!

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  11. Baltimore still *thinks* it doesn't snow there. Tell them to get over it. :)

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