Snow in NYC
No, I'm not in NYC right now but the abundance of reports about it everywhere, even here on our local news, makes me feel like I'm there. We've hardly any snow to speak of this winter so I guess we shall live vicariously through others this year. I've been enjoying some of the articles about previous snow storms in NYC, most especially the one in March 1888 where 21 inches fell.
http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-blizzard-of-1888-132307180.html;_ylt=A0LEV0kctcdU8q0At1VXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTExNjdtbnJtBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1VJQzFfMQ--
Of course the removal of snow was not so easily done back then and power lines were above the ground and the impact would have lasted longer. I wonder what sort of impact the storm had on my ancestors. They were poor and lived in tenements so I suspect it would have been hard going. Most of the men were laborers so perhaps they were able to get temporary work removing some of the snow. But I just think of their feet and how I guess they would have only had leather boots if they were lucky but how wet and cold it would have been none the less. Makes me so appreciate the boots we have now!
I noticed the snowfall of December 1947 ranked second with 26.4 inches. I called my mom to ask her if she remembered that one. My mom generally disavows any recollection of anything so I was surprised when she launched into her recollection of it. The snow lasted until the spring and there were huge piles of it everywhere. The kids in the neighborhood created slides in the snowbanks out of the snow and they would just spend days on end climbing up and sliding down over and over again. Back then snowsuits were made of wool and she and her sister wore a hole in the butts of their snowsuits from the continual sliding. My Grandma went to the store to buy them new snowsuits but discovered unlike past years when snowsuits were on clearance by this time, they were still full price. Despite money being very tight my Grandma decided to go ahead and buy them anyway because I guess the price was worth it to get the children out of the house for a few hours everyday!
My own snow in NYC memory dates from January 1988 which was not a historic snowfall but it had the distinction of beginning late on Sunday night after New Years when the city was still fairly deserted and it was allowed to fall and blanket the city and accumulate to a nice thickness before being removed in the next day. My friends and I decided to head out for a walk beginning at the foot of 5th Avenue at Washington Square. We headed north and there was silence everywhere, no people, no cars, nothing. It was pristine and white and glistening everywhere we looked. We walked in the middle of the avenue and if you can just imagine how rare it is to be the only ones out in the middle of NYC and your footprints the only marks, you might understand how magical the night felt. We were giddy and it was delightful. When we got to 23rd street, we laid down in the street and made snow angels. Can you imagine being able to lay down in the middle of 5th Avenue and there is nothing about you? We continued north and when we got to the Plaza, we stopped and build an army of snowman in the fountain across the street. Then we headed into Central Park and had a snowball fight before turning around and heading back home.
I have no pictures from that night, it just remains a favorite magical memory but as a post note...three weeks later we were watching All My Children, a soap which was filmed in NYC and they had a scene that was filmed off the lot out and about in the city. A couple was walking around the city enjoying the snow and they stopped in front of the Plaza and gave the impression of "building" a snowman. OMG it was one of our snowmen! They had clearly filmed it the day after we were there and our snowmen were still there and they just "borrowed" one of them and pretended it had been built by the actors. ROTF! So somewhere out there a memory from that night lives on in film.
http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-blizzard-of-1888-132307180.html;_ylt=A0LEV0kctcdU8q0At1VXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTExNjdtbnJtBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1VJQzFfMQ--
Of course the removal of snow was not so easily done back then and power lines were above the ground and the impact would have lasted longer. I wonder what sort of impact the storm had on my ancestors. They were poor and lived in tenements so I suspect it would have been hard going. Most of the men were laborers so perhaps they were able to get temporary work removing some of the snow. But I just think of their feet and how I guess they would have only had leather boots if they were lucky but how wet and cold it would have been none the less. Makes me so appreciate the boots we have now!
I noticed the snowfall of December 1947 ranked second with 26.4 inches. I called my mom to ask her if she remembered that one. My mom generally disavows any recollection of anything so I was surprised when she launched into her recollection of it. The snow lasted until the spring and there were huge piles of it everywhere. The kids in the neighborhood created slides in the snowbanks out of the snow and they would just spend days on end climbing up and sliding down over and over again. Back then snowsuits were made of wool and she and her sister wore a hole in the butts of their snowsuits from the continual sliding. My Grandma went to the store to buy them new snowsuits but discovered unlike past years when snowsuits were on clearance by this time, they were still full price. Despite money being very tight my Grandma decided to go ahead and buy them anyway because I guess the price was worth it to get the children out of the house for a few hours everyday!
My own snow in NYC memory dates from January 1988 which was not a historic snowfall but it had the distinction of beginning late on Sunday night after New Years when the city was still fairly deserted and it was allowed to fall and blanket the city and accumulate to a nice thickness before being removed in the next day. My friends and I decided to head out for a walk beginning at the foot of 5th Avenue at Washington Square. We headed north and there was silence everywhere, no people, no cars, nothing. It was pristine and white and glistening everywhere we looked. We walked in the middle of the avenue and if you can just imagine how rare it is to be the only ones out in the middle of NYC and your footprints the only marks, you might understand how magical the night felt. We were giddy and it was delightful. When we got to 23rd street, we laid down in the street and made snow angels. Can you imagine being able to lay down in the middle of 5th Avenue and there is nothing about you? We continued north and when we got to the Plaza, we stopped and build an army of snowman in the fountain across the street. Then we headed into Central Park and had a snowball fight before turning around and heading back home.
I have no pictures from that night, it just remains a favorite magical memory but as a post note...three weeks later we were watching All My Children, a soap which was filmed in NYC and they had a scene that was filmed off the lot out and about in the city. A couple was walking around the city enjoying the snow and they stopped in front of the Plaza and gave the impression of "building" a snowman. OMG it was one of our snowmen! They had clearly filmed it the day after we were there and our snowmen were still there and they just "borrowed" one of them and pretended it had been built by the actors. ROTF! So somewhere out there a memory from that night lives on in film.