You suffer through the darkness and cold and in return, you are occasionally rewarded with fat flakes falling from the sky, blunting the edges and softening the roar of our filthy town. This is the bargain that New Yorkers have with winter, but so far this year, winter has failed us.
Central Park has only recorded a trace of snow since December 1. The meter at LaGuardia Airport saw a dusting at some point, a mockery. Usually, the average snowfall for New York City this time of year is between six and seven inches.
Children, dogs, adults of strong moral character are all asking: Where is the snow?
Our own Sanitation Department, which has the honor and privilege of removing wintery precipitation from our streets, used the current snow scarcity to score points on Twitter—no doubt a cry for help from a bewildered agency.
Feeling similarly discombobulated this morning, Hell Gate picked up the phone and called the National Weather Service. If we couldn't order up some snow, we could perhaps try to understand what is happening.
Bryan Ramsey, an NWS meteorologist, pointed out that things aren't nearly as dire here as they are out west, where the water supply is fed by snow pack, which has been steadily diminishing over the years.
"Some parts of the country really rely on the snow," Ramsey said. "Here, it's more of, how much water do we have falling from the sky?" (The answer: enough.)
"I think the biggest impact is the emotions, in a way. People aren't seeing as much snow as usual, and it can be alarming to people," Ramsey told us, as we clutched the phone, nodding furiously.
The rain that's currently falling is going to stay rain. And Ramsey said there's no snow in the forecast over the next week.
"Historically, odds are, we should be able to see something before the end of winter," Ramsey added hopefully. "Winter only started at the end of December. We still do have a ways to go."
More vital information for your Thursday:
- The 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore have ended their strike after three days. The nurses went back to work today after the hospitals agreed to higher staffing ratios.
- The Times has more reporting on "George" Santos and his murky past, with some clues as to where his cash came from (not volleyball).
- A judge has blocked the Adams administration's plan to shunt City retirees to a crappier health insurance plan.
- When is installing a few bike racks (fucking BIKE RACKS) described as a "sea change"? When we're talking about the MTA in 2023, baby.
- But what do they think of Dimes Square?
- The number of "red flags" that law enforcement has placed on potential gun owners in New York has skyrocketed. Nothing to be alarmed about, probably.
- The NLRB has officially certified the Amazon Labor Union. Time for a contract, Jeff!!!!!
- Tesla's factory outside of Buffalo was supposed to be a hub for solar energy technology, but instead, it's a warehouse of people identifying things that Tesla's self-driving cars should not destroy. Your tax dollars in action!
- The City Council's transportation committee held just THREE hearings on 87 bills last year. Three! What are they doing?
- Utica taught Stephen King a valuable lesson about insulting Utica (don't do it).
- A Cornell Law School professor takes up Hector LaSalle's supporters' suggestion to look at his broader record and, yep, still pretty conservative!
