Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Well, here we are, three days past the December Blizzard of 2010. As you know, on Sunday we got 20 inches of snow. Central Park recorded 18 consecutive hours of snowfall (and check out this 40-second time lapse video of 20 hours of snow in New Jersey!). We had wind gusts over 50 mph. We had thundersnow. All three New York City airports shut down completely, are still a long way off from being back to normal operation. Bus and train service was suspended, and public transportation continues to be a disaster. (Remember those people I mentioned who were stuck on a subway train for hours? They had it easy compared to the people stuck on a train for 32 hours!) There was even snow inside the subway stations. Record numbers of cars, buses, trucks and even snowplows were (and many still are) stalled in the roads.

Three days later, things are still a mess. The airports are not yet back to normal (and angry mobs seem to be breaking out), and neither are the buses or trains. Many streets still have not been plowed (not in our area, but there is a great deal of anger directed at Mayor Bloomberg right now due to lack of response in this mess). The snow has long stopped, the winds have died down and the sun is shining, but we still have 18 of the 20 inches of snow we got holding firm on the ground, and people are still trying to dig themselves out from under it. What a mess.

But, Eric and I were lucky in that we were not affected by the disastrous consequences of such a snowfall. Our streets were plowed, Eric can walk to work, and we were not trying to fly in our out of the city (nor were our loved ones). In fact, we even benefited from the blizzard: Eric got the day off from work on Monday, creating an unexpected long weekend, AND the Broadway show Billy Elliot offered a fabulous snow day deal that we took advantage of: $30 orchestra level tickets (regularly $115) for Monday evening's performance! An extra day off work for Eric AND a super cheap Broadway show? Okay by us!

Let's recap our Blizzageddon experience, shall we?

By the time we woke up Sunday morning, this was the view from our living room window:

That's right: nothing. Just white snow swirling about. At that point, it was really just flurries, and there was only a very slight accumulation.

We spent some time relaxing around the house, then in the afternoon decided to go downtown to see if we could get some snowy Wall Street pictures. The snow was falling a little heavier and the wind was starting to pick up, but the worst of it was still a couple hours away. So, we bundled ourselves up and went downtown. We hit all our usual spots: Ground Zero, Trinity Church, the Bull, the Stock Exchange.

We've barely left our apartment, and I'm already getting pelted by snow!

Snowy streets in our neighborhood

Snowy wreath in front of the Ground Zero cross

Trinity church cemetery

Christmas tree in the Trinity Church cemetery

Wall Street Bull

At least this bike is staying warm!

The Stock Exchange Christmas tree

By the time we finished checking out all those sights, things were really starting to pick up. The wind was just whipping snow in our faces, and at times it was so strong we could barely walk and we just stood still until the gust died down. We were chilled to the bone and ready to head home, so that we did.

Happy to be out of the wind and back in the subway

Warming up on the train ride home

Our wet clothes drying out in the bathroom

By the time we got home, things were really kicking into high gear. Weather.com told us we already had about five inches of snow on the ground (we estimated only one inch when we first left the house a couple hours earlier), and they predicted that number would double within the next 2-3 hours (it did). We basically hunkered down and watched things unfold as the night went on. We did take Achilles out briefly, and as I mentioned in my first snow post, he absolutely HATED LIFE while he was out there. That dog is all about a walk (and being wherever we are generally), but even if we kept on going, he turned himself right around and went back to the door to wait.

Snowy view from our apartment

Our grocery store's delivery bins getting a nice snow cover

Me walking the poor, miserable dog

Snow accumulating on our window sill as we lean out to look down the street (stalled cab near the corner at the bottom)

Snow starting to pile up around the trash can across the street

 

Our Nativity practically in silhouette against the snowy white outside

Eric woke up at 7:30 the next morning to check his email to see if his office was open, but he said as soon as he looked out the window he knew it would be closed. The snow had really stopped falling, but the wind was still whipping it around so much it looked like it was still coming down. We took Achilles outside that morning (still hates it), then relaxed a little until things quieted down a bit.

Luckily, a narrow path had already been shoveled on our sidewalk. If not, the snow would have been taller than Achilles!

  

Can you see the very tippy top of a fire hydrant sticking out of that snow bank?

  

Snowy street corner

 A look down the street

After a while we ventured out to take some pictures of our snowy city. Since we have already photographed Central Park in the snow multiple times, we decided this time we would stick around midtown and actually get some city pictures. We stopped by the theater to buy our Billy Elliot tickets, then roamed across town through Times Square, over to Rockefeller Center, up Fifth Avenue (where we walked past Kelsey Grammer and his new girlfriend), and then back home by way of the park (because really, how can you totally resist Central Park after a good snow?). Get ready, here comes the real onslaught of pictures! These are just a few of my favorites:

I would say there was definitely snow in THIS subway station!

Eric and me on snow piles in Times Square

Still on a snow pile in Times Square

Snowy Christmas lights

On Sixth Avenue

Snowy ornaments

That's me up there on top of that Sixth Avenue snow pile!

NBC Studios

The Promenade at Rockefeller Center

Thanks to our new camera, Eric was able to get this shot of ALL of 30 Rock with the tree and angels below it!

Snowy cab

Eric on a snowy bench

Pulitzer Fountain

Back in Central Park

Snow people on the trees

Snowy lamppost

By the time we finished all that walking we were tired and frozen, so we went home to warm up for a bit (and eat some more delicious Christmas lasagna) before going back out for Billy Elliot.

I thought Billy Elliot was excellent, by the way. Very well done. It was funny, cute, touching, moving. I especially liked the parts where they intermingled the bitter struggle between the police and the miners with the innocence of the children. What a striking contrast - very powerful. Overall, a very good show, and man, you can't beat the price of the tickets!

The theater

After the show

And that was our experience with the Great Snowpocalypse of 2010!

Quick note: I'm going to put the rest of our snow pictures on my photo share site this afternoon, if you want to see more!