New York has been hit with more snow this year than any of the years that I have been here. Somehow, it doesn't seem to be so bad compared to Boston. As a kid, I remember snow piled high in our yard, sometimes in mountains taller than us. New York however, seems to suffer more from snow, likely because it is so crowded. Because the city never sleeps, there isn't a time to properly clean everything. In my home town by Boston we would go to sleep, and when we woke up, the streets would be plowed. Here in New York however, there are always cars on the roads. The plows go through, but it's messy.
I liked how the snow in the suburbs would remain white for so long. In school, we would fill bowls with snow that had fallen, pour syrup on it and eat it because it was so clean (actually later I stopped doing that because my parents told me it was dirty anyway). The suburbs can be a winter wonderland. New York is beautiful right when the snow falls. The city lights shine in the background as the snowflakes drift from the sky, catches on the few tree branches and apartment steps. Within a few hours though, it all turns into a gray soup. Gray, and in a place where there is a high density of people and dogs, yellow. This year, it's been so bad that some states have run out of salt.
My apartment is small, and in theory easy to heat, but it's an old building and there are gaps where wind comes in very easily. The heat does not work properly. Luckily, I was able to buy a space heater, and that works well enough to heat up the whole place. At night though, I feel like I'm camping. The difficult thing about having a rent stabilized apartment is that it is hard to make complaints since rent stabilized apartments are rare. I'd rather not fight with my landlord, since it was so hard to get the apartment in the first place. I suppose he knows that though, which is why he doesn't turn up the heat. I argued with him once, and said that it's too cold, and his reply was simply, "Not cold. Very warm. Very warm here."
Every winter I want to move somewhere warm. I've reached an age where I don't care about how I look anymore. When I go out in the cold, I dress like a homeless person who has to carry every article of clothing he/she owns on his body at the same time. First a layer of wool tights. Then pants. Then socks. I've thought about wearing another layer of sweat pants over all that, but perhaps have retained some send of fashion self-consciousness--maybe I'll start doing that when I'm 30. Then I wear a thermal top, a dress shirt, and two sweaters over that. Then a scarf, and an arctic expedition jacket (expensive, but absolutely worth it). Each winter I vow to look for jobs in a warmer place. But then the cold fades away, and I love New York again.
I liked how the snow in the suburbs would remain white for so long. In school, we would fill bowls with snow that had fallen, pour syrup on it and eat it because it was so clean (actually later I stopped doing that because my parents told me it was dirty anyway). The suburbs can be a winter wonderland. New York is beautiful right when the snow falls. The city lights shine in the background as the snowflakes drift from the sky, catches on the few tree branches and apartment steps. Within a few hours though, it all turns into a gray soup. Gray, and in a place where there is a high density of people and dogs, yellow. This year, it's been so bad that some states have run out of salt.
My apartment is small, and in theory easy to heat, but it's an old building and there are gaps where wind comes in very easily. The heat does not work properly. Luckily, I was able to buy a space heater, and that works well enough to heat up the whole place. At night though, I feel like I'm camping. The difficult thing about having a rent stabilized apartment is that it is hard to make complaints since rent stabilized apartments are rare. I'd rather not fight with my landlord, since it was so hard to get the apartment in the first place. I suppose he knows that though, which is why he doesn't turn up the heat. I argued with him once, and said that it's too cold, and his reply was simply, "Not cold. Very warm. Very warm here."
Every winter I want to move somewhere warm. I've reached an age where I don't care about how I look anymore. When I go out in the cold, I dress like a homeless person who has to carry every article of clothing he/she owns on his body at the same time. First a layer of wool tights. Then pants. Then socks. I've thought about wearing another layer of sweat pants over all that, but perhaps have retained some send of fashion self-consciousness--maybe I'll start doing that when I'm 30. Then I wear a thermal top, a dress shirt, and two sweaters over that. Then a scarf, and an arctic expedition jacket (expensive, but absolutely worth it). Each winter I vow to look for jobs in a warmer place. But then the cold fades away, and I love New York again.
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