Here Today, Gone Today

Winter Storm East Village Today came in like a lion and went out like a lamb.

Remember this picture of East 5th Street, from yesterday morning?

Yesterday morning.

This is what it looked like yesterday evening:

Yesterday evening.

Amazing, no?

#eastvillage #5thstreet #snow #winterstormeastvillagetoday

Worse In The Snow

Even a winter wonderland of snow can't make everything in the East Village look better.

Take this chair, for instance, on St. Mark's Place. Arguably, it could be said to look worse in the snow:

Looking worse in the snow.

And this intersection at Avenue B and East 7th Street — honestly, I don't think it looks better or worse:

Neither better nor worse.

Winter Storm East Village Today works in mysterious ways.

#eastvillage #7thstreet #avenueb #chairs #snow #stmarksplace #winter #winterstormeastvillagetoday

Winter Wonderland of Snow

East Villagers woke up this morning to discover… it was snowing!

Behold:

East 5th Street, in the snow.

Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden, in the snow.

Avenue B and East 7th Street entrance to Tompkins Square Park, in the snow.

Water fountain, in the snow.

Some trees, in the snow.

Women's Christian Temperance Union fountain, in the snow.

Some more trees, in the snow.

A row of benches, in the snow.

Where the church lady preaches, in the snow.

During the past two officially-declared winter storms, Winter Storm Skylar and Winter Storm Toby, we got almost no snow. Today, with no official designation, we got all this!

I declare this: Winter Storm East Village Today!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #7thstreet #avenueb #benches #chairs #communitygardens #sixthstreetavenuebcommunitygarden #snow #stmarksplace #tompkinssquarepark #waterfountains #wctu #winterwonderland

Dubious Response

Winter Storm Toby left in its wake a trail of dubious responses.

One such dubious response was this, at the corner of Avenue C and East 5th Street:

Dubious?

This makes no sense at all!

#eastvillage #5thstreet #avenuec #donotenter #trashcans #snow #dubious #winterstormtoby

Conserving Labor

Everyone knows trees need water, even during the Winter.

But when the snow melts, most of it drains away into the sewers, and people have to water the trees themselves!

One enterprising East Villager, on East 6th Street, found a way around this by shoveling snow into the tree bed:

Into the tree bed.

This way, when the snow melts, it will water the tree, and s/he won't have to!

#eastvillage #treebeds #6thstreet #trees #snow

It's Too Hard

East Villagers do not like to shovel the sidewalk — it's hard work!

One East Villager gave it a shot, here on the corner of East 5th Street and Avenue C, but didn't get very far:

"I'm tired".

For those who don't know, the cleared space in the street is due to there having been a car parked there.

#eastvillage #snow #sidewalks #5thstreet #avenuec

Mound Of Snow

Yesterday morning, before the start of Winter Storm Toby, the great blizzard that wasn't, I was walking across East 5th Street, when I saw this small mound of snow, left over from Winter Storm Skylar, the last great blizzard that wasn't:

Mound of snow.

It's strange how some snow lasts and other doesn't…

#eastvillage #snow #5thstreet #winterstormtoby #winterstormskylar

The Hardy Pumpkins

I was walking across East 4th Street one morning back in December — December 13, to be precise! — when I saw these hardy pumpkins on the sidewalk:

Hardy pumpkins.

I was very surprised to see them in such good condition, this long after Halloween. I was even more surprised to see that some anarchist hadn't destroyed them!

The next day, it snowed! There they were, unsmashed:

Unsmashed.

It could not last forever — it could not last beyond December 19, in fact! The combined influences of decomposition and the anarchist's boot worked their wiles on them:

Worked wiles.

They had a good run though, and there's no victory in smashing a pumpkin 49 days after Halloween — it's practically humiliating!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #pumpkins #snow

Bomb Cyclone – The Beginning

East Villagers woke up this morning to find that all the predictions of snow came true. They're calling this the Bomb Cyclone, and from these pictures, you can see why!

Here you can see a couple of discarded Christmas trees, blown violently down East 4th Street:

Blown violently.

The wind was so strong, it blew this table from its original location into Tompkins Square Park, at Avenue B and East 7th Street:

Blown table.

Because so many East Villagers come from the Midwest, where bomb cyclones don't even raise an eyebrow, they are undaunted! Here is a typical East Villager, sitting in the park, talking on his cell phone:

"Hey, guess what? It's snowing."

Finally, here is a video of another intrepid East Villager, riding his Citibike to work.


Neither rain nor snow now Bomb Cyclone… etc.!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #bicyclists #bombcyclone #citibike #discardedchristmastrees #snow #thirdavenue #tompkinssquarepark #winter

When Planters Topple

I was walking down Second Avenue in the days following the snowfall, when I saw this toppled planter outside the beloved Bar Virage, at the corner of East 7th Street:

Toppled planter.

By the looks of it, the screen fell out of the window, hit the planter, and knocked it over.

It looks like it's not just air conditioners you have to dodge!

#eastvillage #barvirage #planters #screens #secondavenue #snow

Clearing The Bike Lane

A mere seven days after the snowfall that turned overnight into massive ice boulders, these snowplow fellows came driving down Avenue A, pushing the boulders out of the bike lane:

Into the street.

East Village bikers rejoice!

#eastvillage #avenuea #snow #snowplows #bikelanes

Bookseller Way

Here is a picture of the sidewalk in front of the formerly-beloved branch of Chase Bank, on the corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, the day after it snowed:

The day after.

Apparently, the shoveller couldn't be bothered to make a path wider than the shovel itself!

If you are familiar with this corner, you will recall that this is where an East Village street vendor sells books. He was not set up on the day I took this picture, but the very next day, there he was again:

The very next day.

Notice how he set up his table alongside the path, causing people who stopped at his tables to divert foot-traffic into the hazardous area behind them!

#eastvillage #booktables #booksellers #chasebank #secondavenue #sidewalks #snow #stmarksplace

Blocking The Way

By now, the snow has almost all melted away, but a mere twelve days ago, the snow and its effects were still very much with us!

Here is a picture of a Con Edison barricade, and a Lift Plow Blade sign, blocking the pedestrian crosswalk that had previously been cleared of snow, at the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place:

Blocking the pedestrian crosswalk.

If you are wondering how I knew it was a Con Edison barricade, this is how:

Repairing Your Steam System.

It's hard to know how this barricade wound up where it did, blocking the pedestrian crosswalk — it's even harder to know where it's been keeping itself since February of last year!

Directly across the street from this one was… another one!

Another one.

East Villagers can only hope that this improper use of barricades does not impede the repair of our beloved steam system!

#eastvillage #avenuea #stmarksplace #snow #barricades #conedision #steamsystem #signs #liftplowblade

Crappy Snow Shovels

I was walking across East 4th Street — oh, about nine days ago — when I saw this discarded snow shovel:

Discarded snow shovel.

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

The funny thing is, I had just been thinking about this type of snow shovel — the curvy type — and how bad they are.

The idea is that the snow will roll forward as you push and you won't have to lift it. The problem is that the force you are applying down the handle while pushing does not stop where the handle joins the scooper — it continues along the same path.

A softer plastic scooper would absorb a lot of that energy, but a softer plastic would bend, reducing the effectiveness of the shovel and increasing the chance that the break occurs in the scooper itself. To avoid this, a higher-impact plastic is used, increasing the stress at the connection point.

Add to that the fact that no one pushes straight along the handle line, that everyone pushes downward somewhat, and the chance of breaking at this point is virtually assured.

So what is the solution? Only buy plastic shovels for the beach, and never buy curvy snow shovels, of any material!

Finally, always check with East Village Today before making any light-maintenance tool purchases!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #energy #snow #snowshovel

Ice Boulders

Blizzard Stella might not have been all it was cracked up to be, but the storm that stood in its place was one of great ice-fall!

While everything looks the way it normally would after it snows, instead of mounds of dirty snow, it's mounds of dirty ice East Villagers are contending with!

Behold, a massive ice mound on East 2nd Street at Avenue C:

Massive ice mound.

Further across East 2nd Street were these ice boulders, left behind by someone who chipped their car out of its parking space with an ice pick:

Ice bouldes.

At the Second Avenue entrance to the East Village, the bike lane was blocked by this mountain of ice:

Bike lane blocked.

Here is an ice rift, across from the beloved Golden Food Market at Second Avenue and East 7th Street:

Ice rift.

To give you some perspective of its size, here is an East Villager passing through:

Passing through.

Sometimes, East Villagers try to help each other by putting objects in the water at intersections, for others to step on.

Be warned! These objects are oftentimes very slippery, especially if they're the bottom drawers of refrigerators!

Bottom drawer of a refrigerator.

You don't even know if that thing is touching bottom! It could be floating, since it's inverted and has air trapped inside it. Add to that that the top is slippery, and stepping on this could result in a (wet and cold and possibly dog-pee infused) trip to the emergency room!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #7thstreet #avenuec #bikelanes #goldenfoodmarket #ice #refrigeratordrawers #secondavenue #snow

Vespa Impairment

Citibikes were not the only vehicles impaired by the recent snowfall. Vespas (and Vespa-like scooters) were also affected, as can be seen here this past Thursday morning, outside the beloved Ave. A Deli & Food Inc., on the corner of Avenue A and East 3rd Street:

Vespa (or Vespa-like scooter) impaired.

Luckily, Vespa owners are not bound by the same restrictions as Citibike riders, so they were free to scoot off, once breaking free of the retaining wall!

#eastvillage #3rdstreet #aveadelifoodinc #avenuea #snow #vespas

Citibike Shut Down Again

Probably the only drawback to blizzards in the East Village, even those that never transpire, is that Citibikes are not available during that time.

Alas, they are locked up tight, and sometimes even half-buried in snow, as seen here this past Thursday morning, outside the local Duane Reade on East 2nd Street at Avenue C:

Half-buried in snow.

What would be more fun than taking a bike out in the snow and doing donuts in the intersections?!

I know — doing donuts in the intersections on a Vespa!

#eastvillage #citibike #duanereade #2ndstreet #avenuec #snow

Ti Amo

Snow always brings out the best in East Villagers, as can be seen in this picture taken across from the beloved Key Food on East 4th Street:

Ti amo yourself!

The good feelings did not diminish overnight, as can be seen by this picture taken Thursday morning, outside the beloved Fine Fare, on Avenue C:

Smiley face.

I wonder if these two cars being parked outside of grocery stores had anything to do with it?

Nah!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #cars #doodles #finefare #keyfood #smileyfaces #snow #tiamo

Dog-Pee Snow

One reason a well-shovelled sidewalk is important, not just for aesthetics, is that if you slip and fall, not only might you injure yourself, but you might also fall into dog pee!

Witness this, as seen on East 4th Street this past Wednesday morning:

Dog-pee snow.

As long as the sidewalk is shovelled, as was this one, East Villagers can pass with nearly-complete assurance that it won't get on them!

#eastvillage #dogpee #snow #sidewalks

Sidewalk of Snow

While most East Villagers appreciate the appearance and safety of a well-shovelled sidewalk, there are those who do not.

Behold, as seen this past Wednesday, in front of some beloved place on East 4th Street:

Unshovelled sidewalk.

Maybe they thought the snow added to the rusticness of the facade:

Rustic facade in the snow.

I wonder if they're even open anymore? Being closed would certainly add to the rusticity of the place!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #snow #sidewalks