Don't move - Snowstorm Hits New York City: How Do Residents Cope?

New York City

The Big Apple is Getting Hit with a Major Storm, What's it like to Live Through a Mini-blizzard in the Capital of the World?New York City is getting its first winter storm of the year as forecasts predict seven to ten inches of snow will hit the metropolitan area. In addition, wind speeds are expected to hit 30 miles per hour. While this is not quite a blizzard, it certainly is a major winter storm in the weekend before Christmas.

People who do not live in the middle of New York City often ask me how difficult it must be to deal with a snowstorm in a place as crowded and fast paced as Manhattan. Actually, the number of people and fast pace of life very much helps us manage through the snow.

As a ten year resident of the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, I've live through plenty of snowstorms in the city. The thing that strikes me most is how efficiently the city, (and by 'city' I mean the combination of city snow removal service and the local residents and shopkeepers) recovers from major storms.

There is, of course, a natural built in advantage to densely populated areas when it comes to snow cleanup and removal. As most people in Manhattan, and particularly in Murray Hill, live in multi-family dwellings ranging from townhouses to high rises, on a per person basis there is actually very little to clean up.

Nonetheless the preparation and processes involved in advance of the storm itself are truly remarkable. Like clockwork, it seems, hours before the storm city buses have been equipped with chains on their tires, snow plow trucks sit at strategic locations in each neighborhood waiting for the first flakes, and building superintendents and residents have their salt and shovels propped up in front of seemingly every front door in the neighborhood. They are aided, of course, by the fact that we live in a concrete jungle and subways run underneath the streets and that heat tapping pavement is ubiquitous.