NYC snowstorm: New Yorkers share their experiences

While some businesses and restaurants shut their doors on Tuesday, Boerum Hill residents weren’t fazed. Many commuted to work, while some sought fun in the snow.

Elliot Inz, 34, headed to work in the Financial District clad in shorts and a pineapple-patterned shirt. He had a coat and hat on for good measure.

“They’re comfortable; I always wear shorts,” Inz said. “It’s heated inside, you’re only outside for 10, 15 minutes at a time.”

He started work from home but “figured I’d head in while it’s not too bad out and take care of some other stuff.”

“It’s not too bad,” he added. “I’ve seen a lot worse.”” data-id=”113261990″ data-link=”https://www.amny.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/13483_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.13261990″/>
Photo Credit: Alison Fox

Boerum Hill resident Joe McLaughlin, 43, took his daughter, 5, and son, 3, out in the snow.

He said the kids, holding a small shovel, rode it upside down and were taking turns scooping the heavy wet snow on Smith Street.

“You have to be creative in this weather,” he said, adding that making a snowman may be in the near future. “We needed to get out; stir crazy. We got about another four or five hours till bed time, so let’s go! You can only do so many movies until their eyes fall out of their heads.”

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Photo Credit: Alison Fox

Margaret Wieczorek, 58, lives in Hell’s Kitchen and was attacking the wintry mix obscuring a West 55th Street sidewalk with a shovel as the wind lifted up her bucket of tools and bounced it into Eighth Avenue, pellets of ice firing down from the sky like a shower of needles.

Wieczorek was a Nike slogan in the flesh.

“I love this!” she crowed, plowing snow to the curb. “If you have energy, you need to fulfill it! You cannot keep energy and store it!”

Wieczorek is originally from Poland, where she sniffed, “We don’t make a big deal of snow. We have it up to here!” she said, tapping a reporter’s hip.

Of course, she allowed, New York City storms do best Poland’s in one respect: “In Poland, we don’t have wind. Here, you have wind, because of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Still, she couldn’t understand why New Yorkers weren’t out in force fighting nature. “Just do it! Do it well! Don’t wait for someone else to do it!” she said.” data-id=”113260746″ data-link=”https://www.amny.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/13037_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.13260746″/>
Photo Credit: amNY / Sheila Anne Feeney

Hasam Murray, 21, would make a good postal worker. (“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”)

Murray’s first day of work as a cashier at By Suzette, a café in the Columbus Circle underground mall called Turnstyle, was Tuesday.

“The weather didn’t stop me!” he said, although the trains almost did. Murray, who lives in Crown Heights, said his first morning commute was “horrible,” with the No. 3 train running local and the journey taking an agonizingly long time. “It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get here,” and he wound up being 20 minutes late to begin his first shift at 7 a.m.

His colleagues had plenty of time to show him the ropes of his new gig. More than half the other restaurants and shops were closed and customers were few, with the normally frenetic pace of business slowed to a crawl.

Finally, a man approached the register. Murray snapped to attention.

“Do you have a tissue?” asked the man.

Murray gestured to a supply of paper napkins on the counter. ” data-id=”113260745″ data-link=”https://www.amny.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/13040_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.13260745″/>
Photo Credit: amNY / Sheila Anne Feeney

On another snow day, Prospect Park would be filled with parents and kids building snow creatures, engaging in snowball fights and sliding down the mounds near the great lawn.

Tuesday’s high winds and icy precipitation, however, turned the green space into an empty white void. The few people who did turn out said they just had to get out of their homes and have fun.

Alexander Sturm and his buddy, Haskell Anderson, both 12, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, said they were surprised more kids weren’t around to play with, but were happy that they had more slopes to themselves.

“I’ve never seen just my tracks in the snow before,” he said in between his sledding runs.

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Photo Credit: amNY / Ivan Pereira

Tuesday’s snowstorm turned New York City into a winter wonderland overnight.

And whether their reason to head outside was for work, play or shoveling, nothing was going to stop these New Yorkers from going about their day.

Scroll down to see how people are spending their day in the snow.