New York City: One of the Best Features, Weather

• Posted on 1st July 2016
• in Entertainment, entertainment books, New York City
• by Ben

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Worldwide, people have strong opinions about

New York City

pro and con.

[Author’s Note: This piece may offend non New Yorkers so I apologize in advance. I assure you that no slur on your neighborhood is intended. I’m just happy about mine.]

New York City is the center of everything./It’s one big ego.

New York City is a great place to live./It’s a shit-hole.

New York City has everything./It’s an overcrowded shambles.

One could continue redundantly but you get the idea. Needless to say, I love New York City. Having lived here since 1964 – even if I win the lottery – I’ll never leave.

One virtue of our town that’s rarely mentioned is our weather. We gripe about the summer heat (Who doesn’t?), bitch about the (increasingly rare) snow but compared with the rest of the USA we have it pretty easy here in The Big Apple.

Four tragic headlines from recent US News:

Flames roar through central California homes; thousands flee

Flood’s death toll rises to 23 in West Virginia dozens rescued

At least 6 tornado touchdowns confirmed in northern Illinois

Western wildfires still rage, but some progress being made

We are deprived of the excitement provided by earthquakes, the thrills that tornados bring and the dramatics of wildfires. Here’s our boring, early summer weather.

Okay, it’s not always like this. Yet even when Hurricane Sandy hit us a few years back New York City (by which I mean Manhattan where we live) was not devastated. There was flooding in lower Manhattan for a few days but compared with the rest of the northeast costal areas we got off almost unscathed.

The one snowstorm per winter on average for the last twenty or thirty years has briefly created beauty and quiet followed by a few days of minor inconvenience. That’s about it.

Californians brag about their beaches and redwoods but getting to either is a chore and the forests are on fire all summer. Pelican staters brag about their culture and food but Louisiana seems to be under water half the time. Oklahoma Sooners and other formerly fault free friends face fracking* earthquakes and Florida … fuhgedaboudit.

So I’ll just stay here, walk and bike in our wonder-full parks, take a train to the beach or kayak in the Hudson. Then I’ll watch the news as Mother Nature punishes those who are not blessed to live in New York City.

• It means Hydraulic fracturing. What would you expect?

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