NYC Blizzard of 2000
On Friday, 29 December 2000, 1010 WINS (the all-news station in NYC) reported that New York City was expecting 6-10 inches of snow in the 12-hour period starting at about 8:00am on Saturday. Knowing how beautiful NYC gets when covered with snow, and knowing that it only looks beautiful for about 10 minutes after the snow stops, I prepared myself to go out at about 10:00am. That way, the snow would have fallen for about 2 hours, which I figured would give the city a nice covering.
I managed to get out of bed around 9:30am, dragged myself to the bathroom, and noticed that there was a lot of snow visible out the window. I flipped on the TV to NY1 (NYC all news TV station) and found out that the snow started at about 4:00am, four hours early!
6-8 inches had already fallen in Central Park, and the blizzard was not even half over! I grabbed my camera gear and headed over to Central Park (I did get dressed first).
As I was walking to the park, I called my father on his cell phone and found out that he was cross-country skiing in the park. We decided to meet.
The photos below are from the walk to the park.
Photos
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Lost
As I got to Fifth Avenue and about 65th Street, I called my father and he said that he was on the East Drive near a light pole marked 6402. I used my keen grasp of the obvious to deduce that he must be around 64th Street. I headed into the park, found the East Drive (not as easy as it sounds since everything was covered with snow), and found the light pole marked 6402. I looked around. No father.
I called him again, and told him that I was standing next to light 6402. He said that he was also near 6402. I looked around again, and still couldn't see him. He suggested that I wave my arms around. I did (probably looked pretty funny too). It was snowing pretty heavily and visibility was probably between 50-100 feet, but he said that he couldn't see me. I could see the other light poles in either direction, but still, no father.
I finally told him that I was near The Dairy. "The Dairy?" he said, "That's no where near the East Drive! Wait there, I'll come get you." Now, I may not be that great at directions, but I do know that The Dairy is in fact near the East Drive.
About three of four minutes later, I see him gliding towards me on his skis. First thing he said was, "Show me the pole." I pointed to the pole. He looked at the 'E6402' sign on it. Quietly, he said, "Oh. I see the problem." He was waiting by pole 'C6402'...he was on the Center Drive the whole time.
Typical.
The photos below are from the park.
Photos
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The city looks so peaceful and quiet! Quite a different feel and look from the city that never sleeps.
My first trip to the City was during that storm. Very little traffic and almost no one on foot. I now live nearby and know that was unusual. Still, whenever we get a big storm, I know it is a perfect time to go into the City.
Awesome photos! We never get that in Houston. In fact, it is supposed to be in the 70’s tomorrow.
You know what they say about New York...every neighborhood turns into a small village when it snows.
