Team Winter here! Thanks for publishing those comments. Not everybody likes the stifling heat, especially in the city and taking the subway and whatnot. So annoyed at gleeful weather people on the telly telling me that I like it. I don't! Then there is that awful reminder that the planet is warming and I get that sense of doom. Find me a cold place please!!
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Happiest Birthday Freddie! You are such a gift to all of us!
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Thanks, American Girl. Not to be drippy or nerdy, but the Times’ openness on how it allows us commenters to express ourselves online is such a gift, not to be taken for granted. Yet I hope the print edition doesn’t ever disappear even as NYT online keeps getting more reader-friendly. (Those good-natured fun and funny NY Times-folding lessons at the top of Mrs. Sibener’s 7th grade social studies classes took time to master, especially the “sitting on a crowded subway” fold and the “standing on a bus and not hitting anybody” fold, and I’d sure miss using them!)
Delightful photos and yet I can’t help agree with Spike!
Well. Nice to see some time has been given to those of us who opt for cooler temps.
The thing is, heat and humidity in New York City isn't very pleasant -- especially when you're trapped underground waiting for a train that for some reason or another, never seems to come.
And then there's the various stages of putridfication one is forced to endure either when the wind blows... or doesn't.
In the end, it's just the matter of personal preference, but it's all good...Now, have a nice day and don't forget the sunscreen.
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Lovely use of language to describe yesterday and this week's upcoming weather in New York (finally) in the New York Times Today in this vignette: when sending a photographer to capture New Yorkers 'enjoying their first taste of spring heat':
"We came across people in similar states of suspension — eyes closed and faces tilted toward the sun, like humanoid solar panels switched on for the very first time."
I for one will admit that I was at my wit's end waiting for that moment to arrive the day before, while 45 degree blustery winds were blowing and pelting icy raindrops were hitting my face and I'd missed the light two blocks from my house as my umbrella was working its way inside out.
What a difference a day makes!
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A reader in “And Finally” said: “I feel drained, bloated, greasy. Plus when the city heats up, all the unpleasant smells, like garbage, urine and body odor, emerge to slap you in the face.”
Not a great feeling, but it might help to sing about it. So for the “Grease” song cue: a “Summer Nights”/”Grease Is The Word” medley
-- (the summer-loving people)
Summer weather, we say hooray
Summer weather, get out and play
In the Park, see people doze
They wake up, shed some more clothes
Summer day, in early May
Still uh, oh. it doesn’t feel right
Tell Al Gore, tell Al Gore, we don’t want it to change
Tell Al Gore, tell Al Gore, though this weather is strange
-- (the “And Finally” group, to Grease Is The Word)
I see the forecast and I’m feeling drained
The weather changed too fast, how can it be explained.
When skin gets itchy from the sudden swing
We can’t believe it’s true , that we skipped over spring
(Greasy’s the word)
Greasy’s the word, and the thing that occurred
And some people ain’t dealing.
Greasy’s the grime and the sweat and commotion
Greasy’s not all that appealing
(all) Tell Al Gore, tell Al Gore!
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Happy Birthday, Freddie.
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Yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Freddie! May your special day be filled with all of the marvelous music and clever wit you treat us to daily in the Comments section!
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Yes, I too wish you a happy birthday, Freddie! All is indeed well and I continue to delight in starting every weekday relishing wonderful NYToday and the musings of its charming community. In California, and now with a later schedule, I am less inclined to comment, as the day is practically half-over for many readers.
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STORM SEEKER
Keep the cold,
Keep the snow.
If that's your thing,
Move to Buffalo.
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OK - meet you on the lower platform of the West 4th Street Station on July 31st at 4 pm. You will find me passed out on the filthy floor in a pool of my own sweat and who know what else!
TOP O' THE WEATHER
Spring's finally
In fine form.
Welcome sunshine,
Welcome warm.
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I am not a fan of "the cold", but will surely miss jacket and scarf weather...especially the pockets!
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I'm one of those who prefer the weather when the temperature is no higher than, say, 65 degrees. In the winter, one can protect himself against the cold. As I'm not yet able to traverse the city in a portable air conditioning unit...
Then there are those who complain about winter with their "I can't wait for summer" drones, who will walk on, oh, 38th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues on a 90-plus degree day in August, complaining about the heat.
Have no fear...those days are coming...and in bunches.
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Inspired photo diary... humanoid solar panels set was especially brilliant!
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What a joyful column, Jonathan. "Humanoid solar panels" is not only apt, it's fun. Thanks to Mr Speranza for his photographs artfully taken and spaced throughout. Thanks for one of the best columns I've read here. Now on to "In the News".
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Yes, great photos. But if you're in a buttoned down office environment, strange as it might seem, there may be a fleeting not-suitable-for-office aspect. :) Maybe there should be a NSFBDO, Not Suitable For Buttoned Down Office, acronym for totally G-rated stuff that you still might not want your boss to walk in on!
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Many of these folks will be getting a tan--except for the palm area and fingers of their dominant hand, as they perpetually have a tight hold of a smart phone.
BYW, nice pictures. Kudos to the photog. Captured the mood of the city as outdoor weather returns.
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I dislike extremely — OK, hate — hot weather, but cannot blame New York for that. Enjoy!
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Now I know how Michelle Wolf feels as my attempt at humor fell as flat...
"For the first time this season we noticed the scent of cherry blossoms in the air, and met gardeners putting perennials in parks, sidewalk pots and meridians around town."
What kind of meridian can you put a perennial into in NYC?
--
Bob
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An annual? Maybe that’s what they meant?
This is spring-like weather? To the contrary, it’s more like summer! Temps in the upper 80s?
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“Spring Comes to the City, For Real This Time” [that’s got to be a Donna Summer song cue, in honor of the acting Tonys, right? Maybe?]
Tune of “This Time I Know It’s For Real” - when so much can be done online, why choose between working and enjoying the weather! :)
What would I have to say,
To get you to seize the day.
Get outside, enjoy the heat
If people need us, they can e-mail or tweet
Move the office out to Bryant Park
They won’t know, no one will snark
The weather’s crazy, and the work flow’s slow
Just grab your phone, pack up that work to-go.
Let’s grab the iPad and a nice bordeaux
This time it’s spring time for real
(This time, this time)
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Thank you , Freddie.
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I do start my weekday with reading the New York Today column but 'gimme a break.' As a lifetime New Yorker and part time street photographer, taking photos in Manhattan does not qualify as having "explored the city." People do enjoy Spring in the other boroughs, or so I am told, even if I cannot remember their names or the subway cannot get you there on the weekends.
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Perhaps these photos were meant more for ex-
NYers like me, reminiscing from afar.
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Bah, humbug; lighten up!
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Agree with James, too. Native NY'er here who no longer lives nor works in the city, and I cherish these type of photographs. I miss NYC so much! Love the pictures!
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