I saw on the news that New Yorkers are threatening to tar and feather Mayor Michael Bloomberg for failing to deal with the aftermath of the latest "Blizzard of the Century". As we are only a decade into the century, I suppose that may be accurate. It appears that removing the snow from the streets of a metropolis the size of New York requires a lot of resources and ol' Bloomie is getting a little beat up for not being out on the front lines with his mayoral shovel clearing the path.
I realize comparing Albert Lea, Minnesota to New York City is apples and oranges to the extreme. We are tiny and have an infrastructure geared to deal with heavy snowfall. And we do pay high taxes. Still, I want to express my appreciation to all of the city employees and contract workers who mobilize and work 14 hours straight, as a matter of pride, to clear the streets - to clear the snow from Oakwood Drive, Wedge Street, Lakeview Boulevard and Fountain Street, so Gunnar Berg can go out and have breakfast at Blondie's, a burger at the Elbow Room, or pizza at Jake's, or a shredded-beef hard-shelled taco at the Taco King .... all in a timely manner. Good show.
7 comments:
Life must be truly tough for those New Yorkers. Being inconvenienced is really hard on one. I remember once being without electricity to keep the beer cold for five days. I was going to hang myself but I couldn't find the rope so I just drank some more room temp beer.
I have lived in large metro areas in the winter. Only one comment: Mother Nature 1, Bloomberg 0.
Old Fool: Snow removal in a city like New York isn't just a matter of convenience. Two people died because ambulances didn't reach them in time.
In the case of medical emergencies people have been transported on skids pulled snowmobiles, but every year there are weather related deaths. I suppose there isn't one snowmobile in the whole city of New York. (Actually two deaths in city of 8 million isn't too bad a percentage.)
That's the fascination of severe weather. It can kill you. As a person's skill level decreases, it moves beyond fascinating to scarey.
Severe weather opened for business out here this morning. It's not that bad yet, but the report at the coffee shop was that someone had already driven their car into the front of Thirsty's Bar on Main Street.
Gunnar: Now that blog spots are almost passe I've finally gotten around to building one. We had a bit of snow down on the Jersey shore last Sunday and you can see some pix of that, if you care, here: http://mid-atlanticmusings.blogspot.com/
Take care and dress warmly.
George in Maryland
George,
I just added your link to the list. Looking forward to hear what you have to say.
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