It is Cold! The puppy-mill dogs for sale for hundreds of dollars are out of the windows where they normally frolic in order to entice buyers to purchase. The windows now have signs hanging in them, asking you to come inside to play.
No one is sleeping on the street, it is suicide to do so. I saw a teen sitting on the sidewalk this afternoon, with his panhandling sign, and I could not imagine how long he was going to last, before the bone-numbing chill forced him to move away. The deli windows are frozen about a foot up, or are covered with condensation until eye level. Everyone is hunkered down inside their outer garments, with hats pulled over their ears or neck scarves up to the lower lashes. I had a scarf inside my coat and another one on the outside. That was in addition to 4 layers underneath. The oldtimers on two of the buses today said this is the way New York weather is meant to be. The last two winters they said, were way too mild. One thing is certain, this should thin out the spring-time bug population. Those flies that over winter in the window jams are most likely not going to make it.