The Sequel Always Stinks

By Sean McVeigh

Well, aren’t we lucky? I know I was certainly dreaming of a white St. Paddy’s Day. Two monster snowstorms in the same year. I guess the only bright side is that now you get two columns about snowstorms in the same year. Writing about the weather is about as lazy as it gets. I’m sorry, I can only work with the material I’ve got.

In the days leading up to this storm, there was a palpable sense of exhaustion. This has been one of the longest, coldest, and now snowiest winters in recent memory. Understandably, people are fed up with it all. This is a beach town. We live for the summer. Not for this.

As a dog owner, I was out there on the front lines Monday morning. Together, my pup and I made it almost two blocks before we were forced to turn back, defeated by icy obstacles and whipping wind. Things were not in great shape, and the people we encountered — if they even managed a glance in our direction, which I probably wouldn’t have myself — were not in high spirits. I was right there in the dumps with them. So was my frosty pup, for that matter.

I live on a beach block (subtle brag). They are great and all, but they are kryptonite for snowplows. There just isn’t enough room for them to maneuver, so they don’t frequent us as often. Not that Rockaway, as a whole, isn’t already prone to the cold shoulder of the city’s warm embrace.

Mayor Mamdani is one strict guy. He would have made some of my old nun instructors proud … well, kind of. Schools were closed on Monday for obvious reasons. But Mamdani made the decision to open them on Tuesday, to the dismay and befuddlement of almost everyone. Maybe Gracie Mansion was all nice and cleaned up, but the rest of the city saw that news, took one look outside, and chalked it up as a wasted personal day. I hear a lot of people get sick when the Mayor makes a daft decision.

Wasn’t there one fun person on his staff with enough sway to squeeze out one more snow day? Has Hizzoner never been sledding? Is this a Scrooge scenario? Do we need to call in the ghosts? I have to imagine that as the day continued to deteriorate, the Mayor regretted making that decision, especially making it so early. I suppose he’ll learn moving forward. They always say that being mayor of the largest city in the country is a great learning role.

Sure, throw in some power outages on top of it all, why don’t you? It’s like we had it too easy last time around. The fellas running the simulation must have been thinking, “Let’s make sure we add a few more elements to really make them work for it.” When the power first went out, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. So what? No TV for a couple of hours? I could handle that. But as the sun — you know, that big yellow thing that occasionally appears in our sky, rumored to bring warmth from time to time — began to set, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small sense of panic creeping in. I’ve got a one-month-old in the house, and it was starting to get pretty chilly. Just as plans were being made to get out of Dodge for greener, warmer pastures, the lights flickered back on, thankfully cooling the whole situation down.

We could be in Florida right now, you know? Scottsdale, Arizona, had a high of 84 degrees on Monday. But no, we’re the suckers who love living in the Big City.

Someone remind me of this column when it’s 75 and sunny in a few months, and I’ll probably blush with embarrassment for ever questioning my choice of habitation. But I am in a low place this week. “Defeated” is a good word for it.

Final Score: Winter 2, Sean 0.