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Bye, bye, blizzard

West 10th Street after blizzard of 1888. New York Bound Collection, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
West 10th Street after blizzard of 1888. New York Bound Collection, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The weekend blizzard, dubbed Nemo by some media outlets, dropped 11.4 inches of snow as recorded in Central Park, a lot less than the historic blizzard of 1888, which dumped 22 inches of snow on New York City, with drifts of up to 40 inches in some areas. That historic storm was the impetus behind burying telegraph and telephone infrastructure underground.

Tompkins Square Park after the storm via EV Grieve
Tompkins Square Park after the storm via EV Grieve

For the most part, everyone was well prepared for Nemo, including the city’s sanitation department. This preparation was in contrast to the Boxing Day Blizzard of 2010, which dumped 20 inches of snow on the city and left straphangers stranded across the city’s subways, busses, and commuters lines, including this Off the Grid writer.

Have a storm story to share? Leave a note in the comments. Interested in learning more about GVSHP’s archive? Visit GVSHP’s website to learn about historic images such as the one featured here.

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