Summer in the City

For the first time in 8 years I have a new computer. That is unless you count the 7-year-old laptop we borrowed from our roommate. This one feels like magic because it’s a laptop and has the ability to get internet without a cord! With these new abilities I should be posting up a storm. (Fingers crossed)

It is summer now, which means a variety of things. First, you are divided into two categories of people; those with air conditioning and those without. There could be further sub groups of those with air conditioned jobs and those without, but for now we’ll stick with housing.

Being that I’m fairly cheap, we tried to spend the last 3 years getting accustomed to a non-air conditioned lifestyle. We didn’t have to break down and buy an air conditioner until last August. I’m pretty proud of holding out for so long. After having a Seinfeld type installation incident where we almost dropped it out the window, (I think they make the cords sturdy for this reason), we were living in a cool paradise, as cool as 78 degrees could get us anyway.

We only had to use it a few sweltering weeks before it cooled down enough to put away for the winter.

This summer is a different story. Whenever the temperature creeps above 90 degrees, the city slows down. The air is thick and heat reflects off the pavement. The masses move noticeably slower down the street and the heat is the topic of everyone’s conversation. It affects the way we sleep, the walk to the subway, and the muggy unair-conditioned underground. People find creative ways to wear a minimal amount of clothing and sprawl out on benches and in parks when they just can’t bring themselves to walk any further. People also congregate around public fountains or open fire hydrants.

The weather is a boon to the portable cold beverage and snack industry. Mister Softee and his imposters crowd the streets while Marino’s Italian ice sends out it’s thousands of rolling carts. If your lucky, you can catch a shaved ice guy, with a giant block of ice and sugary water. If you want to make some money, grab a cooler and start hawking Poland Spring for a buck to people in cars, on sidewalks, or on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Something in the air is a little bit wild. People stay cool by sitting out on the stoops all night. Windows are open and you can hear everyone’s conversations, including the woman in my building who constantly yells at her kids. It’s easier for Trashregus to dump garbage out his windows into my back alley. More people are always in the street and the kids have started playing games of quarters under my front window.

I reflect back on movies I’ve seen about New York in the heat, like Do the Right Thing, BlackOut, or all the stories about the summer of 1977 with the Son of Sam killer and the blackout.

Jesse and I have found our own unorthodox ways to stay cool. Some of the most effective include eating mass amounts of pop-ice popsicles and sitting directly in front of a fan.

Last week was so intolerably hot that we made a habit of combining the pop-ice/fan method with wearing minimal amounts of clothing and sitting on wet towels. Our apartment didn’t get below 89 degrees inside, after the sun had set. At the worst part of last week’s heat wave, it seemed like our last nerves had disintegrated and we had a massive argument about nothing. The only reasonable explanation was the debilitating heat. The same night, my cat pushed out a screen and ran away.

The next day, the heat broke and the city let out a collective sigh of relief. People in front of my building were happy. My cat came back and my apartment went back to a tolerable 80 degrees.

It’s not even August yet.

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