How to survive a New York winter

Pic by Chris

Growing up in Australia, you think you know winter. Then you go somewhere like New York and realise that your life has been a balmy, sunny sham.

One of my biggest worries when moving here was not how difficult it would be to find a job during a recession or how tricky it might prove to secure an apartment. It was whether I could make it through four-odd months of snow, sleet and subzero temperatures. I hate being cold. It’s such a miserable, helpless feeling, and when bitter winds are whipping at your face, you can’t help but take it personally. Well, I do, anyway. In the words of Garth Algar from Wayne’s World, “I’m having a good time. NOT.”

I arrived in the city at the tail end of winter 2009. Having sold or given away most of my possessions — and coming from summer in Australia — I had little in the way of warm clothing. My initial strategy for dealing with wind-chill temperatures of -15 degrees C was to wear all my clothes at once. This made me look rather ridiculous, and also ensured that every time I entered a building or got on the subway, I would start to sweat and feel faint under the weight of 35 cardigans. Rookie mistake.

When dressing for the cold, it’s actually better to wear fewer layers. You just have to make sure that each one traps the heat most effectively. For the benefit of those who grew up sunning themselves on various idyllic beaches, here are the essential items for a winter wardrobe:

• A snuggly hat that covers your ears. A few weeks ago I purchased the Best Hat Ever. (See evidence at right.)

  I can’t even deal with the perfection of this hat. For starters, it was cheap: $7.50 from Pearl River, a SoHo store known for its Asian delights like fluoro perspex chopsticks, paper parasols and cheapskate kung fu shoes. (You could also nab a similar style from one of the souvenir shops on Canal Street in Chinatown.) It’s wool, but lined with fleece, so you don’t get an itchy scalp. It covers your ears, preventing Frigid Pinna Syndrome. And it has those braided tie thingies that you can grasp to pull the whole thing tighter around your head when the wind picks up.

• An insulated jacket or coat. If you live somewhere where “winter” means anything below 20 degrees celcius, don’t even bother going coat shopping. The lightweight wool specimens on offer will let you down when you venture into the real chill. I guess you could hit up a ski shop, but the prices tend to be steep, and, in Australia at least, the selection’s not great. Wait ’til you get here, then hit up The North Face and nab a waterproof, fleece-lined, let’s-not-mess-around-here jacket or coat.
• Thermal singlets, tights and long underwear. Now we’re talking! This is real hot-chocolate-and-marshmallows-by-a-roaring-fire type stuff. Head to Uniqlo — conveniently located on Broadway, right near Pearl River — and pick up some of their Heat Tech singlets and shirts. They come from Japan, cost less than $20 each, and are magical. Would you expect anything less from the industrious Japanese? Apparently the fabric is a mixture of rayon and milk protein. Bad news for vegans, but good news if you don’t mind warming your derriere with dairy.
  
  As for your legs, girls can go for woollen tights under jeans, and dudes can pick up some long underwear. Unless you’re all “long underwear’s for girls, I’m hardcore”. In which case, please suffer in silence when you freeze your ass off.
• Waterproof boots. You’ll need them when it snows! And, more importantly, the day after it snows, when the gutters are a mix of grey slush and giant camouflaged puddles. For cheapo wellies, head to K-Mart at Astor Place or good ol’ Pearl River.

Everything else is pretty self-evident: add a scarf, gloves, a cuddly jumper — that’s “sweater” to you American folk — and thick socks. You are now ready to face winter in New York. Which is actually pretty neat, once you’ve got the dressing part down. Here are just a few highlights:

• Ice skating. There are rinks everywhere. The most famous, natch, is the one at Rockefeller Center, but it’s super pricey and chocka-block full of tourists. The only advantage of going there is that you might get to see some nervous guy from Iowa propose to his girlfriend on the ice. (This happens multiple times a day, as a result of the rink’s $250 “Engagement On Ice” package — see this PDF for details. Commodify my love, baby!)
  
  I say get your schmaltz fix by watching proposal videos on YouTube, and for cheaper, less-crowded ice skating, try The Pond at Bryant Park, Lasker Rink at the top of Central Park, or Wollman Rink in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
• Snow. It really is gorgeous, the way that it coats the trees and houses and roads in icing. Especially in a frenetic city like New York. Everything becomes quiet and slow and peaceful. And everyone is a kid again! A few weeks ago there was a snowstorm, and a snowball fight broke out in Times Square. Stuff like that reminds you that you don’t have to be glued to your PS3 to have a glorious time playing around.
• Central heating. In a way, winter is almost worse in Sydney, because everyone pretends it doesn’t exist. Unless you’re a fancy rich person, it’s unlikely that you’ll have central heating. So when the mercury dips to 10 degrees C overnight, you’re stuck with your crappy little fan heater that you don’t want to turn on because your energy bill will skyrocket.
  
  Most apartments in New York are equipped with beefy radiators. When winter hits, the super will flick a magical warmth switch, and all of a sudden your house is toasty. And there’s no heating bill — it’s included in your rent. The only downside is that some radiators make a really loud hissing noise. Lately I’ve been having these crazy dreams about snakes coming to kill me, and I realised that it must be result of radiator sounds filtering through to my unconscious brain.

All that said, I still consider myself a n00b to this whole winter thing, so if you have some good tips for staying warm and happy, please share them in the comments!