Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
The 32 Filthiest Snow Mounds Still Standing In NYC
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 2, 2016
Modified Feb 2, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Lynch / Gothamist
View all 32
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 2, 2016
Modified Feb 2, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The magical swirl of snow that enshrouded New York City in 26 inches of virginal white powder on January 23rd has all but melted into oblivion. Even those bottomless slush lagoons have mostly evaporated, taking their murderous monsters with them (for now). But grotesque remnants of all that snow still linger on street corners and curbsides all over town, the last mutant reminders of all the pollution and soot that makes New York such a vibrant, dynamic city.
Photographer Scott Lynch went out on assignment for Gothamist yesterday to document the last filthy vestiges of the January blizzard, bearing witness to repellent unclean horror throughout one-term mayor Bill de Blasio's New York—specifically, the East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown, Soho, Slushwick Bushwick, and Nolita. Gothamist is proud to present Lynch's nastiest captures, each one more shocking than the last.
There's a certain bracing honesty in the way once-innocent NYC snow becomes corrupted—and yet still, underneath all that grime, an adamantine core of purity endures. We are all snow mounds, in a way, battling different degrees of dirt and trash as we struggle to endure a fast-melting future, or try to escape Death's relentless shoveling. (Must Death shovel so loudly at 2 a.m. when we're trying to sleep? The snow is still falling, dude!) In the immortal words of J.J. Hunsecker, we "love this dirty town."
Tagged
blizzard 2016
snow
snow mounds
snow removal
original
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
What do you see when you record the whole of the boroughs?
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 5, 2026
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
It's a busy month at the branches.
By
Alec Hamilton
NYC music in October: The Strokes, a Blink-182 cover band, and Polish experimentalism
By
Hank Shteamer
Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
By
Hannah Frishberg
In the mood for a pastoral autumn experience? Try Queens.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .