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Photos: The 2016 Slush-Jump Olympics Are Now Underway
By
Scott Heins
Published Jan 26, 2016
Modified Jan 26, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Jan 26, 2016
Modified Jan 26, 2016
Share
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The Blizzard For The Ages® dropped over 105 BILLION POUNDS OF SNOW on New York City last weekend, and with the temperature now creeping back up into the 40s, that can only mean one thing...slush lagoons.
Yesterday's sunny and warm(ish) weather brought on the first official day of slush season, that sloppy time of year when New Yorkers remember they need to buy waterproof boots. At places like 14th Street and 6th Avenue, Crosby and Prince Street in SoHo, the Broadway/Waverly Place T intersection, and basically all of Union Square, pedestrians waded through brackish ooze like finicky cats tiptoeing through a filthy litter box.
In Union Square, over a dozen workers from the Union Square Partnership worked in a tight cluster throughout the afternoon, moving from curb to curb with an array of picks, shovels, and squeegees in the hopes of clearing storm drains and sending the slush back to the hell from whence it came.
One of the shovelers, Mohamed Ndiaye, 18, said that slush is much more difficult to move than snow. Ndiaye and his coworkers began clearing slush and puddles yesterday at 6 a.m., and many would not get a break until 6 p.m. When asked what the "worst part" of the job was, the young man smiled. "Everything," he said. "The shoveling hurts your back."
These winter water hazards, on top of the already uncleared sidewalks and crosswalks, are making bipedal locomotion a waking nightmare. But hey, look on the bright side: at least they're puddles of slush and not one big Puddle of Mudd?
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blizzard 2016
puddles
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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