New York City, January 8, 2017

★★★★ A screaming, ruddy child was heading down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the Park, accompanied by an adult carrying a plastic saucer sled. The nearest pavement had been clear but before far there were slush puddles and brown stretches of snow in transition to slush. The five-year-old, having been switched from his sneakers to rubber boots on his second foray outdoors, lost his footing on the wet train floor and fell. People boarding the Second Avenue line had unmelted snow on their shoes. After the tempered air of the brand-new stations, the chill down on the old Times Square platform was grim. A brief, startling new snow shower fell through the strong afternoon sunlight.