NYC Arctic Blast: Coldest Day Since 1896

Oh, come on! One of the primary reasons I'm ready to dodge New York City is because I loathe the winters here... Not only are they tenacious (Spring? What's that?), but it's no fun to battle the cold when all one

can do is walk, take public transportation, walk... and feel the blast of consistently vulgar cold, snow and ice, with no escape. (See photo taken UNDERGROUND at an NYC subway station Tuesday.)

But Tuesday was ultimately ridiculous. Much of the entire nation was gripped by this wicked bitch of a blast—and in NYC, we broke a 118-year record amid the so-called "polar vortex." Temps reached 4 degrees, which was 2 degrees COLDER than this day in 1896.

Wind chills, meanwhile, hit minus 17 degrees. I believe it, considering that my teeth felt like they were going to fossilize into dust and my ears would snap off with another breeze along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Good god, get me the hell out of here... *