New Amsterdam was a settlement founded by the Dutch in the 17th century (1625) and sat at the very tip of Manhattan Island. This is where the new colonial government of the New Netherland Territories sat.
At least until 1864 when it was ceded to the English in exchange for control of the south Asian Spice Islands. At the time it was transferred, it was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York (James the second of England).
Back in 2008, there was even a short-lived television show named New Amsterdam. It was about an immortal contemporary police detective who had lived 400 years since the early settlement.
New York City, sits relatively exposed to the North Atlantic Ocean. Even so it’s subject to the moderating effects of heat coming up the coast from Texas to Florida. They only infrequently drop below -3° Celsius, or go above 29° C, so on the whole their climate is very pleasant.
New York possesses five Boroughs, which characterize the city. They are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The current mayor of the City of New York is Bill de Blasio. If
Even only moderately low temperatures seemed a surprise most New Yorkers. When you can barely see your breath in front of your face, some people in this video appeared genuinely shocked at the temperature.
Snow itself seems to be some sort of imposition, even when it’s only in the 30 cm range. Understandably the Mayor at the time, Mike Bloomberg, closed the schools, preferring to err on the side of safety. But in a city of so many millions, dependent on transportation, it seems odd that they have so much difficulty keeping their streets clear as shown in this video.
Being Informed
It’s not difficult to stay aware of the weather in such a large city. They have hundreds of cameras available all over town. With just a quick click or two you can have a look at cameras in Times Square which you can control.
Of course a lot of folks in New Jersey actually work in Manhattan, so they have a camera setup to spy on the Empire State Building. If it’s obscured, maybe that’s a good day to call in sick.
When it’s working, there is a ground level camera that points up the top of the New World Trade Center; I imagine if you cannot see the top of the New World Trade Center you should probably take an umbrella.
Another way to keep tabs on the weather visually is to look at the World Trade Center Memorial from the camera mounted on the Millennium Hilton Hotel. This camera is also controllable from your screen.
Of course it’s always fun to look around the city and see what you can see. Here’s a live continuous image of the Statue Of Liberty, with screen control so you can look around the area and watch the boats in the harbour.
For commuters they are not shy about putting dozens and dozens of cameras all over the city. It makes it very easy to keep track of the main thoroughfares telling you which areas it might be best to avoid during rush hour.
Do you want to see what’s happening at 47th and Broadway? That is certainly no problem with this camera which is partially under your control. I say partially because it constantly changes to one of four cardinal positions, but you can twist and turn and zoom amongst the possibilities while that image is displayed.
There is also a chance to see a street level view of Times Square. This camera is ready to show you around.
As human beings were always terribly interested in the weather and what it has in store for us. In New York we could go to this site and find links to all sorts of useful tools like the infrared looping image from NOAA so we could track hurricanes, tornados or large rain or snowstorms.
Not to be outdone, the weather network provides historical data for the last 24 hours, hourly predictive data, and then 36 hours, seven days, and a 14 day trend.
Weather.com predicts for “the next few hours”, five days, and 10 days, as well as almanac historical data, phases of the Moon, and advice on safety preparedness.
Similarly, accuweather.com provides radar images, a video weather forecast, special notes for upcoming holidays, frost warnings, regional forecasts and travel weather forecasts.
With so many people in New York City it’s inevitable that there’s plenty of coverage. The town has its weather needs well taken care of. Feel free to visit and take a bite of The Big Apple, knowing that you’re well covered.