Blizzard of 77 Slideshow

During the last big storm residents of the Upper East Side complained about snow removal. The new mayor replied that they received the smae service as any communities in the five boroughs. The filthy rich immediately accused DeBlasio of class warfare.

Today a fierce storm descended on New York City.

By noon over eight inches had fallen on the sidewalks of Fort Greene, however in truth this winter weather freak was a Girl Scout in comparison to the Buffalo Blizzard of 1977 as seen in the above slide show.

Even New York City was shut down by the billions of cubic inches of snow blowing off a frozen Lake Erie. I tried to visit my family with my hillbilly girlfriend in Boston and my father asked, "How are you getting here?"

"By train." My parents lived close to the 128 station.

"And from there?"

"You'll drive me." My father had been brought up in Maine.

Snow was on the ground most of the year.

"No, I won't. All the roads are closed."

"Closed?" The snow was deep in New York. It was definitely deeper in the Blue Hills south of Boston.

"Route 28 has one lane open for emergency vehicles. My picking you up is not an emergency."

"Okay." I hung up and opted to stay put in the East Village.

Alice and I ate at Veselkas and went to CBGBs for a good time.

The city was ours.

No cars, no police, no commuters.

It was not so much fun for the people of Buffalo, where 29 people died during the blizzard.

As the winter ended an urban myth emerged from the disaster.

Supposedly a father had left his house to buy milk for his children. He never returned that night or the next week or the ensuing month. Dark-hearted neighbors suggested that the husband had taken advantage of the snow emergency to flee his wife. The Spring thaw proved them wrong. The man was found frozen to death only feet away from his house with a carton of milk in his arm.

True or not, then again as James A Steele said,"All stories are true if interesting."

Everlasting Snow

The temperatures in New York are hovering under the 90s and a pleasant breeze is cooling the populace of Fort Greene. This last week I ditched my Christmas tree 'Ole Tree' for fear of the dried pine needles combusting into flames and burning down my landlord's brownstone, but I well remember the winter of 2014-2015 and not because the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in January.

At one point last winter it snowed in every one of the 48 Lower States, even someplace in Florida's Panhandle. Some band of drunken merrymakers erected a huge snowman in Chinatown across from the 169 Bar.

Buffalo and Boston were particularly hard hit by blizzards. My aunt and uncle in Marblehead to the north of the Mystic River reported the melting of the last snow in late-April, however this week the new media announced that the remnants of several gigantic snow pile in Buffalo had lasted throughout the summer.

"Winter is coming" has been spoken by many characters in THE GAME OF THRONES.

The other day I spotted with Santa Claus outfit on the sidewalk.

Winter didn't come soon enough to save him from evaporation, but it's only four more months to the season of good sledding, so enjoy the heat, because the cold was very cold last winter and I expect more of the same.

MC5 Baseball

As much as I loved Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching a no-hitter on LSD and beaning every player on the Cincinnati Reds in one game, my favorite ballplayer of the 1970s has to be Fred Sonic Smith from the MC5.

Strangely I can find any mention of Fred Smith in the records of the Major Leagues other than that from 1914. Fred Smith played ball for Buffalo. The man on there right looked nothing like Fred Sonic Smith. Well, maybe a little.

Then again all white people look the same.