Thursday, January 9, 2014 Page B1
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Photos by Marisol Díaz
WITH THE temperature in the teens, Van Cortlandt Park resembled a frozen desert on Jan. 3.
Snowfall precipitates blizzard of activity By James Palmer jplmer@riverdalepress.com
R
ADELA SCHWARTZ, 5, slides on her stomach down a steep slope at Ewen Park. ents were also steering sleds down the hill. Gary Scwartz, 53, a professor and researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who resides in Riverdale, pulled the sled of his 5-yearold daughter Adela up the hill and watched as she zoomed down from the peak all the way to the bottom near Riverdale Avenue. Adela, who is a student at The Spuyten Duyvil School (PS 24), said that while her 13-year-old brother Ethan planned to snowboard later in the day, she was looking forward to making snow angels with her father and then drinking hot chocolate. But the students were not alone in taking ad-
vantage of their time off from the classroom. Spanish teacher Brandon Lantz, 32, who lives in the Hamilton Heights section along the Hudson River in Manhattan and works at the Frank McCourt High School on the Upper West Side, was using his relatively new snowshoes to scale a rocky outcrop in Van Cortlandt Park. It provided a panoramic view of north Riverdale and Kingsbridge along with the tip of the Manhattan skyline. “I had to get out and enjoy this occasion,” Mr. Lantz said of the recent snowfall during his first visit to the park. “I wanted to go to the Palisades, but the [George Washington Bridge] was closed,
MARGARET NOLAN, 53, skies across the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds on Jan. 3, above. MARIA RUDCHENKO and her son Alexander, 2, slide down the hilll at Ewen Park, left.
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esidents in the northwest Bronx awoke on the third day of 2014 to view their neighborhoods covered by a blanket of white. For many it was less an idyllic post-holiday winter wonderland than a time consuming, arduous schlep navigating sidewalks and steps to subway platforms spotted with patches of ice, bus stops blocked with drifting snow and roads strewn with slush, salt and sand. However, for those not required to crawl out from under the warm covers of their beds and commute, or to shovel, scrape, brush or otherwise remove snow and ice, the year’s first major snowstorm provided the start of a three-day weekend. While it was an ideal time to stay indoors by a sizzling fire with a hot drink or a stronger libation, watch movies, read, play cards, solve puzzles, link one together or gather around a board game for some friendly or fierce competition, The Press hit the ground in the area parks to find how some of the more venturesome residents were spending the day in the frosty weather. For anyone seeking downhill sledding action in Riverdale, the long and steep slopes of Ewan Park topped their list. Riverdale resident Maria Rudchenko sat behind her 26-month-old son Alexander, guiding them as they slowly glided down the soft snow, still fresh since it fell, as her husband and the boy’s father, Illya, 28, waited to catch them at the bottom. “It’s totally untouched snow — he loves it,” said Ms. Rudchenko, 29, a biologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, referring to her son. “We’re going to enjoy today because it’s the end of our vacations and next week we go back to work.” With all of the public schools in the city closed, many young students accompanied by their par-
so I came here because I heard there were some great trails.” He said he was not disappointed. Looking down on the park’s oval from high above, the blustering wind propelled grains of snow into patterns resembling alluvial fans between the crests of the Hindu Kush Mountain chain in south Asia. Margaret Nolan, a nurse practitioner and clinical assistant professor at the New York University (NYU) School of Nursing, was expertly slicing through the virgin snow on her cross-country skies. “This is the first time in years that I’ve been able to go all the way across,” Ms. Nolan, 53, said referring to construction in the park which resulted in the closing of many areas to the public but is now finished. Despite the vigorous activity by some, others passing through Van Cortlandt enjoyed a quiet walk while listening to bird song, watching geese skim along the glassy ice thinly covering the park’s pond or shooting photos of the snow suspended along tree boughs glistening in the early afternoon sun. Nina Chkareuli held her 13-month-old son George, bundled in a red snowsuit, while walking with her mother, Galina Sergeta, 69, along a plowed path of pavement between the park’s museum and golf houses. “I’m enjoying this sunny weather,” said Ms. Chkareuli, 31, an early childhood education student at NYU, who seemingly relished the Arctic climate. “It’s really great to be out here today.” Beneath a canopy of snow-covered tree branches, 40-year-old swimming instructor Raluca Gruen walked arm-in-arm with Hector Geager, 58, enjoying their tranquil surroundings. “It feels like we’re the only people here,” Ms. Gruen said before Mr. Geager pointed out some figures in the distance. On the heels a cold snap, meteorologists are forecasting warmer temperatures and no snow for this weekend.