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Thursday, July 25, 2013 Page B1
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Hot, Hot, Hot! Avoid it or embrace it, we all had to cope with a record-breaking heat wave. Reporter Felix Holoszyc-Pimentel and photographer Marisol Díaz found out how we did it.
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emperatures reached as high as 100 degrees, as the northwest Bronx found itself in the middle of a weeklong heat wave that engulfed the entire East Coast. Local residents struggled to find a balance between enjoying the sunny week and staying cool in the scorching heat and stultifying humidity. Many of the area’s public parks and playgrounds were surprisingly vacant, with the exception of the Van Cortlandt Park Pool, as many locals sought shelter from the sun in air-conditioned buildings on Saturday.
said Bianca Rojas, as she described her efforts to stay cool. “I don’t remember it being this hot,” she continued, “not for so many days straight.” Even in her native Dominican Republic, Ms. Rojas couldn’t recall a time the weather was so intense. “You don’t feel the heat like this,” Ms. Rojas said, contemplating her homeland. “Here, it feels 10 or 15 degrees hotter because of the humidity,” she continued, as her family nodded in agreement.
Jasmine garcia recommends freezing the bottle first. not only does the water stay cool throughout the day, but it also prevents you from drinking the entire bottle in one sitting
LUCAS ANDUJAR, 10, in photo at right, cools off on July 19, at Van Cortlandt Park, were temperatures reached 100 degrees.
“Even if it’s shady, you can’t feel the air!” During The Van Cortlandt Park Pool’s afternoon break on Saturday, the line to re-enter stretched about 50 yards and steadily grew as the 4 p.m. opening approached. Daevaughn Thomas and Corey Gunz, both teens on line to enter the pool, briefly described the steps they took to beat the heat. “So here’s the plan:” Mr. Gunz began,
“we barbeque on the front porch in the morning, then we go to the pool. We come back, barbeque again, and then play some video games in front of the AC.” Mr. Thomas acknowledged that on Friday, the boys
for the humidity of New York City. “The humidity is a killer,” he said. “I had no concept of the rest of the world,” he added, referring to climate outside the southwest. Although, most residents reached the conclusion that staying cool indoors is the best solution to the heat, some residents offered their advice for those who absolutely must spend time outside. Bringing water outside with you may seem like a no brainer, but
DANTE RAGEL, 11, his dad John and brother Hugo, 10, cool off with ice cream and ices as they wait for the pool at Van Cortlandt Park to re-open on Saturday.
decided it was too hot to even make the trip to the pool, opting to stay inside and keep cool by the air conditioner. John Ragel also waited in line, with his sons Hugo and Dante, as the three embraced the cooling power of the ice cream cone. “We’ve made two ice cream stops today,” Mr. Ragel said, as Hugo’s melting treat became increasingly difficult to eat and chocolate began to stick to his face. Although Mr. Ragel grew up in Arizona, his experiences during Sunbelt summers did not adequately prepare him
and ensures that some will remain for later, she explained. Chikara Shepard had a more esoteric strategy, involving draping a white hand towel over her head to stay cool. In past summers, she laid a dry one over her head, but the extreme heat of the past few days prompted her to soak it before leaving the house. Lucia Perata, also a native of the Dominican Republic, shared Mr. Ragel’s and Mr. Rojas’s contempt for the humidity, saying she could stay cool neither outside nor inside. “No words can explain the heat,” said Ms. Perata, although she eventually turned to the supernatural for an answer.
“God is doing this,” she said. “The heat will end when we stop being sinners,” Ms. Perata said jokingly.
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“We stayed in Target for two hours,”
KHLOE YOUNGER, 4, playfully cools off in the sprinkler at Marble Hill Park on Saturday.