+1 for “Furshlugginer”
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The metro is approximately 50% above ground and every line goes above ground, especially once outside DC itself. And, the cars themselves are not stored below ground, they are stored at the New Carrolton (end of the Orange line). So it was probably safer to store the cars and then de-ice the tracks.
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The DMV knows what it takes to clear snow from our roadways in this region…all jurisdictions have slashed their transportation budgets by giving all of these businesses (franchises) tax breaks. NY understands the need and thankfully, they know that very fact of how important it is to clearing the roadways thoroughly.
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New York rules, DC drools!
I haven’t read all the comments, but my guess is that NYC isn’t full of a republican congress terrified of those social snowplows!!
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Why? Obama!!!
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A tourist shaking a snow globe in a suvenior shop does the same it seems (Northern Girl Living in DC 'burbs)
Having lived in both cities, I can tell you DC considers itself a southern city and is shocked, SHOCKED whenever it snows. They have no idea how to handle it.
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Everything is slower below the Mason-Dixon.
I wish more people knew the difference between the words “effect” and “affect”. In this case are you referring to a phenomenon, the “snow effect” on motorists, or “how snow affects motorists”? Not that I intend to single you out, it’s a common thing here on TPM both in the articles and the comments to mix the two, and mostly use “effect” when they mean “affect”. It’s also common for the internet to make some words and letters change or disappear as you type.
I don’t know bout the “diplomatic community”, but I’ve lived around DC, too. When it snows it’s scary when some of us are from further north and know to slow down, but never, ever stop when going up a hill meet those from further south who zip along as if the snow has nothing to do with how you drive, and then stop on a hill causing everyone behind them to slip and slide or get stuck when they try to start up again.
For me, the most surprising thing about driving around DC is how slippery a light rain can make the roads; maybe that’s something southern drivers know more about.
In DC snowplows sit around doing nothing most of the time, just like Congress.
TPM:
Cultural differences tend to surface after snowstorms. New Yorkers can be … demanding.
When it comes to snow removal, sure, we are demanding, especially when there’s a poor response. But I think that’s less a cultural difference than it is an experiential difference: i.e., NYC is usually pretty good at responding to massive snowstorms and getting the streets cleared in a timely fashion, so when that doesn’t happen, yes, we demand to know why.
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NYC subway is mostly (maybe all, with express tracks bypassing some stations completely?) four tracks, so the express trains can go local and they fill up the express tracks in tunnels with subway cars instead of leaving them in the usual outdoor yards. DC Metro, like BART, is more of a commuter railroad with local stops in DC, so there are a lot fewer stops even in DC and no need for express trains and four tracks. London Underground could use the four track system but doesn’t have it. It was a brilliant innovation for NYC subways, although making the system a lot more expensive to build.
It was probably worse when many cars routinely dripped oil.
I get it… there’s more capitas in NYC.
Uh gee, maybe because NYC is farther north and has more snow plows and salt trucks…
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Simpler answer: the America haters of the urban Northeast are always eager to wage war on whiteness.
I’m a Southern Arizona native, but I lived in Boston for a while and learned to handle a blizzard like the locals: as the blizzard approaches, mob the grocery store to clean the TP and staples off the shelves, hit the video store (yes, those were a real thing) to rent a few DVDs, grab some takeout, and go home to nest with whomever you live with. Later, there is shoveling, lots of shoveling, but that is later.
Agreed.
Even worse are the analyses of how much your local pro sports team adds to the economy. Luckily, those only appear when the team owner is agitating for a few hundred million taxpayer dollars to help build a new stadium. Once a new stadium is built, you get 4-5 years of peace before the agitation resumes.
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