CHILL OUT!
New Yorkers won’t let sub-freezing weather ruin their new year
THEY ALL have one simple New Year’s resolution: Stay warm.
Workers around the city put on layer upon layer of jackets, sweaters and long johns Saturday to brave frigid temperatures and get to their jobs.
As snow dusted sidewalks and temperatures dipped into the teens, courageous carpenters and electricians erected a stage for the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square.
“I’ve done this for eight years and this is the coldest,” Queens electrician Oscar Quintero said as he rigged the set.
Quintero, 38, said the wind was the worst part, noting that part of his job required him to take off his gloves.
“You take those gloves off for one second and your hands can seize up,” he said.
Lawrence Smalls, an electrician working on the stage, said Saturday’s arctic chill was just a warm-up for the rest of the week.
“We come prepared for the cold,” said Smalls, 36, of Harlem. “They supply us with hand warmers and toe warmers.”
Forecasts show that temperatures will remain in the teens and 20s for the rest of the week.
Small said he’d be at the Crossroads of the World on Sunday to make sure the stage was working as the ball dropped.
“New Year’s, Christmas, holidays, it doesn't matter what day it is,” Smalls said. “We’ll be out here working. Tomorrow, we’ll be here.”
Some workers shrugged off the cold as part of the job.
Roy Meredith, a graduate student at Columbia University, did a jig as he handed out flyers at West 44th St. for the Gulliver’s Gate miniature museum.
“I’m from Maine, so this really doesn’t bother me,” said Meredith, 28, who was buried in a long navy blue coat and headphones under black furry earmuffs.
Meredith shared his secret for fending off the cold, saying he wears three layers of socks and keeps four hand warmers in his shoes.
“Actually, when I step on my toe like this, it’s almost like I have a little heater,” he said.
Meredith admitted that the cold weather wasn’t exactly good for business.
“In the cold, I’ve found people move faster,” he said. “People actually want to rush inside. They barely take