BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
The first significant snowstorm in four years barreled down on Queens overnight, blanketing the borough with anywhere between 6 to 10 inches of snow on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
Kids and adults alike ventured out to Juniper Valley Park the following morning to enjoy the winter wonderland by riding sleds down a small hill, building snowmen and having snowball fights.
For some kids, the storm was the first time they had ever experienced snow, and they weren’t quite sure what to make of the white, cold blanket yet.
Adriana, who lives near the park, had brought her two children, including 6-month-old Lincoln.
She had spent many winters in the park and felt nostalgic about bringing her kids there for the first time.
“He was like, what is this? It is cold,” she said. “But we couldn’t keep them holed up anymore. They were banging at the windows all night last night and this morning.”
Locals Jamie and Brandon had brought their pooch Bee, a mini Australian shepherd, to the park. The pup seemed to have the best time.
“I love it,” Jamie said. “I’m a big fan of snow.”
While New York City public school students were stuck at home, in school remotely instead of enjoying a snow day, some Catholic school students were out and about. Ten-year-old Oliver, his 7-year-old brother Gavin and their parents were excited and glad to have a day off from school. Both of the kids wanted more snow.
However, for some of the adults, the snowstorm was not as much fun.
Josef had been shoveling the sidewalks for two hours Thursday morning, despite having taken the precautionary measure of spreading salt the night before to make snow removal easier.
Andrew and Danny had spent an hour digging out their car this morning.
“My back is already hurting,” Andrew said.
The first major snowstorm of the season saw up to 10 inches fall around LaGuardia Airport and around 7 inches fall near JFK International Airport. Wednesday night’s storm was the biggest December snowfall in New York City since 2009.
