It was so cold...

...that the amber light at Astor Place and Lafayette froze, and cars had to negotiate their crossings by horn blasts and feints. It was so cold that a water main burst at the corner of Broadway and 4th Street, where I live. The pipe had been exposed for days by an excavation for some other repair, and denuded of its protective asphalt, had been covered only by big planks of steel to let the traffic pass over. It was as though you had gone out to do battle on the frozen Neva clad only in your armor and not your furs. No water also meant no heat, in our building or our neighbors'. It lasted only a few hours -- city workers got right to it and patched the pipe. But it was a reminder of how fragile our urban ecosystem is.