Having lived in the New York State capital since 1979, I recall what Albany winters used to be: colder and snowier. Here’s a February 2024 news article about another mild winter.
Most of this winter wasn’t terrible, but February 2025 sucked. On February 9th at church, the education classes were canceled, and the choir didn’t sing in anticipation of a forecasted snowstorm. It wasn’t that bad in Albany. I ended up reading the prayers of people.
The following weekend, choir and education hours were canceled again, less because of the snow but the threat of ice. I ended up being an usher. Somebody said after the service, “Isn’t it nice having time off from choir?” NO! I miss the singing.
The ice continued throughout the week all over the city, with high winds and subzero wind chills. When I had to go to a drugstore, trying to climb over the intersections of solid ice was treacherous. If not for using my cane, I would surely have fallen more than once.
I take pride in keeping my sidewalk clear, but it took two days and multiple applications of deicer to get down to the pavement. It didn’t matter much since most of the rest of the walks weren’t clear for several days when it finally reached freezing.
More bus stories
The whole month was messy. Early in February, I was waiting at a bus, and this relatively short woman was terrified of stepping off the bus into water that would probably be halfway up to her shins. She was paralyzed about what to do, so this guy said, “Okay, we got you,” and, with each of us holding an arm, got her across the gap between the bus and the curb. She was so happy. The bus driver waved the guy and me onto the bus without having to pay.
A couple of days later, it wasn’t snowing, but no one had shoveled the entire walk to the curb. The bus driver wanted to put down the ramp for a person in a wheelchair, but the ramp wouldn’t lie flat. So he wheeled up the small snow bank, and two other people pushed him into the bus—think tush push.
Another time, I was waiting for a bus on Central Avenue, and I had just missed what appeared to be a three-car accident. The vehicles were sitting in the left lane heading eastbound. When the cops came, they stopped in the right lane, making it almost impossible for any vehicle to get by, even as we saw the bus on the horizon. Cleverly, the bus driver drove into the Hannaford grocery store parking lot and managed to pick up the customers anyway. The passengers were praising the CDTA driver for their ingenuity.
This happened Tuesday, December 13, 2022, a day-in-the-life story. It was more like four hours.
This is one of those topics I would have put in my Times Union blog. But alas, it’s gone. Still, you folks not in Albany, NY, might find it interesting if something like it comes to your neck of the woods.
A counterproposal from a few neighbors suggested relocating the stop to Brevator, where Western crosses over Route 85. That intersection has comparably little housing north of Western and has far fewer residents nearby. “Relocating the stops to this less centralized street will increase walking time to the stop and make it more challenging for residents to take advantage of the route.
I was taking a bus home from my allergist, the second of two. Someone asked if I were waiting for a particular line, which I was. My CDTA Navigator app said the next bus was coming at 10:04; it was 9:58 at the time.