Happy Monday! So… how was that for you?
The much-anticipated winter storm has come and gone, leaving behind a foot of snow and closets full of panic-purchased toilet paper. Despite the flurries, plenty of New Yorkers were out and about yesterday, frolicking in the half-buried parks and relishing the traffic-less streets.
Now, we wait for the freeze to set in. Temperatures are set to drop below 20 degrees for the rest of the week — New York’s coldest spell in eight years — meaning all that snow will soon become ice. If you haven’t completed your shoveling yet, it may be time to start… right after you finish reading this newsletter, of course.
And if you think all this snow-soaked suffering is rough, be glad you’re not a resident of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a small city on the Pacific Ocean, is currently experiencing record snowfall, with an average snow depth of five-and-a-half feet. Snowdrifts reach all the way to the third story of buildings.
You may be tempted to feel sorry for yourself while digging out that massive snowball where your car used to be. Just remember, you could be in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani was spotted salting the roads with the sanitation workers, helping dig out people’s cars and inviting public school students to pelt him with snowballs.
Check your plow status with the Department of Sanitation’s PlowNYC street status tracker, an overview map of the city offering updates on the last time a given block was plowed or salted.
The city Department of Health reported more than 140,000 laboratory-confirmed flu cases so far this respiratory virus season, with children under 18 accounting for 52% of infections.
The cold temperatures triggered a Code Blue over the weekend, and seven people died in the outdoors. Residents who notice people sleeping outdoors are encouraged to contact 911 or 311 to help them get inside.
Flatbush resident Stephen Niese braved subzero temperatures and snowy conditions to maintain his decade-long daily jetty-to-jetty swim streak off of Coney Island.
Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union began offering term loans and lines of credit for worker-owned cooperatives up to $100,000 without personal guarantees, addressing long-standing barriers to capital for democratically owned businesses.
A Brooklyn family sold a Banksy mural that appeared on their Coney Island building in 2013 to a brewery in Bridgeport, Conn. It required cutting out the wall.
An unlicensed salon operator in Sheepshead Bay was indicted over a botched Brazilian butt lift that sent a woman to the hospital with life-threatening infections.
Our World In Photos
Photo: Seth Wenig/AP
MANHATTAN — Not without her morning caffeine! Carrie Hampton tries to navigate a snowy intersection without spilling her coffee in New York, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company celebrates Lunar New Year with performance in Marine Park
The dancers create a silk ribbon tunnel around them. Photo by Loretta Chin
“Goodbye to the Year of the Snake 2025 and welcome to the Year of the Horse 2026,” Marine Park Alliance Executive Director Scott Middleton said. He thanked the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for coming to Marine Park for the first time and welcomed the many guests to the Lunar New Year event at the Carmine Carro Community Center.
🔎 Today’s heist
“Gotta catch ‘em all” goes too far
After a Manhattan store was invaded by three crooks who robbed over $100,000 worth of Pokémon merchandise on Jan. 15, a Dyker Heights card shop owner is taking precautions so that it doesn’t happen to him.
Erik Feuer, owner of E and J Boutique, 6906 Fort Hamilton Parkway., said they will not accept trade-ins for any Pokémon cards.
“It’s not okay. Our hearts go out to them and their business, and their customers were affected,” he said. “It’s terrible. It gets out of control, and it really needs to stop.
“E and J will no longer be taking trade-ins for cash or credit of Pokémon cards. If in the future things become safer and the Pokémon atmosphere becomes less violent, then we may reconsider that. But at least until further notice moving forward, there are no more Pokémon trade-ins at the store. It’s for the safety of myself, my wife, my employees, my customers and my business.”
Trade-in practices for sports cards will remain the same. E and J will also still sell sealed Pokémon merchandise.
Masked suspects entered Poké Court in the Meatpacking District, where around 40 people gathered for an event at 6:45 p.m. According to ABC 7, one suspect had a gun, while others used hammers to smash the glass covering the displays inside the shop.
To add to safety, Feuer also said his store will have a buzzer installed outside the store.
“This is to keep you safe as well and the entire collecting community safe,” he said. “It is a decision [my wife and store co-owner] Jessie that I had to come to.”
The Mini
Our solver finished in 1 minute 42 seconds. Can you beat it?
Cartoon Sketchbook
By Dave Whamond
For the Road
Heated library: New Yorkers take advantage of the New York Public Library’s surprise gift of instant access to all the “Heated Rivalry” books with no wait times. “The snow is coming down heavily across our city, and I can think of no better excuse for New Yorkers to stay home, take a long nap or take advantage of our public library’s offer of free access to ‘Heated Rivalry’ on e-book or audiobook for anyone with a library card,” Mamdani said. The limited-time free-for-all extends through Feb. 14.
Happy Birthday to Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky!
On This Day in 1948, the Eagle reported, “The local weather bureau had no comment since it gives no forecasts more than two days ahead of time.”
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