New Yorkers who check their weather apps in the morning glimpsed the promise of 80 degrees on Monday but also faced the reality of a windy, gray start to the day.
But after one of the harshest winters in recent years, and seesawing temperatures more recently, even a cloudy 70-degree day was enough to get people outside.
“It’s beautiful — I’m not at all disappointed,” said Carol Pittman, who was celebrating her 75th birthday at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. With her friend by her side, she dipped her toe into the still frigid water. “The sand is still warm,” she said.
Temperatures for this week are expected to be well above average for April. Matt Benz, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, said that Monday, with its low of 62 and its high of 76, “didn’t do its part.” But according to the National Weather Service, temperatures on Wednesday could rise to the upper 80s, which would be a potential record high for this time of year.
Unfortunately, a spring chill will return next week. On Monday, according to the National Weather Service, temperatures will drop back down to highs in the middle to upper 50s, which would be six degrees below normal.
Still, the weather was good enough on Monday for some New Yorkers to return to their seasonal rituals.
Rachel Rosenberg, 18, had her first CitiBike ride of the season, and Bee Hall, 33, who had been waiting for bass to start spawning, caught a few small fish in Prospect Park Lake. “I’ve been itching to get back out here,” said Ms. Hall, who had taken her fishing gear to her girlfriend’s apartment after checking the weather the night before.
Others were also trying to prepare with appropriate gear for the flip-flopping spring weather.
Christina Bernard lives near the beach and is waiting for a recent purchase to arrive before taking a full plunge in the water. “I ordered a wet suit,” said Ms. Bernard, who was walking barefoot through the wet sand with a light jacket. Other beachgoers were trekking with hot coffees in their hands to keep them warm.
Summer accessories also made an appearance. Solomiya Bilusiak’s 4-year-old son was kneeling in the sand using a plastic shovel and a sand castle bucket.
“We checked the weather, and I was like, we need to go,” Ms. Bilusiak said.
Lucas Clavijo, 29, was listening to an audiobook on a boardwalk bench and taking in a new view.
“I’ve been living in New York for eight months and have never actually been to the beach,” said Mr. Clavijo, who moved from Chile to New York in the fall. He’s still contemplating what his first summer in the city will look like.
While some New Yorkers were, perhaps prematurely, eager to get to the beach, restaurants were ready to welcome any foot traffic after a winter that forced many places to close unexpectedly.
Randazzo’s Clam Bar, which has a prime spot overlooking the water in Sheepshead Bay, shut down for two days during the snowstorms this past winter. “We’re excited,” said Michael Geraci, one of the restaurant’s owners.
“Once this weather kind of figures itself out and stabilizes, then our season fully picks up,” said Mr. Geraci, who said that the restaurant might open its walk-up takeout window early if temperatures rose into the 80s.
A loyal Randazzo’s customer, Neil Cohn, 84, of Brooklyn Heights, was wearing one of his 20 Hawaiian button-downs. He said the season’s whiplashing weather didn’t change his approach to dining or his wardrobe. “This is my lifestyle,” he explained.
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