My List for Beating the Heat

Times Square, NYC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Walking through NYC is basically like walking through pea soup these days. We’ve had several days of over 90 degree weather and I’ve had quiet enough.

Every TV station, including my own, is cover the heat. They have reporters in Central Park, at cooling centers, pools and local stores getting the pulse of the city.

One of the very first stories I covered as a summer intern at WLNY-TV was a heat wave. I was sent out with a videographer and had to ask people how they were “beating the heat.” So I hold a special place in my heart for heat stories. So what are you doing to stay cool?

• Take advantage of the heat wave — Keep an eye out for special promotions. A lot of cities offer free public transportation during heat waves. Companies can have a few special offerings, too. NYSC is opening its doors to all visitors in the extreme heat. And JetBlue is offering some promo codes for up to 90% off when the temperature goes above 90 degrees.
• Spice up your life — Eating spicy food can help cool you down. Use this as an excuse to try that Mexican or Indian place you’ve been meaning to go to for weeks.
• Cut the power — Appliances create a lot of extra heat in your home. Try to avoid using your oven, sticking to dishes you can prep quickly on the stove or without cooking at all. Put of doing things that aren’t as urgent, like running the dishwasher, until its night and cooler outside. You can also keep things cooler by air drying your clothes and dishes.
• Hit the lights — Of course, light produces heat, but none of us wants to be living in the dark ages. Keep your blinds closed during the day if you’re not in the room. You can even switch to fluorescent light bulbs, which produce less heat than their incandescent counterparts.
• Don’t blow hot air — Fans can work wonders, but if they’re just circulating hot air you can easily feel like you’re baking. If you don’t happen to have air conditioning, you can make-shift one easily. All you have to do is set up a bowl of ice in front of a fan — as the ice melts and evaporates, the fan will circulate the cooler air throughout the room.
• Get some AC — Make sure you aren’t spending too much time at once in the heat. You don’t have to sweat anymore.  Spend a few hours at the movie theater, shopping mall, or coffee shop. A little time to cool off will work wonders. Who cares what you do — just do it in AC.
• Treat your feet — You body loses the most heat through its extremities, so if you cool those down, you will too! Try going barefoot as much as possible. Run you hands under some cold water or soak your feet in an ice bath. Also — go get a mani/pedi for some extra relief.

Enjoy the heat! Let me know how you’re dealing.