The question applies to any city with lots of really tall, big buildings, really. I figure that all those tall buildings would get in the way of the wind, like they make some kind of artificial lee. I’ve never been in a big city like that.
Yes, it absolutely gets windy in NYC.
Remember that Manhattan is laid out in a very regular grid. This is equally useful if you are a poetic zepher of wind or a becaped superhero, as these long passages make it really easy to (traffic allowing) rush forward at full speed and little chance of hitting a wall.
This made me wonder why wind is never a factor in any of the Spider-Man stories. Even though it’s actually a spider’s main method of transportation.
They don’t block the wind so much as funnel it down the streets between them. But I don’t think NYC gets as windy as Chicago. There’s a reason it’s called “the windy city.”
And that reason is because of the politicians “blowing hot air”.
Correct. Another very popular nickname is misunderstood.
“They’ve got cars big as bars, they’ve got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you, it’s no place for the old”
NYC was very windy when I visited and the direction would change between blocks. Made using an umbrella a bit of a pain. The buildings created more like a tunnel effect than blocking it.
Lived in Chicagoland. It can go both ways. The buildings channel wind but blunt it at the same time. You can be on a street with no wind, turn the corner and get blown away. I can say for sure is that the open plains south of the city are far windier.
Chicago’s probably not the best example because it’s basically on the shore of an inland sea so they get “lake effect” weather. Downtown weather can be very different from just 15-20 miles away.
Not only is it windy, it’s cold as fuck when you’re standing in the shadow of a building, even in the summer. And there are a lot of buildings blocking the sun in NYC.
Chicago is called the windy city for a reason.
Yes, for politics.
Why is Chicago called the Windy City?
The nickname originally had less to do with weather and more to do with politics. In the late 1800s, rival newspapers—especially in New York—mocked Chicago politicians for being “full of hot air” as the city lobbied to host the World’s Fair. Earlier references also tied the phrase to both windy weather off Lake Michigan and “windy” public speakers. Over time, the nickname stuck and became part of Chicago’s identity.That’s 3 reasons, none of which are any more concrete than the other.
- Public speakers that talk too much
- Politicians that exaggerate/lie
- Wind
