A Nigerian Connection at Bloomingdale’s

Dear Diary:

On a recent Friday I stopped at Bloomingdale’s Clinique counter. A petite black woman in her 30s said, “What can I help you with?”

“I just want an eyebrow pencil.” She led me to a drawer and chose one.
“This is the color for you,” she said.
“Are you sure? It looks too light.”
She brought out the shade darker. “No, you’re right,” I said. “I should have trusted you.” Her accent told me she was West African.
“Come with me,” she said, leading me to the cash register. “Is there anything else you’d like?”
“Do you have a purse-size spray perfume?” She brought out a shiny red package with perfume and body cream.
“Where are you from?” I said, ignoring the package.
“Nigeria.”
“What tribe?” She looked up. This wasn’t a question she expected from a white woman.
“Ibo.”
“I na su Ibo? Do you speak Ibo?” I said.
“Oh my God,” she said to the saleswoman beside her. “She speaks Ibo.”
She turned back. “Why, how … are you married to an Ibo man?”
“Yes,” I said.
She drew me away from the cash register and said: “I just took my children to Nigeria for the first time. They loved it. Everyone was so warm and welcoming. It was different from the U.S.”
“I know,” I said. “You remind me of the sense of belonging I felt in Nigeria for so many years.”

She had a customer waiting. I bought the eyebrow pencil and the shiny box of perfume and cream. “Please come back. You don’t have to buy anything,” she said as she double-bagged my purchases.
“I will,” I promised.

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New York Today: Frozen Commute

Joshua Bright for The New York Times Waiting for a train at 125th Street on Tuesday.

Good morning on a slightly less punishing Wednesday. Temperatures will climb into the 20s and the severe winds will mostly die away.

But the morning will still be very cold: It was 9 degrees at 5 a.m., with a wind chill of minus 7. And the commute may suffer.

The cold on Tuesday, which hit 4 degrees, hazed subways and commuter rails.

It caused overhead wiring problems, brake issues and a broken rail or two.

For passengers, these meant delays, delays, delays.

Today, at least during the morning, we may see a bit of the same, especially on the subways.

Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the M.T.A., explained that the agency was storing trains overnight on express tracks to protect them from the cold.

All lines with express service could be affected, so check below before you leave home, and leave early.

A normal rush hour is forecast on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, but it’s worth checking on those trains, too.

Those railroads saw scattered weather-related problems on Tuesday, though nothing systemic.

New Jersey Transit, which took a beating on Tuesday, is also anticipating a normal weekday schedule.

As for online traffic, cold Snapchats - and cold selfies on social media - will likely continue throughout the day.

MORE DETAIL ON THE COMMUTE

Subways: Delays on the 7, the J, the Q and the northbound 3. Check latest status.

City buses: Systemwide delays. Check latest status.

Rails: N.J. Transit is cross-honoring rail and bus tickets. Amtrak is still on a reduced schedule. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.

Alternate-side parking is back in effect.

WEATHER

Dry and bone cold, but better than yesterday, with a high of 22 and less wind.

At its warmest, it will feel like 11 degrees with the wind chill. Back to positive double digits!

Thursday will be closer to normal, with highs in the mid 30s.

DE BLASIO WATCH

From David W. Chen of The Times:

Body language experts, today is your lucky day in New York politics.

- Mayor de Blasio makes his first trip as mayor to Albany, where he will watch his former boss and longtime friend, Governor Cuomo, deliver his State of the State speech.

- If only there were a split screen whenever Mr. Cuomo obliquely hints at Mr. de Blasio’s all-out campaign to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for prekindergarten.

- One thing we’re hearing: that Mr. Cuomo will use Mr. de Blasio as part of his traditional cartoon depiction of state leaders, as he did last year.

- Will Mr. de Blasio be sneaking a peek at his phone during the speech to see what’s going on in City Hall? The City Council will be deciding, simultaneously, on a new speaker.

- After weeks of lobbying by the mayor himself, his preferred candidate, Melissa Mark-Viverito, is expected to prevail. But tensions will be high, and the body language telling.

COMING UP TODAY

- City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is on the WPIX-TV Channel 11 news at 7:10 a.m.

- Governor Cuomo delivers the State of the State address in Albany at 1:30 p.m. [Live webcast here]

- Environmental activists board Albany-bound buses in Manhattan at 7:45 a.m. for a protest against fracking during Mr. Cuomo’s speech.

- Students and immigration advocates rally at the governor’s Manhattan office for the Dream Act. 3 p.m.

- E-waste responsibly: Drop off cell phones and other devices for recycling at Duffy Square in Midtown. 10 to 2 p.m.

- Relatives of a teenager killed in Brooklyn on Saturday attend a rally against youth gun violence and a candlelight vigil in Harlem, one of several similar events around the country by the National Action Network. 6 p.m.

- The New York Jewish Film Festival kicks off at Lincoln Center with “Friends from France.” 3:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. [$13]

- Under the Radar, an international festival of new theater, begins tonight. [$20 per show, and up]

- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.

AND FINALLY…

The last time it was this cold in the city on Jan. 6 was 1896.

So, a dispatch from our sister cold wave:

“The cold wave, heralded from afar, is here,” The Times reported on January 5th, “And in a snappy, emphatic way did it make its arrival felt.”

Some things were very similar about that week: “For the first time this winter vendors of ears muffs hawked their wares about the street and did business.”

“House, store and car windows were heavily frosted, and all pedestrians were diligently engaged in rubbing their ears and slapping their hands for warmth during all hours of the day.”

Others were different: “In many directions the telegraph wires were snapped in two by the frost.”

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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