Observing Ash Wednesday

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times At Trinity Church in Manhattan on Wednesday, the Rev. John Moody placed ashes on the forehead of Domilu Cerezo, of Jackson Heights, Queens.

Escaping Winter in New York

We have been through so much in this seemingly unending and often brutal winter.

Spring officially starts in 15 days, but even the thought of warm weather may not be enough to help get us through what is left of the cold.

Have you forgotten what warm, sunny weather feels like? You are certainly not alone.

Here is a look at a few places that other New Yorkers have turned to for an escape from winter.

Photographs by Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

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The Spa Castle offers New Yorkers a chance to warm up and relax. “Winter has sucked,” said Rafael Salazar, who was celebrating a friend’s birthday, “but we’re making the best of it. In here, it’s like Miami if you close your eyes.”

Near the outdoor mineral pools, guests shared ice cream and smoothies. Vivian Arevalo, 28, said that while winter has been too long, when she visits the Spa Castle, “you’re in the pool and everything is like summer â€" for a short time.”

Spa Castle
131-10 11th Avenue
College Point, Queens
(718) 939-6300
Cost: All-day access for $40 on weekdays; $50 on weekends. Extra for massages, food and other special treatments, like body scrubs and reflexology.

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Luke’s Lobster offers lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, chowders, crab claws and, for the winter, a lobster grilled cheese.

Sharla Hamilton, who was dining at Luke’s Lobster on Monday because she wanted to eat somewhere that reminded her of summer, said she had put up a sign in her office that read “Keep Calm Spring Is Almost Here.”

Luke’s Lobster
Multiple locations in the city.
Cost: Depends on what you order. [Menu]

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Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show shed their jackets as they wandered through the show this week. Hayley Witt attended the show in the Bronx with her husband and son “to escape the city and the cold,” she said. A four-year-old, Milo Christ, sat on the ground as he sketched cacti, and Miroslav Vrzala, of Monroe, N.Y., was photographing flowers at the show. “Winter is too long, too cold,” Mr. Vrzala said. “I just wanted to get out and shoot.”

The show will be on display until April 21.

New York Botanical Garden
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, N.Y.
(718) 817-8700
Cost: $20 on weekdays; $25 on weekends. [Tickets]

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On Mondays, the Taj Lounge offers salsa lessons, followed by dancing late into the night. Classes start at 6:30 p.m. and are hosted by Talia Castro-Pozo. “It’s summer here when it’s winter outside,” she said.

No dance partners required as the Monday night events often draw about 50 students, according to Taj Lounge.

Taj Lounge
48 West 21st Street
New York, N.Y.
(212) 620-3033
Cost: $8 cover before 7 p.m.; $12 after.

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Where else in the city can you escape the cold and dreary winter? Tell us in the comments.

A New Word for Filthy Snow

Yana Paskova for The New York Times

Dear Diary:

We need a new word to describe the filthy, frozen, ugly and dangerous mounds of snow that have accumulated on our streets this winter. It gathers on corners and where the gutter and sidewalk meet. You know the stuff I mean.

Frounds? Perhaps something more evil-sounding. Frunks? Too silly. Frobage? Too French. Drozen? Flice? Crice? I think my husband has come up with the winner: Mofi. Mounds of filthy ice. As in, “Although the streets and sidewalks have been plowed and shoveled, the mofi make it treacherous to venture outside.”

Stay safe and warm.

Read all recent entries and our updated submissions guidelines. Reach us via email diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary.

New York Today: A Winter to Remember

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times They could have used heated sidewalks.

Updated 6:38 a.m.

Good morning. It’s Ash Wednesday.

And it’s a temperate 29 degrees.

So let’s give up winter, for now.

And take a look back at some of the things that it brought us:

- Trash. Lots of it. With sanitation workers busy plowing, sidewalks became semi-permanent interactive installations.

- Alternate side parking was suspended for 22 days, the longest stretch since 2001, though nowhere near the record of 62 in 1978.

- Heated sidewalks. So-called snow-melt systems are a rarity in the city, but they exist. They are popular among “the doggies,” as one doorman put it.

- Heated bus stops.A publicity stunt by a Florida tourism board, complete with models in bathing suits. The idea of such shelters is not likely to spread.

- Drinks, sandwiches and signs outside liquor stores riffing on the term “polar vortex.”

- The cold selfie. Thousands indulged, few looked cold. We commend you, superlou1010.

- Wintry descriptor shortage. Media outlets had to raid the adjective pantry to come up with something new. Witness “icy grip,” “bitter blast,” “thundersnow.”

- The snow hazing of Mayor de Blasio. Or the last stand of the sanitation commissioner (and his cable knit sweater).

- Road salt shortages. About 40,000 tons were stuck in Maine because of an old law.

- Forget seasonal affect disorder. We got snow rage. See Al Roker’s critique of the mayor for not calling snow days. See, Upper East Side, unplowed.

Here’s what else you need to know for Wednesday.

WEATHER

Rejoice! The sun breaks through the clouds, with a high of 35 degrees.

Temperatures drop again at night, when there may be snow showers.

COMMUTE

Subways: Some 2 trains running on the 5 line. Check latest status.

Rails: O.K. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. Transit status.

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

Alternate-side parking is suspended for Ash Wednesday.

COMING UP TODAY

- The City Council fields budget proposals for next fiscal year at a preliminary hearing at City Hall. 10 a.m.

- A rally outside City Hall to change zoning rules to require more low-income housing. Noon.

- Cardinal Dolan distributes ashes at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Noon.

- Anti-abortion advocates pray at the Brooklyn Bridge before starting a cross-country relay race for the cause. 7 a.m.

- The mayor accepts his first invitation to appear at the Inner Circle Show, the annual political parody, on March 22. This year’s theme: “Stuck with de Blasio.” 1 p.m.

- “The Rollin’ Colon” continues its tour, unfurling at Mount Sinai Hospital in observance of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. 8 a.m.

- The Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America, opens at the Park Avenue Armory. Noon. [$25] …

- … Followed by the Armory Party 2014 at MoMA. 8 p.m. [$150 and up]

- “Modeling the Melt: What Math Tells Us About the Disappearing Polar Ice Caps,” a talk at the National Museum of Mathematics, in Midtown. 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. [Free, R.S.V.P.]

- “Nerd Nite” talks on Tetris, “Star Trek” and a theme-park ride based on “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” at the 92nd Street Y. 8:15 p.m. [$29 and up]

- Happy birthday week, Lou Reed. Seven bands pay tribute to the songwriter at the Way Station in Prospect Heights. 8 p.m. [Free]

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

IN THE NEWS

- The police commissioner said street stops would remain a “basic tool” in fighting crime. [New York Times]

- A crusader for charter schools is locked in combat with a formidable opponent: the new mayor. [New York Times]

- Stubborn blanket of snow: An interactive graphic of snow depths around the region since January. [New York Times]

- What the old snow looks like to a polar geophysicist. [New York Times]

- An Upper East Side resident lost everything when trash removers emptied the wrong apartment. He is suing. [New York Post]

- Crosses to go. Be on the lookout for mobile ashing teams today. [Daily News]

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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