It’s treacherous out there. After two wet snows since Friday and a day in the upper thirties, the temps crashed after sundown, almost instantly freezing any standing water on the sidewalk and stoops.

It’s nights like this that I wish I hadn’t housebroken my dogs so well. They’d sooner cut their own throats than mess in the house. Worse, I can’t even push them out the door to do their business in the back yard. They just sit by the back door looking miserable.

It’s also nights like this that I’d like to see public flogging of thoughtless home and apartment house owners who don’t shovel their walks. Fifteen years ago, while walking my dog Paco, I broke my right wrist (both bones) on the slippery, unshoveled sidewalk outside a low-end clothing store on lower Broadway. So I’ve got no tolerance for this laziness.

Administrative Code NYC:
§ 16–123 Removal of snow, ice and dirt from sidewalks; property owners’ duties. a. Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant, or other person, having charge of any building or lot of ground in the city, abutting upon any street where the sidewalk is paved, shall, within four hours after the snow ceases to fall, or after the deposit of any dirt or other material upon such sidewalk, remove the snow or ice, dirt, or other material from the sidewalk and gutter, the time between nine post meridian and seven ante meridian not being included in the above period of four hours.

What I do now is walk the dogs in the middle of the street because the city is at least conscientious about salting the roads, fortunately with a chemical that doesn’t seem to hurt the dogs’ paws. Tonight, I watched another dog walker take a dramatic spill on the sidewalk when her little ankle nipper started cursing out my guys. Fortunately she landed on her well-padded rump.