It’s their crosswalk to bear.
As New Yorkers hunker down amid the longest deep freeze in two decades, the city’s school crossing guards are bundling up and braving the icy elements. Call them real-life snow angels.
What’s a difficult job on the best of days is made more treacherous amid the Arctic blast, with slippery ice, snow plows and sludge — as well as temperatures that have stubbornly remained below freezing for an entire week.
“It’s impossible to even see, it’s so cold, and then the wind gust picks up, especially in this area,” crossing guard Concetta Diaz, 51, told The Post on Friday outside P.S. 029 John M. Harrigan Elementary School in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
“The visibility is not that great,” she added. “It gets very rough, very rough, and sometimes, you know, the traffic doesn’t cooperate. We have people running the lights on us; they don’t slow down.”
Diaz has been working as a crossing guard for the past seven years, and has never experienced weather as bitter and brutal as the current cold snap.
On Friday, the temperature topped just 18 degrees, but with the icy winds whipping off the waters of the nearby East River, it felt as low as -10 at times.
“It’s brutally cold, so we just bundle up extra layers, hand warmers, gloves, scarves,” Diaz declared. “Luckily, the school over here is kind enough to let us go in and out to warm up, and basically, we just come in and get the job done.”
At the nearby P.S. 261 Zipporiah Mills Elementary School, crossing guard Iverson Glasgow, 26, was similarly shivering through his shift.
“Oh, man, it’s really cold out here, but I still gotta deal with it,” Glasgow told The Post. “I still gotta cross the kids and keep them safe.”
But while he may be cold, this crossing guard is nothing but cool.
Glasgow made a point to fist-bump and high-five the freezing kids as they safely crossed the street at the end of the school day.
“This guy’s just always happy, man,” dad Ben Prebreza said of Glasgow while picking up his son, Blair. “It doesn’t matter what weather it is. He’s still always smiling, always saying, ‘Hello!’ He takes his job serious. He’s a real good guy… The best personality.”
Cobble Hill local, Sylvia, 67, concurred.
“The best school crossing guard in all the neighborhood,” she gushed. “All the kids love him, all the nannies love him, all the parents love him. He’s the best.”
Glasgow — who works seven hours a day, five days a week, rain, hail or shine — was able to keep warm by moving around and even doing push-ups against an icy fence.
Diaz, meanwhile, left nothing to chance, adding extra layers and thermals. She was also ready to improvise with additional scarves and a face mask, saying: “Whatever we can get, [we] just bundle up and stay warm.”
There’s no end in sight to the current deep freeze, which is predicted to be the longest cold snap in New York City since at least 2003.
But Glasgow and Diaz can take heart — if not heat — in the fact they’re beloved by their communities.
“I feel like I’m appreciated,” Diaz said. “I feel good knowing them, to be keeping people safe, and that’s important, especially in today’s world. At least the kids trust you and they feel like they’re safe, and that’s important.”
“Be positive out there,” Glasgow added. “Be happy, be safe. Let’s get it!”
— Additional reporting by Helayne Seidman
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