Ice Cream Sales Drop in Blistering Heat Wave

It was so hot yesterday in New York that people didn't even have the energy to eat ice cream.

At the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory in Lower Manhattan, Christina Seid said the immense humidity hurt sales. "When it is too humid, people want to be in air conditioning. Instead of going out to ice cream parlors, they would rather stay at home. Sales are much higher on days between 70 and 80 degrees than those in the 90s and 100s," she said.

The National Weather Service yesterday issued a heat advisory, a severe thunderstorm watch, and a special weather statement for all five New York City boroughs. Sunday's high temperature in Central Park was 95 degrees, just below the record high of 99 degrees reached in 1988.

According to Con Edison, electricity demand reached an all-time weekend high this weekend as consumers turned to air conditioning rather than ice cream to keep cool. A corporation spokeswoman, Martha Liipfert, said the company delivered 11,149 megawatts at 2 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday at 3 p.m., Con Edison delivered 10,866 megawatts to consumers. The previous wattage record for a weekend day had been 9,788, set in 2002.

The weather service also issued an urban flood advisory for Manhattan, which was struck by thunderstorms. Some pedestrians near the World Trade Center site sought refuge under the PATH station's covered front promenade. "I didn't expect it, I wanted to get home before the rain," said Kevin Smith of Hoboken, N.J. He was smiling, despite having been drenched in the previous downpour. "I love the summer, but hate the humidity," he said.