What does the west wind signify to New Yorkers?

Question

The New Yorker carries the archives of entertaining old articles. Among them there was a short piece titled “The street and into the grill” written by E.B. White and published in October 1950. A man approaches and take out a reception desk girl from her office:

“They entered the restaurant. The wind was still west, ruffling the edges of the cookies. --When they went down the elevator and out and turned in to the old, hard, beat-up pavement of Fifth Avenue and headed south toward Forty-fifth Street where the pigeons were, the air was as clean as your grandfather’s howitzer. The wind was still west.” http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1950/10/14/across-the-street-and-into-the-grill

In Japan, north wind means mid-winter. It should be the north wind that let the travelor fasten down buttons of his overcoat in 'The Sun and the North wind,' while the east wind heralds the arrival of spring season. What does west wind imply to New Yorkers and north-east Americans? Is it still cold mid-winter?

Answer 1

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. From "Across the Street and into the Grill" (emphasis is mine):

They left the piano in the restaurant, and when they went down the elevator and out and turned in to the old, hard, beat-up pavement of Fifth Avenue and headed south toward Forty-fifth Street where the pigeons were, the air was as clean as your grandfather’s howitzer. The wind was still west.

This is a parody of Ernest Hemingway's style, in particular of Ernest Hemingway's novel Across the River and into the Trees.

For those interested in a taste of Hemingway's signature style, click here.

Answer 2

Are these people even in New York? It's a valid question.

Can you take anything in that article as valid? Some sentences:

• The girl was near enough now so he could smell her fresh receptiveness, and the lint in her hair. Her skin was light blue, like the sides of horses.
• “But first I must phone Mummy.” She stepped into a public booth and dialled true and well, using her finger. Then she telephoned.
• “Good morning, my Assistant Treasurer,” said Botticelli, coming forward with a fiasco in each hand.
• Botticelli led the way to the table in the corner... Botticelli disappeared and returned soon, carrying the old Indian blanket. ...Mr. Pirnie and the girl from the reception desk crawled down under the table and pulled the Indian blanket over them so it was solid and good and covered them right.
• “Dee the soft-shelled crabs,” said Pirnie from under the blanket. He put his arm around the receptionist good.

None of those things make sense. Maybe New Yorkers think horses are light blue, but I doubt it (I grew up less than 50 miles from NYC, and besides, they have police who patrol on regular, real, non-blue horses.

I never saw the wind ruffle the edges of cookies, west, north, east or other.

It's nonsensical. Most of it means nothing. Which is not to say E.B. White was not a good writer.

Answer 3

The west wind doesn't signify anything to New Yorkers other than the literal direction the wind is coming from.

But that's not nearly the whole story with this passage. As others have noted, Across the Street and into the Grill was written as a parody of Ernest Hemingway's writing style, complete with run-on sentences, strange repetition, and use of words in nonsensical contexts. The website has subtly(?) indicated this: the picture on the page is of Hemingway.

And even that isn't the whole story, because the author is E.B. White. E.B. White wrote Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, both of which are much-loved books for children. In addition, he's the "White" in "Strunk & White": he's one of the authors of the very famous (or infamous) English writing style guide The Elements of Style.

Bottom line is, The New Yorker believed it was worth revisiting this "classic" not because of how well it's written (though as a parody, it is indeed well-written), but because of who wrote it and why.

Answer 4

We use the term "the west wind blows" when things are not right and danger is afoot. Being of Irish descent, I have many personal remembrances of the term being used by relatives. It is a commonly used phrase in Irish poetry and ballads (Dollard, 1910) reflecting the increased risks of fisherman and sailors who go out to sea when the west wind blows. The Wizard of Oz focuses on the wicked witch of the west who appears initially as a result of a tornado. At work, we use the term to mean that the boss is not in a good mood and the chances of an unpleasant event occurring is heightened. This may just be a turn of phrase to reflect and ill-wind and things not being "right"?