Snow blankets Central Avenue at Jefferson Street. — Photo by Jeremy Sapienza

It’s coming down in torrents out there — the snow, that is. New York is expected to get five inches of the white stuff today and over 500 flights have been canceled in area airports. And of course, landlords and supers across the city are cracking out their shovels and bags of salt.

The system is expected to blanket New York until at least midnight tonight, before moving out to sea. In the meantime, some Bushwick residents are enjoying it while it lasts.

José López, 7, ran down Central Avenue after school got out at 2:15 p.m., his arms in the air, mouth open to catch the snow. Never seen snow before? “Not this much!” the elementary student shrieked.

“We just moved here from Texas in the summer,” said José’s mother. “He’s never seen snow until this year.” Have you seen snow? “Sure, I’m from the mountains.”

Bushwick resident Luis Velázquez left work in Manhattan early to make sure he could get home safely before any more of those forecasted inches pile up. “I’m wearing Converses, so I had to leave before it got any worse,” he said. “Still, it’s kind of exciting.”

Not everyone is amused at the heavy snowfall. Jefferson Street super Alfie Ramirez, 62, grumpily hunched in the cold with his hoodie drawn tight around his face. “Another year, another fuckin’ snow storm I gotta clean up after,” he complained.

“You gotta be careful shoveling. A couple years ago my wife warned me not to shovel too hard because I’m old now. Sure enough, I had a heart attack that day while I was out there shoveling. I’m okay but I gotta have somebody else do the shoveling for me now.”

Any tips for the right way to shovel?

“Make sure you keep your belly tight when you got a big load on the shovel,” cautioned Ramirez. “You might throw your back out. I did that plenty, too.”