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New York (CNN) -- Cold weather is good for those who sell hot coffee.

That's the adage on the cold-numbed lips of many food cart vendors in New York, who have been stocking up on the Nescafe to serve to their shivering customers as freezing temperatures continue to hang over much of the country.

"You don't have a choice, you have to work," said Sami Akramia, a 41-year-old food cart worker bundled up in Midtown Manhattan as the cold air dropped to 4 degrees.

"I've been here since 5 a.m., when it was really cold."

Sandwiched in between a small space heater and a handful of steaming canisters, Akramia collects a few crumpled dollar bills from his clients in exchange for hot cups of java.

"On days like this, coffee sells. Bagels don't."

Cold air swirling south from Canada has left residents from New York to North Dakota contending with potentially deadly weather conditions.

"Those people who work outside have to be careful," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. "We feel the wind chill, and so do pets. You need to find some place indoors and out of the wind for them."

Myers added that "many times, water bowls freeze within half an hour, leaving pets out in the cold without even any water."

Authorities say exposure to sub-freezing temperatures left at least three people dead in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois on Wednesday.

The coldest air so far hangs in northwestern Quebec, where temperatures plummeted to 45 degrees below zero in the city of Rouyn, according to forecasters.

In the northern Maine town of Presque Isle, temperatures hung around 24 below.

And in Grand Forks, North Dakota, residents bundled up to stave off a potentially deadly wind chill that hovered around 33 below.

"The biggest thing is staying out of the wind. That's what kills you," said Michael Lannen, who works Manards hardware store in Grand Forks.

"It seems we get one of these kinds of weeks every year, so everyone is just trying to bundle up and stay indoors."

CNN iReporters sought to demonstrate the effects of the cold weather by tossing boiling water into the air and watching as the mist particles froze midflight.

In parts of New York and New Jersey, homes destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in places like New Dorp, Staten Island and Far Rockaway, Queens, still lack basic utilities needed to restore heat.

National Weather Service forecasters say they expect the cold weather to last throughout the week.