March 23, 2016

How horse poop inspired the New York City stoop

Today when we see romantic stoops rise from the sidewalk to the second story parlor, we don't necessarily associate them with fecal matter. But flashback to the late 1800s, and you'll meet a very different New York where almost five million pounds of manure was being dumped on the city streets every day (we can imagine how that would effect our commute to the office). At the rate horse dung was accumulating, it was predicted that by the year 1930, horse manure would reach the level of Manhattan’s third-story windows. With poop literally lining the city streets, stoops became an important and functional part of New York City's architecture.
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