Saturday, January 09, 2010

GRAMMERCY IN JANUARY




Stuyvesant Square Park, where Little E and I hang out in the warmer months.












Peter/Pieter/Petrus Stuyvesant (1612 – 1672) was the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland (New York) from 1647 until it was ceded to the English in 1664. Among his first proclamations were orders to enforce the rigid observance of Sunday, prohibit the sale of liquor and fire-arms to the Indians, and protect the revenue and increase the treasury by heavier taxation on imports. He also endeavored to erect a better class of houses and taverns, established a market and an annual cattle-fair, and was also interested in founding a public school. His accomplishments also included the great expansion of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan; his administration built the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway. He was a bit of dandy, from what I understand, and had a wooden leg. More on him here.












Xmas Jockeys










Each of these man-size cannisters of liquid nitrogen contained a hose leading to the sewer under Third Avenue, and gave me pause every time I passed. One of them was covered with band stickers, the other with snow.
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5 comments:

  1. What the heck are those used for?

    And why are they left on the street like that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Little E thinks they're using it/them to get some (other) sort of gas out of the sewers. I was surprised that they were just sitting on the sidewalk all day and night.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:35 PM

    http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=309530

    Personally I think they're doing the h.s. science- frozen tennis ball demonstration under the streets of n.y.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks anonymous poster!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:29 PM

    According to ancestry.com I am related to that Peter S.
    Munkin

    ReplyDelete