I’m embarrassed to admit that I had lived in the city for many years before realizing what all those black splotches on the sidewalks and subway platforms were. I’m feeling a little better learning that this is the case with other New Yorkers I have spoken to; in fact, many whom I questioned were still not aware, thinking that the splotches may be part of the concrete, asphalt, etc. Gum on the streets is not a new problem; Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ran an anti-gum littering campaign in 1939 with the slogan “Don’t Gum Up the Works” and pressured gum manufacturers to print requests on the wrappers that they be used for proper disposal of the gum. The NYC problem is particularly interesting in that New York is home to invention of the chicle-base chewing gum by Thomas Adams and the world’s first chewing gum factory, circa 1876, on Vesey Street: Adams Sons & Company.

In spite of the fact that throwing out chewing gum on the ground is a violation of the littering law and costly to remove, I think the problem is one of those quality of life issues which is very low on the priorities scale. Many do not notice or find it a problem, and the rest of us become inured. On an encouraging note, GumBusters International B.V., a Netherlands-based company, has developed technology – steam equipment and a benign solvent – that easily removes the gum in seconds. They have divisions and franchises worldwide. The franchisee in New York, Gumbusters of NY, has been busy cleaning the streets for a myriad of businesses and was featured on the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. Perhaps we should adopt the thinking of Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore, where chewing gum is banned (precipitated by gum vandalism), who remarked, “If you can’t think because you can’t chew, try a banana.” 🙂

Standpipes are everywhere in New York City, yet very little attention is paid to them. And what do we really know about them? A standpipe is a rigid pipe which supplies water under pressure to a water supply and/or sprinkler system in the event of a fire. And why do we need them? Because it is not feasible to run hoses from the street up stairwells to upper floors of a tall building in a fire (there are over 1,000 high-rise buildings in NYC). With a standpipe system, water is fed from the street through the vertical piping – hoses are attached from outlets at each floor.

There are dry and wet types – wet systems contain water at all times, while dry systems contain no water and may have their own source of water or be supplied by a firetruck in tandem with a fire hydrant. Water can be supplied via water tanks, city main, and/or hydrants and fire pumps. Siamese connections (shown in the photo) allow two hoses to be attached for increased capacity and provide backup if one is jammed or malfunctioning.

There are a variety of styles, of course. Conversation about these between myself and a photographer friend eventually inspired him to go on a photo quest (click here for his collection). A Siamese connection provides ideal seating, but beware of standpipes with sawtooth type projections on top, which I assume acts as a deterrent. BTW, standpipes are needed not just for tall buildings but also for anywhere there is no access to firetrucks or where there is excessive distance to stretch hose lines: shopping malls, theaters, stadiums, arenas, parking garages, bridges, tunnels, highways, piers…

From time to time in the city, we witness the homeless with caravans of STUFF – sometimes taking on mammoth proportions. On one occasion, I witnessed someone with at least 8 enormous hamper carts filled with things. He was systematically jockeying them to go on some unknown journey. They were parked for an entire night on Washington Square North, taking up a sizable portion of an entire city block. In many cases, they are bottles accumulated for redemption. I imagine that when you are homeless, one can achieve a certain sense of security and identity by accumulating things.

Taking photos of these occurrences can be dangerous. A friend and I have been threatened several times just walking by with a camera hanging at our sides or photographing something else in a completely different direction. I suspect there’s a feeling of exploitation by many of them, with subsequent outbreaks of rage. In the photo, you can see what a couple friends and I witnessed – a very unusual move on Bleecker Street in the middle of traffic. It’s still not clear to me what we saw – a homeless person, someone looking to furnish his place from things scavenged from the street, a budget mover, or moving on a budget?