There is so much more than meets the eye with every little bit of detail when you take a walk through the city. You will miss things if you never look down, for example. Not every round metal disk in the ground is a manhole cover, for example. There are still some surviving coal chutes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that have not been filled in or paved over. They are often more ornate and decorative than a typical modern manhole cover.
This one on West 29th street was produced by the
Madison Iron Works in the 1910s or early 1920s.
This very ornate one was created by the famous firm of
Jacob Mark Sons in the late 19th century. It contains vault lights that allowed light to filter through.
I had a blind date once with a woman whose hobby it was to take photos of the different manhole covers she saw in the various cities she visited.
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Awesome stuff! My wallet card needs to get out more like yours.
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