At the Flushing subway stop, irony attacks

At the Flushing subway stop, irony attacks

Posted 07.20.2006 by Dave

Summer in New York City means smell. Walking the streets, you pass black plastic bags lined up on the curb, each one filling the air with rot as they bake in the morning sun. Walking down the subway stairs, you inhale the odor emanating off the sweat-dripping straphanger just ahead of you. And down on the platform, the intense heat and overwhelming humidity conspire to peel dried urine off the ground and into the air you breathe; the pee that was formerly a crackhead's two-dollar plonk is now either assaulting your nasal passages or recondensing as sweat on your forehead.

The smells of summer are one of the costs of living in the greatest city in the world; you accept it because there's nothing else you can do. Which shows how bad indeed a particular stench must be for it to rise above all others to become an actual newsworthy event. But such is exactly the case in the Flushing and the Broadway subway stations on the G line, where a sewer leak is spilling both stench and substance into the trackbed.

New York's Department of Environmental Protection has confirmed what commuters have been noting for some time. "We are aware of the problem, a sewer main on Marcy (Ave.) and Flushing (Ave.). We have been working with the TA, testing it and sending TV remotes to locate where this break or leak is," said Natalie Millner, a DEP spokeswoman. "It's a very, very, large sewer main and we have not yet been able to determine the exact site of the leak. As soon as we find it, we will send someone in the sewer to fix it."

New York City's sewer system, which handles 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater every day, comprises 6,600 miles of mains and pipes, some as much as one hundred and fifty years old. These pipes are *big* -- as you can see, some of them are as much as two stories tall. Writhing in and out and around those pipes and mains are conduits for water, gas, cable, telephone, steam, electricity, and god knows what else; and below all those are the subways. So when something leaks, it ain't easy to find the source. And in the meantime, anything that drips out will seep down, down, down into the train tracks below.

Thus, unlike most stenches in the city, this one has a source and a story. But that doesn't mean it has a solution. The DEP is surely working as fast as a bureaucracy can; but with limited resources and a huge area from which a comparatively little amount of shit might be springing, it will be some time before the leak will be resolved. Cynics may wonder if New Yorkers will really be able to tell when there's one less smell assaulting their noses; but rest assured, we'll know when it's gone. Years of city living have made us intimate with the smells of summer. Sweat, urine, and rot we all know and appreciate. Sewage is an unwelcome interloper -- a smell too far, even for us. We'll know when it's gone, and we'll be glad for it.

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Show some poop support, or make a poop retort.

The Big Wiper (2245) -- 07.20.2006

Co-inky-dink: last night I was surfing around and caught the tail end of the remake of 'The Blob,' which reaches epic proportions near the end of the film and erupts from the sewer mains into the streets above.

I trust this problem will be solved before something monstrous develops down there!

Thunderbox (884) -- 07.20.2006

I`d heard it got sweaty in NYC in summer, but this is ridiculous. You`ve had well over 100 years to get to grips with this problem, it can`t be a new phenomenon. I`ve worked on a few new sewer systems around the world, and would like to give you a hand, but my passport stamps would make me persona non grata. Not to mention the rubber glove treatment, shackles, interrogation, detention etc. before being deported. I`ll have to let you stew in your own filth guys!

Logjam (2452) -- 07.20.2006

As a young kid, I learned the song, "On the sidewalks of New York." Inspired by your account, I've revised the last -- and most famous -- verse.

East side, west side, all around the town,
Yorkers grouse this summer, sewage bilge is falling down
Pee and poo together, they and spoiling pork
Churn the humors gastric
‘Neath the sidewalks of New York.

turd banned it (52) -- 07.20.2006

Hot town, summer in the city, The train tracks are getting dirty and shitty, Smells bad isn't it a pity, worse than the cat box of my kitty. doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city. but at night it's a different world go out and find a turd.come-on come-on and fart all night, despite the heat it will be alright.______
"show that turd who's boss"

Poopgirl (78) -- 07.20.2006

I can't believe that! Any of that! Especially the pee recondensing. How could that happen?! Anyway, back to buisness. I think that this is a very big issue. They should get that darn leak fixed soon!
Poop on!

-Poopgirl

daphne (3667) -- 07.20.2006

One would think that such a populated city would have troubles from time to time, but to actually read about them in reality, well, that's a HNL ('Hole 'Nutha "Level)

Nice article. I do hope that the situation is solved soon.

_______
.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

sharty mcfly (211) -- 07.22.2006

it's just one of those things, it'll either clear up on it's own, be forgotten about or get drastically worse until there is loss of life. and if by slim chance it does manage to merit construction and a crew, you'll see a news story about how the station is closed and everyone's pissed that tyhe station is close and that it's ruining life and no one can get to work and blah blah blah. in a major city, you just gotta deal with that shit sometimes.

Nine Inch Log (361) -- 07.22.2006

That's why I prefer the great outdoors, where the only shit I have to deal with is my own.

_______
Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

Dave (11657) -- 07.24.2006

Somewhat serendipitously, as a great postscript to this report, I came upon this construction sight in NYC's lower east side on Friday night:

This big hole is right in the middle of the street. As you can see, about ten feet below street level are brick sewer pipes. Whether they carry greywater or sewage I don't know (the water was an odd blue color, and I didn't see any floaties; but it did indeed stink). What is clear is two things: a) these sewer pipes are certainly well over a century old, and b) they're still in constant use.

To me, this little snapshot of the NYC infrastructure underscoreed the difficulties facing the DEP as they try to identify the source of the subway stink. Good luck, boys!

turd banned it (52) -- 07.24.2006

_Wow Dave! A picture is worth a thousand words, That looks just plain nasty! a corn cave of colossal pooportions...______
"show that turd who's boss"

The Big Wiper (2245) -- 07.24.2006

If you squint just a bit, it kinda looks like Jaws has surfaced and taken a bite outta the pipes. I seem to have monsters on my mind on this thread--first the 'Blob,' and now a gigantic shark reference.

SamDamnit (1192) -- 08.23.2006

A shit shark? I don't think so. It is obviously one of New Yorks famous sewer gators!
_______
Sir SamDamnit!
The Emir of Crapistan

The Shit Volcano (3740) -- 10.19.2006

What they need to do is get some sort of dye that will illuminate under ultraviolet light. Perhaps they can follow the trail to the leak from that. Of course, as you stated before, the lines under the city are extremely complicated so there is no telling what will happen to said dye. I find it disturbing to think of just how many disgusting germs are oozing out of that pipe. Blech!

_______
I was a category five! Category five, I tell you! Get it right or I'll be back to PROVE IT!!!!- Katrina