Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Poop

'America': Fully Functional 18-Karat-Gold Toilet-Art You Can Really Use at the Guggenheim

2020-08-11T16:00:00-04:00

America is the title of an interactive art exhibit from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim Museum that is a fully functional, 18-karat gold toilet.

Anyone with an Instagram account and an interest in contemporary art understands the reasoning behind Cattelan’s suggestion:“America”—the first piece the artist has exhibited since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim—is a working toilet cast from gold that has been installed in a bathroom on the museum’s fourth floor. Cattelan intends visitors to use the toilet just as they would any other facility in the building.

Check out the museum's announcement page to learn more about the Guggenheim's functional gold toilet.

The post 'America': Fully Functional 18-Karat-Gold Toilet-Art You Can Really Use at the Guggenheim appeared first on Viewing NYC

New York City Department of Environmental Protection Wages a War on "Fatbergs"

2019-02-26T11:00:00-05:00

Cooking grease…wet wipes…and lots of other stuff…get flushed down the sewers creating fatbergs that clog pipes and drain wallets. You can keep things running smoothly by properly disposing of these items.

Check out the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's new website, fatbergfree.nyc, to learn more.

The post New York City Department of Environmental Protection Wages a War on "Fatbergs" appeared first on Viewing NYC

[VIDEO] Here's How New York City's Sewage Ended Up Stuck on a Train in Alabama

2018-04-18T10:30:00-04:00

With over 8.5 million people densely packed into just about 300 square miles, waste management in New York City is a challenge. There are many solutions currently in place, including shipping some of our sewer sludge around the country. In this video from Vice News, learn why some of our sewage is stuck on a "poop train" in a small Alabama town.

No one, it seems, wants the poop train. And not the city of New York, which paid an Alabama landfill company to take it. Not small towns in Pennsylvania, where several sites recently stopped accepting the city's treated human waste. And not the town of West Jefferson, Alabama, where the waste, a product called biosolids, was transferred to dump trucks at the local rail yard — until the city won an injunction to stop the landfill company, Big Sky Environmental, from using their town as a transfer point.

That federal court decision stranded roughly 250 containers full of treated New York sewage one town over, on rail cars in tiny Parrish, Alabama. The overwhelming smell polluting the air here on warm days underscores how easy it is for something to go wrong in the nation’s fragile sewage-disposal system. New York City once sold its biosolids to farmers as fertilizer. But the city decided that method was too expensive, and now ships treated sewage to cost-saving landfills.

Until recently, one of those site was the landfill run by Big Sky Environmental. Then, New York City cancelled its contract with the company after Parrish residents complained about the smell, and the company has begun to move cars out of the area. So there's a solution in sight for residents of Parrish, but New York has an endless stream of waste that has to be dealt with, without breaking the bank.

The post [VIDEO] Here's How New York City's Sewage Ended Up Stuck on a Train in Alabama appeared first on Viewing NYC

Subway Etiquette Tip #41: Please Don't Defecate Directly on the Subway Tracks [NSFW]

2018-04-11T11:30:00-04:00

You would think that some of our Subway Etiquette Tips would go without saying. Like this guy at the 51st Street E Train station… perhaps he didn't know that taking a literal shit off the subway platform onto the train tracks was an unforgivable social gaffe? As such, it is our duty to provide you with Subway Etiquette Tip #41: Please don't defecate on the New York City subway. Thank you.

The post Subway Etiquette Tip #41: Please Don't Defecate Directly on the Subway Tracks [NSFW] appeared first on Viewing NYC

NYC Environmental Protection Asks Queens and Brooklyn to "Wait" on Flushing Toilet During Storms

2018-03-14T16:30:00-04:00

Because most parts of Brooklyn and Queens use a combined sewer that can overflow and dump raw sewage into the waterways, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection is asking residents to "Wait..."

Why Wait…? Whenever we do laundry, shower, wash dishes, or flush the toilet, the water we use goes down the drain and into the sewer. But when there’s a heavy rain storm, that wastewater has to share the sewer with LOTS of rain water. On those days, our sewers can fill to capacity and a mix of wastewater and rain water can end up going into our waterways. Waiting to use water during a heavy rain storm helps to keep our waterways clean for our community and wildlife!

The City will send out text messages when it is time to "wait...", so you know exactly when to stop flushing, and when you can start again. Check out the program page to read more about the campaign.

The post NYC Environmental Protection Asks Queens and Brooklyn to "Wait" on Flushing Toilet During Storms appeared first on Viewing NYC

The POOP Project, a Brooklyn Organization Seeking to Promote Critical Conversations About Human Waste

2017-07-11T14:30:00-04:00

The People's Own Organic Power Project (POOP Project) is a Brooklyn-based organization that seeks to promote critical conversations about how sustainable sanitation and human waste affect people, communities, and the planet. Through outreach programs, hand-on education and other initiatives, the POOP Project hopes to remove the taboo surrounding "potty talk". Hear all about the project in this short video from BRIC TV.

Founded by Shawn Shafner ("The Puru") in 2010, The POOP Project is dedicated to creating work that:

heals the cultural shame making “potty talk” taboo

transforms waste-making consumers into resource-conscious creators

reconnects audiences to their bodies, communities, and the environment that we all share

The post The POOP Project, a Brooklyn Organization Seeking to Promote Critical Conversations About Human Waste appeared first on Viewing NYC

Prospect Park's New $2M Toilets Collect Human Waste For Composting

2017-06-20T11:30:00-04:00

Prospect Park recently spent $2.34 million renovating the bathrooms inside the Old Wellhouse and included four special toilets which collect human poop for future composting. As the law currently exists, using human excrement in compost is illegal, but the Prospect Park Alliance see that changing in the near future.

“Right now, New York State doesn’t allow for the compost to be used,” said Prospect Park Alliance spokeswoman Deborah Kirschner. No problem though, says the Alliance, because the poop, like fine wine, needs to be aged for 10 years — enough time for the law to be changed. “We’re hoping by then we’ll be able to use it,”

“It’s benign and perfectly fine,” the bathroom’s architect, Alden Maddry, insisted. “It just makes people squeamish.”

The post Prospect Park's New $2M Toilets Collect Human Waste For Composting appeared first on Viewing NYC

When You Can't Wait, This Interactive Restroom Map Shows You the Closest Public Toilet in NYC

2016-12-28T11:44:44-05:00

It happens to everybody… you're out around the City and all of a sudden you have to go NOW. Next time that happens, consult NYRestroom, an interactive map that lets you quickly and easily see what publicly accessible restrooms are available in your immediate vicinity.

We're making New York City a more peaceful place for everyone, one restroom at a time. Visit nyrestroom.com from any device to look up a publicly accessible map near you. Participate by adding an open restroom that you've been keeping a secret.

Check out the full map to play around with the data yourself.

The post When You Can't Wait, This Interactive Restroom Map Shows You the Closest Public Toilet in NYC appeared first on Viewing NYC

See What Life Was Like in New York City Before Indoor Toilets

2016-10-25T09:45:56-04:00

Our friends at 6sqft recently published a great story about what life was like in New York City before the invention of indoor plumbing and indoor toilets.

Most New Yorkers live in apartments and most units have just a single bathroom. A hundred and fifty years ago, however, the situation was much worse. At the time, New Yorkers had just a few choices when it came to taking care of their lavatory needs and by modern standards, none of the options were appealing—visit an outhouse or use a chamber pot. Nevertheless, indoor toilets proved slow to gain popularity when they were first introduced in the second half of the nineteenth century. Initially, many residents feared the newfangled invention would bring poisonous gases into their homes, leading to illness and even death.

Check out the full article for more.

The post See What Life Was Like in New York City Before Indoor Toilets appeared first on Viewing NYC

America, a Fully Functional 18-Karat-Gold Toilet/Art You Can Really Use at the Guggenheim

2016-09-16T07:59:04-04:00

America is the title of a new interactive art exhibit from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim Museum that is a fully functional, 18-karat gold toilet.

Anyone with an Instagram account and an interest in contemporary art understands the reasoning behind Cattelan’s suggestion:“America”—the first piece the artist has exhibited since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim—is a working toilet cast from gold that has been installed in a bathroom on the museum’s fourth floor. Cattelan intends visitors to use the toilet just as they would any other facility in the building.

Check out the museum's announcement page to learn more about the Guggenheim's functional gold toilet.

The post America, a Fully Functional 18-Karat-Gold Toilet/Art You Can Really Use at the Guggenheim appeared first on Viewing NYC