Today when we see romantic stoops rise from the sidewalk to the second story, we don’t necessarily associate them with poop. However, in the late 1800s you would see a very different New York City, where almost 5 million pounds of manure was dumped onto city streets every day. At the rate horse manure was accumulating, it was predicted that by the year 1930, horse manure would reach the level of Manhattan’s third-story windows. With manure literally lining the city streets, stoops became an important and functional part of New York City’s architecture. The manure that lined the streets at times reached as high as 60 feet, and come summer the smell was overwhelming. When it rained, rivers of manure flooded the streets and sidewalks, often seeping into people’s basements. So, if you live in New York City or just happen to visit the Big Apple, now you know how those stoops on the beautiful brownstones came to be.
