Hundreds of cast-iron boxes standing chest-high on the sidewalks of New York City are there to provide an essential service to residents. But these silver sentinels go largely unnoticed, their purpose a mystery to the millions who shuffle past.
Once in a while, a city employee will stop by and unlock one of the small safes and provide passers-by a glimpse of its contents: what looks like a tiny, street-side kitchen sink, complete with a long-necked faucet.
Wait, what?
It is just what it appears to be. Each of the sturdy lockboxes, custom-made to withstand the urban rigors, is a water sampling station maintained by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Water at the sampling stations is drawn from mains beneath the street just before it gets piped into homes in the neighborhood.
There are nearly 1,000 of them across the five boroughs and they have been there for more than 25 years. But few people ever get a peek inside unless they happen to be nearby when one of the city’s scientists comes along to perform tests and collect a sample.
Otherwise, they might mistake the boxes for pieces of utility infrastructure or traffic-monitoring equipment.