Norberto Briceño

Kinda Interesting Things #123: The Moving Platforms at Union Square Station If you’re taking any of the 4/5/6 trains at the Union Square station, you’ll notice some steel gap fillers that move as the train comes to a stop. This is because of the station’s curved platform. When Union Square station first opened in 1904, the curved platform was not an issue, as the original 5-car trains would line up perfectly. But as ridership grew, train cars had to be added. With the addition of more cars, the trains no longer aligned with the platform. Engineers came up with these steel gap fillers for riders to safely enter and exit the train. Sources: “Why Is The Subway At Union Square Platform Curved” (Untapped New York, 2022) “14th Street-Union Square Moving Platforms” (Atlas Obscura, 2022) ."The Impact of the IRT in New York City" (Hood, Clifton, 1978) #nyc #unionsquare #didyouknow #fyi #mta #trainstation #nycmta #hiddengems #manhattan #14thstreet #LearnOnTikTok

Kinda Interesting Things #125: The Rise and Fall of the Everard Baths At 28 West 28th Street in Chelsea, there once stood a bathhouse that was considered a safe haven for NYC’s gay community. Built in 1888, and repurposed as a bathhouse in 1860, the Everard Baths were a sanctuary for gay men, who had been frequenting the baths as early as World War I. While it thrived in popularity in its later years, it was considered a rundown establishment that was partially destroyed by a fire in 1977, and forced to close in 1986 due to the AIDS epidemic. Sources: “Before It Burned Down, This Bathhouse Served as a Haven for New York City’s Gay Community” (Smithsonian Magazine, 2023) “Eversoft at the Everard” (Gay, 1972) “Everard Baths” (NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, 2017) “The Long History of the Everard's Baths” (Daytonian in Manhattan, 2020) “9 Killed by Fire at a West Side Bathhouse” (New York Times, 1977) #nyc #didyouknow #fyi #nychistory #hiddengemsnyc #chelsea #lgbtq #lgbtqhistory #newyorkcity #history #LearnOnTikTok

Kinda Interesting Things #126: The Swill-Milk Scandal In Central Park, there’s a Victorian Gothic building called The Dairy — a building that was meant to supply fresh and affordable milk for children. It was designed in the midst of a horrific health crisis that swept NYC in the mid-19th Century, perpetrated by distilleries trying to make profit off their waste, selling cheap, toxic milk to the unsuspecting masses. This is the story of the swill-milk scandal. For more history on Central Park, be sure to follow @Central Park Conservancy Sources: “The Surprisingly Intolerant History of Milk” (Smithsonian Magazine, 2018) “The 19th-Century Swill Milk Scandal That Poisoned Infants With Whiskey Runoff” (Atlas Obsura, 2017) “The Swill Is Gone” (New York Times, 2008) “The Dairy” (NYC Parks Department) #nyc #centralpark #nychistory #didyouknow #fyi #milk #LearnOnTikTok #history #newyorkcity #manhattan #brooklyn #truecrime

Kinda Interesting Things #129: The Dog Balancing a NYC Cab on Its Nose On East 34th Street between 1st Avenue and FDR Dr, just outside of the Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, you’ll come across a giant dog balancing a cab on its nose. Unveiled in the summer of 2018, Spot is a sculpture by artist Donald Lipski, with the assistance of realist sculptor Chris Collins. Made of fiberglass and steel, this near four-story sculpture depicts a dalmatian named Spot, balancing a NYC cab on its nose. The cab was donated by Toyota and just like any regular cab in the city, it lights up and it even has operating windshield wipers when it rains. According to Lipsky: “I wanted to make something so astounding it would distract even those arriving for the most serious procedures, and so lovable that young patients coming back again and again with chronic conditions would see it as an old friend. I like to think that the parents, the doctors and nurses and staff, the neighbors, will all be smitten by this playful, heroic young dog doing the impossible. Art has actual healing power.” Sources: “3 Outdoor Art Shows and One Trusty Dog (With Tricks!)” (New York Times, 2018) “Spot” (DonaldLipski.net) “A 38-foot statue of a dog balancing a taxi on its nose was unveiled in midtown” (Time Out, 2018) “Meet SPOT, New York's latest piece of artwork, created to make sick children smile” (Lonely Planet, 2018) #nyc #dog #publicart #nychistory #didyouknow #fyi #statue #sculpture #doggy #LearnOnTikTok #thingstodoinnyc #manhattan