Commissioner Of Sewers
You know something, I’ve always had an affinity for sewers. Guess it goes all the way back to 1879 when my great-grandfather came over on a boat from Ireland and started Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, working on sewers and sidewalks.
I’m also a fan of manhole covers. The family of an old friend of mine, the writer EJ Fleming, manufactured those covers in Holyoke. I spotted a story in Fast Company recently about how they paint manhole covers in Japan. They’re considered works of art. In Japan today, 95% of cities have custom manhole design programs.
I was gonna say I’m surprised the word “manhole” hasn’t been thrown in the politically incorrect dustbin with bum and paddy wagon. Then I looked it up and discovered that the mooks in Berkeley have ditched it for “maintenance hole.” You kiddin' me, Rat Duprat?
Another cool thing is organized graffiti on fire hydrants. We’ve gotta get a summer program going with some talented local graffiti artists and kids painting manhole covers and fire hydrants. The older artists could be good mentors.
Back on the manhole covers for a second. Willie Mays and Joe Pepitone were New York stickball legends. Willie was called a “four sewer man.” Each sewer was a block long, so if the Say Hey Kid hit that pink Spaldeen over four manhole covers that’s a thousand-foot homerun shot. Willie played in the streets of Harlem, and they’ve also renamed a street in the South Bronx “Stickball Boulevard.” So here’s to sewers and manhole covers, Ed Norton. Keep your dukes up.
Keep your dukes up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNay5FkfonE
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