In the 19th Century, in New York and other cities, streets were unpaved, muddy, and littered with horse manure. Because of this, an important fixture in front of many houses was a boot scraper.
Twice a year, the sun sets perfectly in the center of the Manhattan street grid. As an NPR story pointed out recently, any street grid in any town will align with the sunset twice a year, but somehow it seems more special in New York. For a few minutes, every street, from 1st Street to 193rd Street, is bathed in sunlight. NYC streets are usually pretty gloomy, especially in midtown, with all the skyscrapers blocking the light.
