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Fountains of New York City
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Earlier this week, a Daily News article taught us that many city fountains are maintained by Joe McBain, an employee of the Central Park Conservancy. In addition to money (though homeless people usually take the quarters, dimes and nickels), he's fished out "MetroCards to cell phones to watches" - maybe the watches fly off the wrist when tossing in a coin? The money goes to the city's "general fund" or towards replacement parts for the fountain. This got us thinking about the city's different fountains and wondered if there was a grand list of all the fountains. We found a partial list at Wired New York, but these might only be the city fountains. Help us add to the list below by adding a comment and we'll update it.
And it's cute that people worry when McBain fishes the coins out; he tells them, "Once the money hits the water, their wish is answered."
Bronx:
- Algernon Sydney Sullivan Fountain, Van Cortlandt Park
- The Heinrich Heine Memorial Fountain (also known as the Lorelei Fountain) in Joyce Kilmer Park (Grand Concourse Plaza)
- Rockefeller Fountain, Bronx Zoo
Brooklyn:
- Bailey Fountain, Grand Army Plaza
- Columbus Park Fountain, Brooklyn
Manhattan:
- Angel of the Waters Fountain at Bethesda Terrace, Central Park
- City Hall Park Fountain
- Columbus Circle fountains
- Hamilton Fountain, Riverside Park
- James Fountain, Union Square Park (Union Square Drinking Fountain)
- Fountain at Lincoln Center
- Temperance Fountain, Tompkins Square Park
Queens:
- The Unisphere, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Staten Island:
- South Beach Dolphin Fountain, Staten Island
Tagged
architecture
cell phones
central park
central park conservancy
daily news
homeless
jen chung
money
new york
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people
the city
this week
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Wired New York
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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