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What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

practical.engineering

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Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#51

Post by woodruffw »

bombcar wrote: post #45
woodruffw wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wasn't clear to me :-). But even still: the eruv is a rabbinical interpretation, not something attributed to God.

The whole joke is that the Jews will even take God to court (where God is the Judge, Jury, and Defendant), and win - I believe there's a whatever it is they have about this: God basically ends up saying "Ha, I like the cut of your jib".

You’re probably referring to the Oven of Akhnai:

https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/144163?lang=bi

(Talmudic interpretation doesn’t stress this story because it shows how much Jews love to argue, or because they can win arguments against God. It stresses the story because it demonstrates that the law has been received (“It is not in heaven”) and thus does not need to appeal to God. This, inter alia, is why nobody asks God for their opinion on eruvim.)

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#52

Post by dbuxton »

jayrot wrote: post #41
dbuxton wrote: post #27

I can’t read something like this without thinking of the late great Richard Scarry Luckily ChatGPt does a pretty good impression https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6a6662e9af6c81918523fb06d1384e74

This is actually rather impressive. Care to share the prompt you used?

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a673180-0a78-83ed-abd0-d797c4d95a...

tldr the initial effort didn't seem to read the linked article so I copied and pasted the full text in

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#54

Post by markovs_gun »

radicality wrote: post #21
dataviz1000 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile in place of power, cable, and phone lines there is a related 18 mile translucent line hung in order to turn the entire city into one big happy home called a *eruv* -- following the law of the highest of high courts to the letter. [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSldb9IMDVU

I live in nyc, when I first heard of the eruv couldn’t believe they would come up with such elaborate hacks just to ‘technically’ still be following their religious laws! Now if I remember I try and spot it when out. It also has a status page! https://eruv.nyc/

Jews have a very different relationship to religious laws than Christians. In his own time, Jesus was combating the predominant interpretation of the Jewish law in favor of his own interpretation, which is based more about the meaning and purpose of the law rather than the precise letter of the law. Sin isn't simply non-adherence to the law, it is an intrinsic part of human nature that needs to be redeemed, and all will fall short of the law. The important thing to remember in this is that in historically Christian cultures, we have inherited Jesus's view of the law that was directly and explicitly opposed to the version of Judaism that eventually became the default.

Jews think of the law differently. The law came directly from God- therefore, it is free from errors. If there are loopholes you can find in the law, God put them there for a reason and won't be mad if you use them. Some people even think that God put the loopholes in there as a reward for careful study of the law. Jews also don't think that there is eternal damnation in Hell facing anyone who defies the law, so I suppose the stakes are lower than for Christians so they can afford to be stricter.

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#55

Post by pimlottc »

woodruffw wrote: post #26
barrenko wrote: post #24

Pieces of Belgian cities?

If you're referring to the Belgian blocks[1], I don't think they're actually from Belgium specifically, just Europe in general. Although some might be from Belgium! [1]: https://sohobroadway.org/soho-broadway-block-by-belgian-bloc...

Nothing in that article suggests that the actual stones come from Europe. It seems like it would be rather impractical to import that much heavy material.

This report [0] from the Historic Districts Council in NYC says:

> Despite the name Belgian block, it remains unclear to what extent, and during what era, paving stones imported from Belgium may have provided the raw materials for New York City’s streets.¹ It is known that the city’s early paving stones included a type of six- inch-square traprock commonly called “Belgian” block, and said to have first been used in Belgium.

>1. While it has often been reported that Belgian blocks were imported to New York as ship ballast, we have not found primary evidence to confirm this practice.

https://hdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HDC_Historic-Stre...

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#56

Post by woodruffw »

pimlottc wrote: post #55
woodruffw wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're referring to the Belgian blocks[1], I don't think they're actually from Belgium specifically, just Europe in general. Although some might be from Belgium! [1]: https://sohobroadway.org/soho-broadway-block-by-belgian-bloc...

Nothing in that article suggests that the actual stones come from Europe. It seems like it would be rather impractical to import that much heavy material. This report [0] from the Historic Districts Council in NYC says: > Despite the name Belgian block, it remains unclear to what extent, and during what era, paving stones imported from Belgium may have provided the raw materials for New York City’s streets.¹ It is kn…

Interesting that there’s no primary evidence.

But your point about importing heavy material is mislaid: the blocks are intentionally heavy, because they (apocryphally) served as ballast.

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#57

Post by quickthrowman »

to11mtm wrote: post #40
lesuorac wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk it makes sense to me. Like a lot of the rules are very fuzzy in their origin. The whole kosher business comes from a passage about "Not boiling a kid in it's mothers milk". I think most people would interpret that much more literally and you couldn't kill a child goat (kid) and boil it in it's mothers milk; and probably also extend it to other animals like cows. But I'd still think that killing a kid and putting…

I think most of the kosher rules come from a sort of 'this is the most practical rule we can make at the time to keep people safe' sort of thing. Stuff like disease (i.e. most of the other rules about kosher animal prep including 'inspection',) allergies (shellfish ban), heck even pasteurization (going back to the 'boiling in milk', what are the odds that the milk hit the right temperature all throughout versus only…

I suspect the pork ban is twofold, preventing foodborne illness and also pigs can’t eat hay/grass like cows and goats, they eat what humans eat.

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#58

Post by lesuorac »

quickthrowman wrote: post #57
to11mtm wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most of the kosher rules come from a sort of 'this is the most practical rule we can make at the time to keep people safe' sort of thing. Stuff like disease (i.e. most of the other rules about kosher animal prep including 'inspection',) allergies (shellfish ban), heck even pasteurization (going back to the 'boiling in milk', what are the odds that the milk hit the right temperature all throughout versus only…

I suspect the pork ban is twofold, preventing foodborne illness and also pigs can’t eat hay/grass like cows and goats, they eat what humans eat.

Sure. I also liked the idea that some of the rules are to promote tribalism by making clear defining lines.

A much weaker form compared to missions where people go out into the real world and get insulted and retreat back to the safety of their religion.

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#59

Post by xnx »

evrydayhustling wrote: post #36

Around 2012 I was working near 5th Ave and 14th st, and there was a giant water main break. They had to dig about three stories down in a large intersection, and you could walk near the edge and look in. It was extraordinary, like something out of a sci-fi where an alien ship has been torn open and the mess of pipes and wires looks organic. It was also a funny case of lost tech / organizational memory -- I heard they…

Might've been 2014? https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?phrase=large+wate...

Re: What's Under Your Feet in New York City?

#60

Post by test12345678 »

ButlerianJihad wrote: post #50
hotstickyballs wrote: post #3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_synagogue_tunnel...

> Huebner downplayed the seriousness of the charges and said the defendants are all Israelis studying to be rabbis ... Two of the men have dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and none are married. > The 13 people, all young men, pleaded not guilty in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn ... Another four defendants were absent because they were in Israel, according to their lawyer, Levi Huebner. > Justice Adam Perlmutter ordered…

According to his LinkedIn profile:

> Over the past twenty-five years, Judge Perlmutter also has played a central role in the restoration and revitalization of Brooklyn's oldest synagogue building.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-perlmutter-64799018a

> Prior to ascending to the Supreme Court bench, Perlmutter devoted significant amounts of time to gaining a Torah perspective on legal matters, studying the Talmudic tractate of Sanhedrin and Makos with Brooklyn activist Ari Noe for a year. Perlmutter had his hand placed on an ArtScroll Chumash when he was sworn in to his newest position by New York State Chief Judge Rowan Wilson.

https://vinnews.com/2025/02/19/jewish-justice-sworn-in-at-br...

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