Robin Nagle is the NY Dept. of Sanitation’s anthropologist-in-residence and in this interview reminds us that New York used to be truly disgusting.
Going back 100, 150 years, American cities were disgusting — and New York City was notorious as the filthiest and stinkiest. We were a laughingstock. The rumor goes that sailors could smell the city six miles out to sea.
[via kottke]