As if the DETEX WATCHCLOCK STATION sighting of a couple of weeks ago was not intriguing enough I happened to spot a row of these little hatches, identified as a product of the now-defunct Watertite Drain and Scupper Company:
Watertite Drain and Scupper Company
I spotted three in a row of these little openings in the side of a Long Island City building. At first I thought these were fresh examples of Detex Watchclock Station check-in points, such as the one I found a couple of weeks earlier. There is certainly a resemblance.
Virtually identical at a glance these Watertite/Scupper openings served a completely different purpose from the watchclock stations, which were used by security guards to prove they had made their rounds in patrolling their assigned premises. These scupper passageways seem to have been used for water drainage. A “scupper“, I now know, is defined as “an opening in the wall of a building through which water can drain from a floor or flat roof”.
The face of first scupper (shown above) was painted over so heavily it was almost impossible to read. The second Watertite Drain and Scupper Company lid one was the only of the three that I could open. Behind its ancient façade opened this rectangular passageway:
Watertite Drain & Scupper Company
With my wits about me I might have thought to leave my calling card here, as I did at the Detex station. Who is to say what connections could be forged should a fellow NYC Flâneur find these Watertite/Scupper hatches intriguing enough that they would open the lid to see what awaited inside.
This tiny Watertite doorway is on my way to nothing. I will pay it another visit, for to leave my mark and help further the securement of my legacy for all times. Haha.
This could make a fabulous spot for a geocache, I think, if it is not too damn small. It is also on private property, which could make geocaching a no-no.
The last of the three Watertite objects I spotted was the most readable. This one, which appears to end with the numbers “1813” or “1913”, looks like it might have once displayed a telephone number in the old telephone exchange name format. But it is too hoary and painted-over to tell.
Watertite Drain & Scupper Company
