Haha Roosevelt Island trash system go pshew
Comment on Why is there steam coming out of the streets in New York
pwalshj@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
The tubes are there to raise minor steam leaks above street level so they don’t hinder visibility.
Another interesting underground quirk we have is our pneumatic tube mail system.
grue@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Bezier@suppo.fi 4 weeks ago
I like the term “clogged mail”
FearMeAndDecay@literature.cafe 4 weeks ago
Wait those pneumatic tube things are real?? I always thought it was like 1960s sci-fi. Like what they thought the future would be like
exasperation@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
It was the fastest way to get original physical documents from one side/floor of the building to another.
When I was a kid that was the standard way that banking drive throughs worked, too. You’d drive up to the multi-lane drive through, each station would have a pneumatic tube for handing off cash or checks or receipts between the car and the teller in the window. It pretty much ended when ATMs could start handling cash and checks.
WordBox@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Are these not the norm for bank drive thrus now?
exasperation@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
I haven’t seen a new bank branch open with a drive through in a long, long time. Most banks just have multiple ATMs in the drive through, as there’s very little you’d need a teller to do compared to what the ATMs can do now.
4am@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Now? Banks have been rocking those since forever. If anything they’re much less common now
FearMeAndDecay@literature.cafe 4 weeks ago
Oh shit you’re right. I think I vaguely remember banks having those when I was really young. I mostly remember the suckers they’d give us tho. Fuck those things are cool tho. We should bring them back
villainy@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
They’re still a thing. You can still find them at banks with drive thru tellers. My local department of motor vehicles has a drive thru for vehicle registration so you can do your inspection and registration without leaving your car. You send the registration documents back/forth via pneumatic tubes.
kobra@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
They left? All the banks still use them in the middle of the US. So do drive through pharmacies that have an extra lane.
CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Those things used to be on every single bank drive-up teller booth in the 80’s and 90’s.
sushibowl@feddit.nl 4 weeks ago
As a European, the idea of a bank having a drive-through is just absolutely wild.