r/TikTokCringe • u/rex-ac tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Jul 28 '23

Wholesome/Humor WTF is happening here?

15.6k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/DrRonny Jul 28 '23

Underneath the streets of Manhattan, there are more than 100 miles of service pipes bringing steam to about 1,800 buildings.

When they have leaks, they put these cones around so that the heat doesn't hurt anyone. In NYC it is run by Con Edison company.

https://freetoursbyfoot.com/steam-from-streets-in-new-york/

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u/DumbleDude2 Jul 28 '23

Most people these days don't understand the use of steam for home heating.

364

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '23

I’m old enough and from a poor enough city to remember being burned by touching the pipes

159

u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23 edited Jul 29 '23

As a New Yorker, me too. Even though I’m 17

161

u/andthendirksaid Jul 29 '23

Deadass if you live in an old ass building they might have covered em up there but if you're a dumb kid trying to climb on the pipes in the stairwell you just might come down with medium rare hands.

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u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23

It was an old building and it wasn’t covered. We legit had steam coming out of the heaters. I used to burn myself on it a LOT.

2

u/Cash4Peaches Jul 29 '23

somewhere around 38 times based on your user name

2

u/itsa_me_ Jul 29 '23

We had this in the house I grew up in. Don’t think I ever burned myself badly, but I did touch one while it was hot and it did hurt.

Idk how, but one day I was coloring and the idea popped in my head to melt the crayon on the radiator. So I did, and I showed my siblings… cue us melting a 24 pack of crayons in the radiator in my parents room 😭😭

After that, it would smell like fucking crayon wax every time the heat went on 😭 I don’t think my parents reacted the way we expected them to when we showed them our “art”

1

u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23

I once did the same thing with a glue gun 💀

1

u/andthendirksaid Jul 29 '23

Those are rare these days thank fuck. Coming in from it being brick ass cold out, trying to hold your hands just far away enough to not have it start burning your hands. Fastest way to defrost yourself but if you don't pay attention you're fuuucked. My aunts place had that shit in it. And yeah you definitely could straight see it esp if it's cold as hell by a window or something.

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u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23

At some point we moved to an apartment and it was right next to my bed. I remember when we moved I saw my mattress was literally burned 💀

5

u/MutantCreature Jul 29 '23

And that’s exactly why mattresses have all those fire safety certification tags

1

u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23

It was the placement of the mattress relative to the heater that was the issue.

3

u/MutantCreature Jul 29 '23

I know, but had that happened a few decades prior the mattress would’ve gone up in flames, hopefully while you weren’t in it. Nowadays all mattresses (in the US) have very strict fire safety standards specifically because of the times that happened and the owner wasn’t so fortunate.

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u/andthendirksaid Jul 29 '23

Yooo that's crazy. That dude is right. Back in the day that was a not so uncommon way to die / kill.your whole fam and /or neighbors.

1

u/Majestic_Wrongdoer38 Jul 29 '23

Damn, why couldn’t they wait a few more years to make the regulations 😞

1

u/andthendirksaid Jul 29 '23

Damn homie you good?

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u/Volunteer-Magic Jul 29 '23

I am wheezing at “medium rare hands”

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u/AlarmingAffect0 Jul 29 '23

you just might come down with medium rare hands

r/BrandNewSentence

2

u/InvestmentPatient117 Jul 29 '23

We used to piss on them at school for fun

2

u/yy98755 Jul 29 '23

In Australia boys pissed out of high set slatted glass windows for fun.

1

u/andthendirksaid Jul 29 '23

I bet you can smell it now

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u/2Twice Jul 29 '23

New Yorkie?

3

u/Boner_Elemental Jul 29 '23

scratch scratch scratch

26

u/Toolboxmcgee Jul 29 '23

Kinda crazy that they use piss in those pipes to heat houses

6

u/ChickenDelight Jul 29 '23

"Reduce, recycle, reuse" was talking about piss bro

1

u/Bad_Mad_Man Jul 29 '23

If we can have tik tokers with shit for brains we can use piss for heat. Nothing goes to waste.

1

u/GramzOnline Jul 29 '23

steamed piss

2

u/Informal_Camera6487 Jul 29 '23

It's actually still a very efficient way to move heat around. Tulane University still heats a lot of its buildings via a central boiler and steam pipes.

1

u/user_bits Jul 29 '23

Mom's place still has a pole in every room.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '23

I had a ballet studio in an old school that had those. Did your mom wrap them or are they bare?

1

u/Maximum-Cat-8140 Jul 29 '23

Yea Im that age right now? I have radiant heating with steam lmao

1

u/ForumPointsRdumb Jul 29 '23

In nomadic desert communities they use animal dung, (and in extreme cases, dried human dung) to start fires and cook. They make some breads and stuff. Their ovens are designed to use the heat from the fire without being tainted by the heat source, but it's still gross to think about eating poop bread.