Brooklyn Sewage Treatment Plant To Hold Valentine's Day Tours Again
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- If you're sick and tired of sweet-smelling flowers and sappy imagery at Valentine's Day, the city Department of Environmental Protection Agency is bringing back a special tour by popular demand with some odors that aren't so romantic.
The department plans once again to offer Valentine's Day tours at the Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The department said it plans to offer three tours this year due to "overwhelming demand."
The tours scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday were quickly filled. So another was added at 11 a.m.
Last year, tour host and superintendent Jim Pynn said the tour would make for a unique date.
"I think couples are going to make it a destination. How many people can say they spent their Valentine's Day at a wastewater treatment plant?," Pynn told 1010 WINS last year. "I just think that some folks are going to use it like their bucket list."
The highlight of the tour is the Greenpoint Avenue plant's giant egg-shaped digesters which break down the noxious waste into harmless sludge and gas.
The digester eggs are 130 feet tall and offer great views of the city from the top.
"They're an iconic piece of functional architecture that's part of the plant," Pynn said last year. "I get pretty rave reviews of the view of Manhattan and of course the view of the facility."
During last year's tour, the plant's gung-ho superintendent warned the visitors that a digester egg was about to emit a foul odor. It didn't disappoint.
Though the plant holds monthly tours, each Valentine's Day visitor for the Valentine's Day tour last year was given a special treat – a Hershey's kiss.
Will you be visiting the Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant this Valentine's Day? Leave your comments below...
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