A policeman and a scholar. (Pardon the overly gushing tone of this link; it's the only writing of substance I can find about the man.)

Yes, those are crocodile teeth. Check out the whole mural.

Judging by the number of lookers and pickers today, I'd have to guess their approval rating would poll upwards of 90%.

Sort of!

Outlawed by the state in 1975, an exception for their use in NYC was granted after a 1990 lawsuit. Starting in 1992, and continuing for the next 16 years, the city repeatedly tried and failed to move beyond the testing phase of various toilet proposals. By 1994, after a mere two years, the NY Times was already fed up:

"The city's frustrated attempts to meet the basic human need for a safe, clean place to go to the bathroom exemplify how cumbersome governmental processes, flawed planning and a cacophony of competing interest groups can delay the achievement of a common-sense goal."

Finally, in 2008, it was all figured out. The first post-1975 permanent pay toilet was installed in Madison Square Park to much fanfare, with the promise that 19 more would soon be in place around the five boroughs. (Here's a review of that toilet, for those curious about the workings of an automated commode.)

However, by late 2010, there had only been one additional toilet installed (in Corona Plaza, Queens). But after more than a year of wrangling, work was finally underway on a third location, here at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.

So now it's 2012, and we have a grand total of three pay toilets to show for two decades of bureaucratic maneuverings. (I assume there are still only three: the city's own website lists just the first two.)

Finally, it should be noted that these machines consume a monstrous 14 gallons of water per use! Perhaps it's for the best that they remain so few and far between.

As depicted on a construction wall mural. You can see a SkyWatch tower in this mural (three in three days!). You can even see the construction wall in this mural. In fact, you can see this mural in this mural! (It's the one all the way to the right, next to the dog-and-cat panel.) The artist cut off the right side of the mural-within-the-mural, however, eliminating the need to paint an infinite regress. Check it all out on Street View.

UPDATE: This mural is even cooler than I thought!

from the soaring foot of Grand Master John Dinkins.

Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Historic District

More Victorian Flatbush

They just popped up today, and they're everywhere!

If I had lived here as a child, I might have had a chance at refuting my mother's seemingly unassailable mealtime scolding:

Mabel, Mabel, strong and able
Get your elbows off the table
This is not a horses' stable
But a well-bred dining table

Located here on Waldorf Court and a block south on Wellington Court, these unusual traffic calming medians are rather unobtrusive.