Tank You Very Much

A question on my tour, “the purpose of the cisterns atop so many buildings?” 

My response, “Water does not naturally run up.” They are meant to equalize the water pressure for building six floors or more so that one can flush ones toilet. This is just one of their purposes.  

Peppered along the skyline throughout The City, these rustic water tanks or cisterns seem a thing of the past but this is not the case. Started by a barrel maker in the 1800s, as building were getting taller, they continue to be manufactured today. 

Built like a barrel, the wood is a natural insulator and fitted together in a tongue and grove fashion so that no nails are used to puncture the shell. Instead, metal tape or cables wraps the exterior, tightly wound at the bottom to top creating a compression system. Water fills the wooden structure making the wood panels swell naturally becoming watertight. 

To me, I find them to be an urban, romantic element of the place I call home and sometimes, when something is technologically sound, change is not necessary. As they say, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” If it leaks, time for a new one. 

Two companies continue to manufacture and maintain over 10,000 to 15,000 tanks throughout the city, Rosenwach Tanks and Isseks Brothers. 

The Name

When starting a business, the name is very important. It is the first clue into understanding the reality of the business. I expected to use my name because it is the most common acknowledgement with every group. I planned to call this business, “Sean Sellers Tours.”
Within this world wide with the web, in 2003 I Googled my name. I shared what I discovered with a friend and my friend said, “use your middle initial.”
First of all, no one knows my middle name and therefore, just putting a ‘W’ in the middle dose not help when searching the world wide web in order to find me.
When I Googled my name, I found a Satin worshiper from Colorado, who robbed a convenience store, and killed his parents.
I am from Alabama and for five Google pages I found that Sean R. Sellers, a fugitive in 1984, was one of the individuals to be ‘wanted’ on the first episode of the nationally syndicated TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”
This guy is a celebrity on the internet.
Trying to make sure that I am conducting business as an upstanding member of the community, I had to come up with the name.
No, I did not change my name, I brainstormed.
New York City in 2003, this city was overwhelmed. The Subway system was transitioning from the ‘coin,’ token to this thing called the MetroCard.
We were not accepting the change.
Riding the Subway, we always needed one token to get through the turnstile so we could get anywhere in town. All it ever took at that time was one token and you could experience everything this city had to offer.
I continued to brainstorm and New York City was in transition. Change is difficult. We were fighting this whole reality that a card will replace heavy pockets full of coins, tokens, that can only be used to enter the Subway.
Really, a card? I was buying tokens like a dime bag on the streets.
It happened, the MTA changed all of the turnstiles so that no longer do we insert one token to get anywhere in New York, we swipe a card. No longer could we fight it, this MetroCard becomes the standard. I don’t want the history to be lost so I named this company, “One Token Tours.”

We make NYC as easy as the Subway system, A, B, C and 1, 2, 3.