If Youre In Brooklyn/Manhattan You Might Have Bottles In Your Yard!

Nydigger1

Greenie
Aug 2, 2014
18
17
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All Treasure Hunting
If You're In Brooklyn/Manhattan You Might Have Bottles In Your Yard!

Im mike (chinchillaman1 on youtube) Im a bottle digger / collector.

I made this post to inform those living in or around the 5 boroughs of new york that you may potentially have a bunch of bottles buried in your yard! In the 5 boroughs, any dwelling that dates back to the 1870s or older will have a privy in the backyard. Back in the day there was no sewage / sanitation system, so everyone threw their bottles out in the privy. Although you might not see it in your yard, the actual privy hole is buried right under your feet.

Staten Island: privies can be found all over the island if the house dates back to the 1870s or older (port richmond is the oldest neighborhood though!)

Queens: privies can be found all over the borough if the house dates back to the 1870s or older (long island city is the oldest neighborhood though!)

Brooklyn: typically northern brooklyn neighborhoods have privies (this is true for 90% of houses / brownstones in those neighborhoods): Greenpoint / Williamsburg / East Williamsburg / Bushwick / Bedford - Stuyvesant / Crown Heights / Clinton Hill / Prospect Heights / Park Slope / Fort Greene / Vinegar Hill / Downtown Brooklyn / Brooklyn Heights / Boerum Hill / Cobble Hill / Carroll Gardens / Red Hook / Gowanus

Manhattan: Almost anywhere in the borough (in Manhattan, depending on the dwelling, the privy could have been in the basement if there was no yard)

Bronx: Almost anywhere in the borough

Now the purpose of me posting this is that I dig these privies and that if you own a home in one of the above mentioned areas and need help locating / digging it out, im your guy! Just send me a message! (Also just as a side note, after the dig your yard will be restored to prior condition!) Here are some pictures from previous digs:

Park Slope Brooklyn:
6016806_orig.jpg


Fort Greene Brooklyn:
984145_10201377002627569_7362961226757425007_n.jpg

10523979_10201374378641971_6144815567804786850_n.jpg

10500327_10201374377921953_2652853515492302891_n.jpg


Looking forward to hearing from you!
 

RelicDude

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Apr 20, 2012
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Welcome to the t net basement. It must be awesome to dig in the city. I don't think your going to find anywhere to dig here though. We are all pretty much diggers and relic hunters and keep our sites on the down low. I'm not trying be an ass. But I look forward to seeing your finds.

Sent from my iPod touch using TreasureNet
 

bottlehunterofcoscob

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Hey I've seen you online. I commute into Manhattan and I think about this all the time. The city is a gold mine. Talking about privies in the basement, I was walking by an old synagogue they were doing construction on and they had excavated a bunch of dirt from the basement and put it in a dumpster. I just peeked around the dumpster and found a bitters type top and a flask top that are probably from 1880-1890. Just made me think.
 

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Nydigger1

Greenie
Aug 2, 2014
18
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RelicDude I hear you, but privies are a one and done type of deal. Once you dig it out (the dig typically takes 1-2 days) you are done. And most privies in my area go 15 feet deep and you usually find bottles at the last 5 feet to the bottom. Most people dont have the equipment (pullies, tripods, etc) to get the job done so that why im offering my services.

DUMPS however, I do understand that they need to be kept on the DL. But privies, I have all of the old maps and know exactly which houses have one and dont. The thing is to get permission from the homeowner. Thats why I posted this here. Maybe some members live in those areas and would like to get to their buried treasure so to speak.
 

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Nydigger1

Greenie
Aug 2, 2014
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Welcome to the t net basement. It must be awesome to dig in the city. I don't think your going to find anywhere to dig here though. We are all pretty much diggers and relic hunters and keep our sites on the down low. I'm not trying be an ass. But I look forward to seeing your finds.

Sent from my iPod touch using TreasureNet

Thats cool! If I were you (and ive done this before) is to go back to the dumpster at night or after hours with a small shovel / rake and dig around. About 1/3rd of manhattan is built on bottle landfill and the site might very well be tapping into that layer.
 

RelicDude

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It's all good. I can just imagine what you could find in the city. Up here in the sticks of ct it's rural and finding privies can be difficult and if you do find one there usually shallow due to shallow bed rock and have nothing but bones and ash in them. So I mostly I dig dumps. How long does it take to dig out a 15 foot deep privy?

Sent from my iPod touch using TreasureNet
 

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Nydigger1

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Aug 2, 2014
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First you got to probe the yard to find it. If youre lucky that will take under half an hour. The actual dig could take anywhere from between 1-3 days. It depends on the people you dig with. With some older diggers it takes 3, with younger diggers it can be done in a day or two.
 

bottlehunterofcoscob

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Thats cool! If I were you (and ive done this before) is to go back to the dumpster at night or after hours with a small shovel / rake and dig around. About 1/3rd of manhattan is built on bottle landfill and the site might very well be tapping into that layer.

Unfortunately it happened a while ago and I couldn't go back. I did know one of the head honchos of the job and told him to save any whole ones if he found any, but I never heard from him.
 

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Nydigger1

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Aug 2, 2014
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Unfortunately it happened a while ago and I couldn't go back. I did know one of the head honchos of the job and told him to save any whole ones if he found any, but I never heard from him.

Yea that happens most of the time sadly =/
 

sunrunner

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Feb 22, 2012
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there's hundreds of dumps and privy's in the five boroughs may be in the thou sons.and n.j ? forget about it.
 

el padron

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Fawget abooooooooooooout it..........
 

jgas

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Whew, I'm glad we only have 6 to 10 foot privies here. I was in a 12 footer once.....ONCE....Thats a bit freaky in sugar sand. A brick liner and I would go to China! jgas
 

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Nydigger1

Greenie
Aug 2, 2014
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Whew, I'm glad we only have 6 to 10 foot privies here. I was in a 12 footer once.....ONCE....Thats a bit freaky in sugar sand. A brick liner and I would go to China! jgas

I dig a 35 foot privy in philly in about 8 hours with nothing in it sadly....
 

MuckyBottles

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Im mike (chinchillaman1 on youtube) Im a bottle digger / collector.

I made this post to inform those living in or around the 5 boroughs of new york that you may potentially have a bunch of bottles buried in your yard! In the 5 boroughs, any dwelling that dates back to the 1870s or older will have a privy in the backyard. Back in the day there was no sewage / sanitation system, so everyone threw their bottles out in the privy. Although you might not see it in your yard, the actual privy hole is buried right under your feet.

Staten Island: privies can be found all over the island if the house dates back to the 1870s or older (port richmond is the oldest neighborhood though!)

Queens: privies can be found all over the borough if the house dates back to the 1870s or older (long island city is the oldest neighborhood though!)

Brooklyn: typically northern brooklyn neighborhoods have privies (this is true for 90% of houses / brownstones in those neighborhoods): Greenpoint / Williamsburg / East Williamsburg / Bushwick / Bedford - Stuyvesant / Crown Heights / Clinton Hill / Prospect Heights / Park Slope / Fort Greene / Vinegar Hill / Downtown Brooklyn / Brooklyn Heights / Boerum Hill / Cobble Hill / Carroll Gardens / Red Hook / Gowanus

Manhattan: Almost anywhere in the borough (in Manhattan, depending on the dwelling, the privy could have been in the basement if there was no yard)

Bronx: Almost anywhere in the borough

Now the purpose of me posting this is that I dig these privies and that if you own a home in one of the above mentioned areas and need help locating / digging it out, im your guy! Just send me a message! (Also just as a side note, after the dig your yard will be restored to prior condition!) Here are some pictures from previous digs:

Park Slope Brooklyn:
6016806_orig.jpg


Fort Greene Brooklyn:
984145_10201377002627569_7362961226757425007_n.jpg

10523979_10201374378641971_6144815567804786850_n.jpg

10500327_10201374377921953_2652853515492302891_n.jpg


Looking forward to hearing from you!

Nice finds
 

MuckyBottles

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Jun 19, 2013
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Stony Point, NY
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Privi digging works depending on your location, in cities absolutely, however in the sticks its much easier finding dumps, in fact you have to be completely blind not to find one. Me personally have found my best bottles in the hudson river muck, preferably on low tide, especially on full moon low tide, something about the river and the sealing power of the mud that preserves the bottles extremely well, the only downside is that you get dirty than dirt and smell like roadkill..
 

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