The Real Reason Behind the Famous Townhouse Stoops in New York City

Realtor Steven Cohen stood on a gorgeous New York City stoop to talk about the history behind these wonderful architectural features that are found in front of homes within the five boroughs. While originating with 18th century Dutch settlers to keep out floods, before cars and subways, the famous stoops of New York City were actually employed to keep the enormous piles of daily horse manure on the streets far above and away from the home’s interior.

Did you know that New York City townhouse stoops exist for a very unglamorous reason. …Dutch settlers originally built stoops to protect from floods, which were very common in the Netherlands. In New York City, however, the stoops protected owners from an entirely different problem, horse manure.