Barrels on Every Roof

From above, the roofs of Manhattan share one shape: a round wooden barrel on four thin legs, with a cone on top. Polly had seen many but did not know what they were.

A raccoon carpenter worked alone on the roof, fitting wooden boards into a circle with no glue and no nails. Steel rings held it together, tightened from outside. A family business has built these since eighteen sixty-six.

The city says any tall building must have one on the roof, since water pressure cannot reach that high alone. Gravity pushes water down through the pipes when a tap opens below.

Many thousands of these tanks stand across the city. Polly watched the last ring go on tight, then flew to the next roof.