Talk:Canal Street (Manhattan)

Comment

My knowledge is inadequate to add to the existing text, but perhaps a mention should be made of the electronics surplus stores that were common along the western end of Canal St. until 1986 or so, and maybe later. They probably got their start after WW II, selling war surplus. They were a delight to electronic technical enthusiasts; to some of us, "Canal St." was a magic name. In particular, I remember Lew Kates, a particularly generous-spirited and kind proprietor; iirc, his wife was in show business. His policy on shoplifting was, "Don't. If you want something, but can't afford it, ask me." Nikevich (talk) 00:25, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

A sentence in "History" section

One of the sentences of the "History" section previously read:

By 1900, the Fresh Water Pond, also known as Collect Pond, one of New York City's only natural sources of fresh water, had become completely polluted with sewage and run-off from the tanneries, breweries and other workshops and factories around it.

There are a lot of commas in the first half of the sentence:

By 1900, the Fresh Water Pond, also known as Collect Pond, one of New York City's only natural sources of fresh water, ...

This could be changed to use dashes:

By 1900, the Fresh Water Pond—also known as Collect Pond—one ...

Or parentheses:

By 1900, the Fresh Water Pond (also known as Collect Pond), one ...

Since the two names refer to the same pond, I think they ought to be connected by something other than a comma. I counted four commas in the first half of the sentence alone, so I think it can be changed a little to avoid triteness. Epic Genius (talk) 00:14, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Parenthetical phrases are asides, and are therefore unencyclopedic and should be avoided. You could use ndashes instead. BMK (talk) 00:24, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

All right, endashes they are. Epic Genius (talk) 00:34, 8 August 2015 (UTC)