Builders Unearth a Mystery in Times Square

Midtown Manhattan has been overhauled so thoroughly in the last two decades that any structure not made of glass and steel looks old. In that realm, the tightly packed pile of stones that appeared at the base of 11 Times Square last week looked positively ancient.

Its sudden unveiling caused passers-by and neighbors to wonder how old it was and what purpose it had served.

Was it a furnace? A fireplace? A coal vault?

Time to call in an expert. Breaking away from holiday shopping, Joan H. Geismar rushes to the scene, as only a dedicated urban archaeologist would.

Upon hearing a rough description of this remnant, Dr. Geismar, president of the Professional Archaeologists of New York City, had guessed it was a vault that held coal to heat a long-gone building. But upon further review, Dr. Geismar was less certain.

“This isn’t typical,” she said, after leaning over the edge of the street to inspect the stones.

Normally, a coal vault would be made of bricks and open at the top. But this wall of stacked stone had a rectangular opening at the bottom that made it resemble a fireplace. She speculated that it could have been the foundation of a structure built in the 19th century and that the opening had been cut in more modern times to accommodate utility lines.