Spotted this piece of construction equipment in an empty grass lot next to my hotel. If I’ve ever seen one of these in New York I haven’t been paying enough attention. And I can’t figure out exactly what it’s for:

If you look close, you can see that there are two seats facing each other, perpendicular to the steering wheel. I examined the seats a bit closer, but it didn’t seem as if they swivel, and the wheel is way too low to the floor for someone to stand and drive. So it sure seems like whoever’s driving this thing is looking sideways. Also, it may require two people to drive it, and those two people would have to be sitting directly across from each other and uncomfortably close.

It appears to be some sort of ground zamboni, as I’m pretty sure the right-most roller thing in this picture had hoses behind it — as if it spits out water. Is it for smoothing pavement? If anyone has more knowledge of heavy machinery, feel free to chime in.

The keys, unfortunately, were not in the ignition. Otherwise, this thing clearly would have been joyrode.