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Paraphrasing the old Donovan hit...first there is a lamppost, then there is no lamppost, then there is...
 Early 1998, now you see it... |
 Late 1998...now you don't... |
It wasn't that long ago that we mourned the loss of this original Queensboro Bridge light stanchion, at the eastbound entrance at 2nd Avenue and 59th Street. Looks like the egg's on our faces and the yolk's on us, because the ever-unpredictable Department of Transportation has restored and replaced the lamp in all its verdigris-ed glory! |
Mid-2001...it's ba-a-a-ack. |
As it turns out, the renovations done in the 40s or 50s to this light stanchion were a hasty, slapdash job, as the masts were actually turned upside down and incandescent 'cuplights' were grafted incongruously on. This restoration, it must be assumed, adheres more closely to the original 1907 Gustav Lindenthal/Henry Hornbostel design, with 4 opaque globular lamps surrounding one mounted on the central shaft. However, one mystery remains...the post used to have a partner on the north side of the Queensboro which has been missing since he mid-1970s. No one seems to know what became of it. Given the city's fervor for tearing down and replacing old fixtures prior to the mid-1980s, it seems safe to say that post was made into scrap metal 25 years ago at least. |
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An interesting feature of the Queensboro pole is that on its four-sided
base, you can see four of the five NYC boroughs. We'll give you a wild guess
which one they left off! |
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Celebrating its 93rd birthday... the pole is older than most New Yorkers. Not the oldest lamppoost in the city (a couple of gaslight posts as well as a couple of 5th Avenue stanchions are older) but quite close. It should serve Queens-bound bridge crossers for another 93...we can hope. Sources: The Bridges of New York, Sharon Reier, 1977; reprinted 2000 Dover
Books A Historic Lamp is Lost: Fingers Are Pointed Everywhere, E.E. Lippincott, NYTimes, July 8, 2001 HOME| LAMPS | SUBWAYS & TRAINS | ADS | TROLLEYS | SIGNS | COBBLESTONES | STREET SCENES | YOU'D NEVER BELIEVE YOU'RE IN NYC | LINKS | ALLEYS | NECROLOGY | CEMETERIES | FORGOTTENSTUFF E me at erpietri@earthlink.net or kevin@forgotten-ny.com. ©2001 Midnight Fish |
