Bronzed 5th Avenue Donald Deskey Light Pole 40th Street

Bronzed 5th Avenue Donald Deskey Light Pole 40th Street Image 0Here's an example of the 1965 bronze anodized edition Donald Deskey light pole made specially for 5th Avenue. It features two horn curved mast arms connected to a special quad bracket, which also holds the downward curved traffic light mast.
On this day in 1982, the Republic Bank office tower was about to be constructed in the gap between the two buildings across the avenue from the pole. On that western corner stands a regular run of the mill Deskey pole with only one standard Deskey mast arm. Originally, whenever one of the bronzed poles would fall, the city would replace it with a standard Deskey, albeit turned sideways, allowing similar twin curved mast arms to extend over the road, fitted directly into the pole's fluted sides instead of the bronze edition bracket. By the time this standard issue Deskey came along, the city must have been in even greater financial straits, and no longer tried keeping up the illusion that 5th Avenue ought to look like something special.