5th Avenue 1920-30's Twin Lamps
Cast Iron Lamppost Archives

32 stTaken in the early 80's, at the corner of 5th Avenue and 32nd Street, this 2nd generation twin-lamper sported a strange-bedfellows combination of lights. The very asymetrical pair are a 1940-50's cuplight and a depression era Mission Bell. One of the pole's signs points towards a fallout shelter, just in case of an attack by aliens. Perhaps the patriotism of this staunch streetlighting stalwart protected it from being dispatched, as so many of it's castiron compadres were, in the mid 60's mercury vapor invasion.
The walk signs with the sun visors were phased out in the late 80's, when NYC adopted as standard citywide, visorless signals with black grids in front of them to block the sun glare.
28th stLastly, for anyone who was wondering, no! Ernest Hemingway did not return, reincarnated as a delivery truck.
Another rare surviving (as of 1982) 2nd generation 5th Avenue twin-lamper, at the corner of 28th Street, sported 2 Cuplights, one of which is missing it's cup. The small, oval light hanging onto the pole marks the presence of a fire alarm box, somewhere on that corner.
To my knowledge, both these poles still survive into 1998, but I've not been to that part of 5th Avenue in years. I'm also ignorant of the present status of the luminaires they're sporting.

© 1997-2018, Jeff Saltzman.