Cast Iron Streetlight Archives
 This one belongs in the "Found Right Under
My Nose" club. This classic antiquity is stationed in front
of an Emigrant Savings Bank branch on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica
Queens, between 168th and 169th Streets. My suspicions are that
it is a relative of a group of similar poles that used to surround
the old Ridgewood Savings Bank Building located at the corner
of Queens Boulevard and 108th Street in Forest Hills. My further
suspicions, based on the first, are that the Emigrant branch
here used to be a Ridgewood.Obviously, it is not in the greatest of health. It doesn't look to be in much of a good mood, and given that, its sign would seem to match its temperment. A No Parking sign can certainly get its message across with less abrasive methods. |
 How many more of these might be left in New York City, I wouldn't know. very likely, this one's the last. Not visible in these views, its base plate is missing and the lower part of the main stem is held together with some jerry rigged screws. It's amazing that this specimen managed to see the age of ATM machines, let alone a new millenium. |
 |
 Many older buildings of communal importance tended
to have clocks. The front facing clock above the Emigrant Bank
was pretty close to being on time; it was circa 5:30PM when I
shot these. The east facing clock, however, is lagging behind
somewhere in the Pacific Time Zone. Such colonial style bank
buildings probably hail from the late 1930's or 1940's. It was
probably in keeping with the Dutch colonial houses that permeated
the Jamaica Estates area. Such colonial style buildings often
sport cupola towers, although cheaper constructions, like gas
stations, usually house a green lamphouse rather than clocks.
The cupolas in colonial style schools, like nearby Jamaica High,
tend to serve as bell towers. A common feature of all is usually
a weathervane. |