Photo Gallery: Fixtures
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Say bye-bye. As the horrendous year
2001 steams towards its thankful and good riddance end, it will
pretty much take with it 2 more victims, albeit only sentimental
nostalgic ones. The classic literal, analog, incandescent bulb
WALK/DONT WALK safety signals are fast being relegated to the
status of myth and legend, as the NYC DOT continues its merciless
replacement of them with brighter, more economical, digitized
Hand/Stick Figure signals. As of this writing, the digitals have
dispersed the analogs from virtually the entire borough of Queens,
showing just how fast some government agencies can move when
they really want to. Just 6 months prior to October, the digitals
didn't exist here. True, there are many, and I'm not immune to
being among them, who think the new signals are a surrender to
those who either can't, or don't want, to learn English, but
in reality, these analogs were impossible to read in glaring
sunlight, or when one or more bulbs blew out behind their protective
grids. These grids, adopted to minimize vandalism, were also
impediments to making them clear. Still, you wouldn't think it
would be such a chore for even tourists to learn two simple words
like DONT and WALK to be able to safely navigate our streets.
One curious facet of NYC's walk signals has been the way one of each pair usually shades the other. When they first began pairing these signals in the mid 1960's, they were both positioned away from each other. In the late 1960's, they began to position them this way. I assume it was to minimize the effects of sun glare on the ones facing most into the mid-day sun. The older generation, long gone from NYC corners, had visors surrounding them. Shot October 13th, 2001. |
