65th STREET TRANSVERSE ROAD Type 8S

by Kevin Walsh

And then there was one.

The 65th Street Transverse Road through Central Park used to feature a few Type 8S “Curved mast” poles, complete with their original 1950s-era Westinghouse “cuplights.”

 

Now we’re down to just one, and it has lost its glass reflector bowl, leaving a naked light bulb. I haven’t been over there at night to see if it does, so if anyone drives through at night, let me know. It sticks out amid the thicket of new GE M400s that were recently placed on the other lamps. It supports a pair of spotlights illuminating a pedestrian path.

The Central Park Transverse Roads have been there since the park opened in 1859 and were originally used for horsecarts and wagons. Now, pedal to the metal auto traffic runs through all day.

4/10/13

2 comments

rodney October 14, 2013 - 2:45 pm

This light does not work and it is still there!! You can see it if you are on 5th Av heading towards 57th St. The red electric tape on the pole means that the fixture does not work and will be replaced sometime in the future.

Reply
Adam April 28, 2018 - 7:58 pm

If I’m not mistaken up until the early 2000s, the transverse roads, some of them had the low pressure sodium vapor lights.
A damn shame they took them off.

Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.