All along East Drive in Central Park, the Department of Transportation has installed light emitting diode, or LED, luminaires.
I read that the plan calls for LEDs, which shine a bright white light, to be installed on every NYC lamppost over the next few years (despite the fact that the city replaced all NYC lamppost luminaires in 2009, five years ago as of this writing). LEDs are supposed to emit a greater coverage of light at lesser cost. How landmarked bishop crooks will be handled remains to be seen, though there are some experimental models on Skillman Avenue in Woodside, Queens.
I haven’t seen them in action at night yet (I rarely rove around at night since my camera is limited then) so I can’t vouch for the quality of light as opposed to the bright yellow sodium lamps in use since 1968, when they began to dominate NYC streets (it took till 2009 to scour out all the remaining greenish-white mercury lights that took over from incandescent bulbs in 1960.
Esthetically speaking, the lack of a reflector bowl makes these the least anthropomorphic (having the least “personality”) of any NYC luminaire in use to date. I also don’t see how the lack of a reflector bowl provides more coverage, though I’ll have to see them at night before making a final judgment.
3/7/14