What are likely New York’s most minimalist lampposts can be found surrounding the 1977 slant-roofed Citigroup Center, on Lexington and 3rd Avenues and East 53rd and 54th Street. Some are simple unadorned posts with two square luminaires at the top, while on corners, what is a cross-shaped post viewed from above it holds stoplights and pedestrian signals unlike the other familiar ones produced by Marbleite on regulation NYC posts.
4/9/14
4 comments
The Citigroup signals remind me of some signals I have seen from Spain and Paris.
I used to work at Citibank in the 1980s, just after the Citicorp Center went up. The joke was the slanted roof represented what then-CEO Walter Wriston meant by a “level playing field” in the banking industry.
I like the minimalist look a lot. For some reason I recall metal stanchions about that tall, or maybe about 8-10 feet tall around the Rockefeller Center area, acting as both map and signpost, pointing direction to the 47-50th subway entrances. They were encased in metal. I think when they were installed, possibly late 70’s, the station served the K train and the Airport line as well. Do you recall these?
I remember there was an attempt to radically redesign street lights in the 70’s. Several combination designs were put forward and the corner lights around the Citigroup Building were one variant. Another variant is still on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn if I remember correctly. None of them caught on here or elsewhere much.