A frequently seen accessory on NYC lampposts in the Fab 50s and on into the Swinging 60s were large, bulky air raid sirens during the height of the Cold War with the Soviets, such as this one seen at Wall and Broad and Nassau Streets, in a different era when traffic was permitted on America’s Main Street of Capitalism. We had one at the 68th Precinct NYPD station at 5th Avenue and 86th Street in Bay Ridge (since moved to 65th Street) and you could hear it sitting in class at St. Anselm School blocks away.
ForgottenFan Wayne Whitehorne:
H.O.R. siren, 5 horsepower model. The very last one was removed in 2006 from the roof of the Sutter Avenue “L” station in Brooklyn, and has been preserved by the Transit Museum. These existed in at least five styles – 2HP (round top), 3HP (three-vane), 5HP (two vane, narrow base), 10HP (two vane, wide base), and “Sirex” (25HP rotating rooftop model). You had to HEAR the Sirex to believe how loud it actually was.
They sounded something like this…
Photo: Long Island and NYC Places that are no more Facebook group
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10/25/17