Bob Mulero, NYC’s King of Lampposts, tipped me off to one of the coolest things on toast I’ve seen in the NYC area recently. It’s this freestanding fire alarm, with a bright red indicator light, in New Hyde Park just over the Nassau County line from Queens. The town still maintains them, they still work and the lamp lights up at night. They’re still repainted every now and then in red, white and black. There are only a couple of them in town, because most fire alarms in New Hyde Park are mounted on telephone poles with no accompanying indicator lamp. However, on this block, at Peter and Michael Lanes, there are also freestanding lampposts as the telephone and electric wires are in underground conduits.
I’m not a stranger to New Hyde Park’s ancient anomalies, having done an item on some of the town’s old street signs. I’m also aware that neighboring Floral Park features some street lighting going back to the 1960s, with old mercury vapor lamps, along Jericho Turnpike. But this is a real jackpot.
The alarms closely resemble those frequently used in Boston. I’m using Street View here and didn’t see the manufacturer but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the same. The New Hyde Park and Boston alarms also share a color scheme. New York City also used to mount indicator lamps on its fire alarms, but all but one or two have disappeared and the lamp works on neither one.
One never knows what one will find, prowling around.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
12/21/20