In September 2021 I was making my unsteady and furtive way down 34th Avenue from Woodside to Jackson Heights when I spotted this extra-large 69th Street sign. Hard to see it but there’s another one for 34th Avenue next to it. These “economy size’ green and whites are pretty rare in New York City. I have only seen them one other place, actually: in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where they appear on Kings Highway. I love ’em.
Theories abound, at least in my brain, why the Department of Transportation whipped up these “economy specials.” I think that on Kings Highway, traffic is so pedal to the metal that larger signs may be needed for motorists pounding up the thoroughfare at 50 MPH may miss them and hence, miss a turn. Legal speeds have been drastically reduced in recent years of course. However, other city speedways such as Queens Boulevard never received them.
Another reason for their relative paucity is that the city began installing street signs on longarmed stoplight mastarms in the early 2000s. However the city is hardly equitable in the practice; some very busy intersections don’t have them, while less traveled crossroads do. I recall back then street sign purists (yes, they exist) were decrying the new signs, saying it’s a Los Angeles thing and doesn’t belong in NYC.
I’m not a purist about anything. Now excuse me. I need to squirt some lemon juice on my pasta with meat sauce, and add a dab of ketchup to my boiled spinach. After I reach for my first Diet Coke of the morning at 7:30.
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12/15/21