I’ve said repeatedly to watch carefully when walking under elevated trains. Not for falling debris (not that that can’t happen) but for outmoded or unusual signage or lamp fixtures, because sometimes down below the el is the Land the Department of Transportation Forgot. In most cases under els you will find a mishmosh of lampposts. (Once els are removed, some weird poles indeed once came out into the light). In many cases you will find Dwarf posts that are exact replicas of the usual octagonal poles, just much shorter, with abbreviated cobra neck masts and narrower shafts. However, in the 1980s those Dwarves were largely supplanted by Brownies, short L-shaped poles carrying large circular New3 Gumball fixtutes, actually Holophane bucket lights with large glass reflector coverings. In the Age of the LED the Brownies have been facing attack from legions of short, davit-shaped LED masts.
But occasionally you have Dwarves of a different species, as happened on 31st Street Under the Astoria El. These are indeed different, as they sport cylindrical shafts; they were installed in the early 1960s. A close look reveals that the mast is detachable, a feature of this make. Unfortunately I don’t know the make; bases sometimes have the make in small embossed letters, but no luck here. The base, though is of a type I see most often in poles in New Jersey towns in the NYC area such as Jersey City, Union City etc. (NYC poles have four “claws” bolted onto the piece connecting the shaft and base.)
As I mentioned, this pole and others along 31st Street likely go back to the early 60s or perhaps the late 50s. Currently sporting an LED lamp, it has held sodium, mercury and perhaps incandescent lamps.
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5/31/22