PERIODICALLY, I post about the dwindling number of twin 5th Avenue Donald Deskey-designed lampposts; I did so in 2013 and 2016, and in the former year I listed the locations of the surviving ones. I believe we’re now down to about five or six; when they fail or are knocked down, they are replaced with whatever the Department of Transportation has lying around in the lamppost yard (after the one I knew about in LIC on 37th Avenue moved out a few years ago, I don’t know where the DOT stores its poles these days; Comments are open). There’s this one, at 5th Avenue and East 47th, and there’s one at the prominent corner of 5th and West 42nd, and one in front of the Trump Tower.
In the post-castiron era, no more striking NYC lamppost has ever been designed. The thousand of Deskey poles around town were silver-colored and had one mast. The 5th Avenue Specials boasted a pewter, or brown color, and had a special attachment at the apex that held two S-shaped masts and could also hold fire alarm indicator lamps, stoplight masts as here, and even flags. At first, all held M400 GE mercury lamps, which were later replaced by various makes of yellow sodium lamps. The few that remain were fitted with LED lights a few years ago.
New York City desperately needs a new lamppost design exclusively for the Queen of Avenues. The famed castiron Twinlamp debuted in 1896, and the Double Deskey Special in 1965.
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2/20/24
2 comments
Interesting to note that I have not seen any retro (I prefer the term “faux”) twinlamps on Fifth Avenue.
They are on 42nd, 6th and 41st and also CPW up to 72nd