I have nothing historical to note or anything horrible to complain about here in Astoria at 30th Drive and 29th Street, except to take note of this “overstuffed” telephone pole. Pertinent of nothing, I can mention that before Queens Streets were given numbers, 30th Drive was called Elm Street and out of the photo on the other corner is a gorgeous apartment building called Elm Towers. In fact scattered throughout Astoria are numerous buildings carrying long-lost names of the streets they were built on before the Great Numbering which took place mainly in the 1920s and 1930s.
I noticed this pole because the Department of Transportation decided that extra lighting was needed because an extra mastarm and lamp was added to the pole despite the presence of the freestanding post, which has been there since the 1950s at least. Additionally, I actually like seeing all those wires the pole is holding up. The dormered building is nearly a century old, if not over a century, while the buildings on either side are much younger.
I talk about infrastructure often but I’m mainly in the dark about what the wires do. Yes, many are telephone wires, for those household still using land lines, though I think land lines will be gone within a decade. Some of the wires are cable television, and cable is at the cusp of its declining years, with streaming servic es controlled by internet connections soon to become the dominant form. What goes on in that big metal box? What do the other wires do? Comments are open.
Though I enjoy seeing telephone poles groaning with wires, I feel that their days are numbered…unless some of those wires are still well within the safety zone for survival. Explanations? Comments are open.
Note: see Comments for a list of wire purposings.
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8/12/24