WHAT could it be? A large funerary urn from the classical age, perhaps? Actually it is the base of a unique lamppost, one of two ever produced, that graced the bridge’s on and off ramps at the 2nd Avenue bridge entrance. Both were placed there when the bridge was constructed from 1905-1909. Both originally rested on heavy 4-sided concrete bases that featured the carven names of 4 NYC boroughs, excepting Staten Island. Both stanchions featured five separate lamps, one at the apex of the shaft and four lamps appended.
When the Roosevelt Island tram was constructed in 1975 the north lamp was removed, and for many years its whereabouts were little-known. However, historian Mitch Waxman found its base languishing in the Sunnyside lamppost yard on 37th Avenue, where it had been for apparently quite awhile, perhaps since its 1975 removal. That yard has since been relocated — where, I do not know.
Back in 1998, I (nearly) panicked when this copper-clad, vertigris’ed lamppost at the eastbound Queensboro Bridge entrance on 2nd Avenue disappeared. I wasn’t sure it had been landmarked. As it turned out I had nothing to worry about. It was being restored and renovated.
As it turns out, the renovations done in the 40s or 50s to this light stanchion were a hasty, slapdash job, as the masts were actually turned upside down and incandescent SLECO ‘cuplights’ were grafted incongruously on. The new restoration, installed in 2001, it must be assumed, adheres more closely to the original 1907 Gustav Lindenthal/Henry Hornbostel design, with 4 opaque globular lamps surrounding one mounted on the central shaft.
The Roosevelt Island Historical Society restored the base and placed it near the tram entrance/exit Visitors Center in the island. Additionally, the RIHS also moved the former trolley entrance/exit kiosk a few yards away from the lamp, restored it, and madce it the Roosevelt Island Visitors Center a stone’s throw away from the tram exit/entrance. The rest of the lamppost’s whereabouts are unknown.
An interesting feature of the Queensboro pole is that on its four-sided base, you can see four of the five NYC boroughs. We’ll give you a wild guess which one they left off! And, Staten Island was indeed a part of New York City when the bridge was constructed in the early 1900s; NYC consolidation happened in 1898. Celebrating over a century of existence, the pole is older than most New Yorkers. Not the oldest lamppost in the city (a couple of gaslight posts as well as a couple of 5th Avenue stanchions are older) but quite close.
The borough inscriptions are on small plaques attached to the copper base. The part of the base I can see at Roosevelt Island is missing that small plaque, and I’d have to say that the others have fallen off as well. I wih a reproduction could be struck from the remaining lamp in Manhattan and restored to the Roosevelt Island base, but that woule take some moo-la-di the city wants to use elsewhere.
Check out the ForgottenBook (HarperCollins, 2006), as well as Forgotten Queens (Arcadia, 2013). I also have a chapter in the anthology “New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg” (Reaktion, 2007). As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site, which helps in site upkeep and also aids Greater Astoria Historical Society.
11/2/26