I was reminded of how long it’s been since I was on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village recently when I noticed the stretch between 73rd Place and 80th Street has…

1938 was a year in which els began to disappear from the Manhattan landscape, with the 6th, 2nd and 9th Avenue Els in succession all going the way of the…

All along East Drive in Central Park, the Department of Transportation has installed light emitting diode, or LED, luminaires.   I read that the plan calls for LEDs, which shine…

Amazingly, the one and only object protected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in Maspeth, Queens is this vintage Type F lamppost that illuminates a staircase connecting 65th Place and 64th…

I’ve wanted to get a picture of this lamppost for a long time. It’s on 17th Street and 3rd Avenue in Park Slope under the overpasses at the junction of…

There are a great deal of relics to be found in Red Hook, including me when I am there, as well as rusting streetcars, waterfront bars, grain terminals and warehouses,…

In 1997 the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission did a survey of the remaining early 20th Century lampposts that were scattered around town. Your humble webmaster wishes I could’ve been involved,…

Late 1950s blueprint of a new kind of lamppost, with a slotted shaft, L-shaped curved neck, and new mercury luminaire. The lamps were drawn by industrial designer Donald Deskey (whose…

This bent-arm lamppost is one of a particular style designed for pedestrian overpasses, and likely first appeared in the late 1940s, certainly the 1950s. As a rule it’s used, or…

Of course, I have in my possession a manual depicting the over 200 varieties of lampposts found on NYC streets before 1936, when it was written. Most of these lamppost…

I’m glad that both Bob (King of NYC Lampposts) Mulero and I got decent photos of this specimen, and others like it, at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, or 7th…

Getting a bit more into the weeds than most readers want, so be patient with me here — here’s a couple of gems that are disappearing from the NYC scene.…