Queensboro Bridge Lamp Post: Safe and Sound

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    Remember when I told you about the time that I found a missing piece of the Queensboro Bridge? The post ended with a promise that the Roosevelt Island Historic Society had made to bring the item back to their location and preserve it.

    Last weekend, I decided to stroll over to Roosevelt Island and see how my little discovery was faring under their stewardship. I’m happy to announce that it’s been given a place of prominence, and is sitting alongside the former Queensboro Trolley Station entrance which serves as the group’s HQ.

    More after the jump…

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    Recently, Roosevelt Island’s own newspaper – the Main Street Wire – ran a piece on the Lamp Post base, and discussed RIHS’s struggle to bring the thing out to their location.

    Although the base was only a mile from the Island, the trip would take three years and involve the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), Community Board 8, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and a flat-bed truck.

    Berdy’s first step in obtaining the ton-and-a-half object was to inform DOT that the Roosevelt Island Historical Society was interested in taking ownership of it, since it seemed no one else had.

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    Judith Berdy, President of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, said:

    “We are thrilled that Mitch Waxman informed us about the lamp base and that it finally has a new home. It has been a trip though many government agencies to finally be able to  place the lampbase at a lovely site on Roosevelt Island, adjacent to our historic trolley kiosk”.

    She also asked me to remind everyone that “We do have an online store, though our merchandise is shown on the site, www.rihs.us. Our hours are daily except Tuesday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Check on the web site for 2015 hours).”

    Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.

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