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by **vaughn** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:55 pm

Wow

Great find. I like the pole and box as well. Thanks

by **NKS_Signal** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 5:41 pm

by **2070** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:15 pm

There may be a RED/RED or 2 still around,

But that is a nice surprise! :good:

by **SirMarbelot** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:15 pm

Now THAT is a sweet find...both the post and the signal head. Damn the LEDs look horrible in there...

by **EdT.** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:21 pm

Amazing find Steven! :clapping:

by **Rosey** on Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:08 pm

Steven-

What an awesome find. Good eye. Hope to get up to East 110st to take a few photos my self. What year we thinking this light was installed?

-Rosey

by **mcorivervsaf** on Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:07 am

Whoa! Excellent find, Steven! That signal may very well be the last of its kind in NYC! I'm surprised to see this one's still in existence! I remember seeing a few of those in Queens over a decade ago, but they're LONG gone! Nice discovery! :thumbsup:

by **NKS_Signal** on Sun Jul 21, 2013 7:07 pm

Looking at the photos again, the green in the Ruleta does not appear to be LED? :scratch:

What type of lens would that be? Did these lights ever have wait/walks in the incandescent days?

by **steven1981** on Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:01 pm

Rosey wrote:What year we thinking this light was installed?

Though I would not be sure of when exactly this was installed, I would guess that it was first put into service sometime in the 1930s. In general, these signals had first began to appear in the picture in New York City in the late 1920s or so. It seems to me they had spread rather quickly in various locations there by the next decade.

NKS_Signal wrote:Looking at the photos again, the green in the Ruleta does not appear to be LED? What type of lens would that be? Did these lights ever have wait/walks in the incandescent days?

You are right, Nabil; the top section is the only one that uses a L.E.D. module insert. In regards to what kind of lens is in use in the bottom section is unknown, since I did not see it illuminated. I would guess, though, that it is a Kopp number 27 lens. I mentioned a while back here that it seems to me the signals are stuck on a particular interval at the crosswalk (red facing the crosswalk and green facing East Drive), since I wanted to capture a picture of the bottom section lit. I waited for well over two minutes, and I soon realized there was something wrong. This might explain why the top section has a L.E.D. module insert inside of it, since there was an original lens in use (along with a burnt light bulb) a while back (according to Google Map).

Your last question is a good one, since, based on what I have seen in photographs, these were likely not originally equipped with actual pedestrian signal lenses (even though they did control pedestrian traffic aside from vehicular traffic). Despite this, it seems that some were retro-fitted with such lenses over the years. I was fortunate enough to come across one photograph of a Ruleta, in which was single-faced as well, that apparently once used them. From lower Manhattan. Circa 1958.

by **mhv9218** on Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:39 pm

So I wasn't going insane when I thought I saw this biking through Central Park the other day; a true piece of history, glad to see these excellent photos. Certainly miss the days when these were present all around the city.

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