Most of the elevated tracks on Broadway in the West 120's consist of intricate steel supports but the south end at 122nd Street apparently had some Beaux Arts flourishes. The above photos from 1919 show the walled off section of the train tracks (just before it goes back underground) and one can see that there once stood a couple of multi-globe lamp post at corner of the end wall. Today, the base of the post can still be found but one would never know that the city designed this section with beauty in mind in its current state. Seeing that the steelwork is currently getting refinished, maybe there's hope that the stonework might get a quick cleaning and one day, the lights might shine bright again at this end of the West Harlem tracks. On a side note, further north are a superblock of housing projects and the old photos show what the neighborhood looked like previously. Archival photos courtesy NYPL.
This would be a great restoration project -- and perhaps the kind of thing that CU could partner with the city on. Is there a particular administrative department responsible for planning improvements in and around the campus? If I had a better sense of the right contact I would try to bring this to their attention myself.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if there really has to be a pedestrian barrier, perhaps some kind of cast iron railing could be used instead of a chain link fence?
I completely agree with the Cool Blue, CU could show some civic sensitivity and start to refurbish and restore some of these things. It would go a very long way in getting some of the nay-sayers on their side.
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