A $4.7 million project to replace 500 working streetlamps in Flatbush with antique bishop’s crook lamps has met with local resistance, reports the Daily News. Some residents do not understand the utility of spending $10,000 per lamp (standard streetlamps cost $4,000 each) when the current fixtures work just fine and when the neighborhood could spend the money elsewhere, such as streets and sidewalks in disrepair. “It’s ridiculous,” Kent Thomas, 24, told the News. “The lights we have work fine. There are hungry people in this neighborhood who need help; we need shelters and soup kitchens.” The project, which is half complete, received funding from the borough president’s 2007 capital budget. In contrast, Brooklyn Heights has launched a similar, $2.7 million campaign to install bishop’s crook streetlamps, with support from the Brooklyn Heights Association. Whereas opponents of both projects decry the waste of funds, the BHA defended the new street lights, saying they are beautiful, they enhance the neighborhood, and they are historically significant.
Flatbush Street Lamp Replacement a Dud [NY Daily News]
Brooklyn Heights’ Lights [Brownstoner]