Closing Bell: The Appeal of the Gas Lamp
Today a Wall Street Journal article waxes poetic about gas lamps most commonly found on Park Slope blocks. It’s true, “the lamps don’t actually illuminate very much aside from nearby garbage cans and planters, [they] typically run a homeowner a few hundred dollars a year in gas bills, pose environmental challenges and are difficult to…
Today a Wall Street Journal article waxes poetic about gas lamps most commonly found on Park Slope blocks. It’s true, “the lamps don’t actually illuminate very much aside from nearby garbage cans and planters, [they] typically run a homeowner a few hundred dollars a year in gas bills, pose environmental challenges and are difficult to maintain.” But there’s always curb appeal! Park Slope is one of the last neighborhoods with the gas infrastructure to support the lamps, and one broker says of of the brownstone, the iron work, and the street lamp: “It’s evocative.” What do you think, is it worth the hassle?
Burning Affection for Park Slope Gas Lamps [WSJ]
if you are looking to have your gas lamp repaired I am Allen, the guy featured in the WSJ video profile. I can answer any of your questions.
Drop me a line allenmcc@me.com or 917 318 8059.
thanks
Where gas lamps are really pretty is where they are the street lights… like Beacon Hill in Boston.
http://boston.grubstreet.com/Beacon%20Hill.jpg
It does actually look quite nice when walking around South Slope near the park at night to see a lot of gas lamps lit. I always thought that section of Park Slope had a lot more charm than N. Slope.
Agreed with fuplease:
“they’re a big f u to climate change.”
Gas drilling coming into upstate NY threatens to permanently poison our water. It behooves us all to conserve gas where we can, and these lights in eco-conscious Park Slope are a good start.
It sure was nice coming home after the last blackout. Turning the corner from dark 7th Avenue up onto 3rd Street was lovely…
These things are the tackiest crap ever. I have yet to see one that looks anything other that gross.
you know, imho.
Bed Stuy has the “infrastructure” and it’s original. There is a working gas lamp somewhere (Jefferson?) and ours was hooked up with gas running through the pipes to the outside lamp and all our inside fixtures when we closed one year ago. We converted our outside lamp to electric. Our entire block has the original lamps, though no one runs them.
“What do you mean by “gas infrastructure”?”
I think the WSJ article implied that the outside gas lights are hooked up to the same gas lines as the old indoor gas lights. This is pretty unlikely since many outdoor gas lights were installed by BUG about 40–45 years ago, although some houses DO have working interior gas lights or, at least gas in the pipes originally installed for lighting. I, for one, sleep better knowing where, in my cellar, those pipes are cut off. 🙂
i appreciate them 🙂 there’s a few in the vicinity i walk my dog, and for some reason i just like them. oddly i had no idea they were even real, cool to know they are
*rob*