Brooklyn Bridge Retired Light Fixture

This is one of the original 176 light fixtures, which once illuminated the main cables of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. In June of 2021, the Department of Transportation legally removed all from service in favor of modern LED units. When lit at night, they collectively form a necklace due to the natural curvature of the span. Thus, local bridge contractors in New York City famously coined the description "necklace lighting" in the late-1970s to early-1980s.

In its history, the Brooklyn Bridge initially never had illuminated cables. Only the primary roadway was lit. The original 176 light fixtures, including mine, originally date to 1968, when the city of New York first installed them for a matter of aesthetics. They remained mostly lit during their time of service, but some exceptions to slash costs on operation took place in the early-2000s. As a direct result, multiple organizations throughout the city of New York collectively chimed in and provided more than adequate funds to the NYCDOT to keep the lights on.

The mercury-vapor lamps once were stated to last 24,000 hours in theory. Through a well thought-out and meticulous routine, the lights on the Brooklyn Bridge were always lit for eight hours each and every night. By 1:00 A.M., lights were out. Plans to implement LED technology were in the talks as early as 2007, but oddly enough, without clear reason, were delayed for many years afterward.

Though LEDs finally illuminate the Brooklyn Bridge to showcase its glory during the night, the original lamps of years gone by are not forgotten and remain valuable artifacts that to me tell just only one story of the bridge's history.