Queens Tribune
 
....May 24, 3:53 PM
 
 
   
New LED Light Bulb Fizzles Atop Tower

The new LED bulb is out.

By BRIAN M. RAFFERTY

Yet again, the light on top of the tower at the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park has gone dark – but at least it’s under warranty this time.

On April 20 the Parks Department replaced the red incandescent light bulb at the top of the tower for the third time in six months, but this time it installed a high-tech LED light that flashes and is light sensitive, so it is only on when its dark out.

Modern technology placed atop aging relic found a way of going bad, and on May 17 the new, modern, reliable, fancy light atop the tower went dark – a condition that continues to persist a week later.

“Through Parks observation, we were made aware that the aviation light on the top of the New York State Pavilion was out early on the morning of May 17,” Parks Dept. spokeswoman Abby Lootens said. “In April, Vertical Access converted the aviation light to LED technology. This conversion and the light are covered under a 10-year warranty. All parties involved believed that this new technology would prevent future outages. Unfortunately, there seems to be another problem.”

Lootens said that Vertical Access, which was expected to return Thursday, would repair the light and further investigate what is causing the outages.

Vertical Access is an Ithaca-based company that uses mountain climbing skills to scale building and monuments to perform maintenance work.

The company is needed because 40 years of neglect inside the tower has led to the entire staircase structure collapsing from rot caused by bird droppings.

Each repair has been paid for by Unisphere Inc.

Unisphere, Inc. “was formed to help the park raise funds to bolster and expand the current programs that are offered in the park,” according to the organization’s Web site. Of the $282,000 the organization has raised since it was founded, it has spent more than $45,000 to replace the FAA light atop the tower.

According to Unisphere’s federal tax filing, the organization’s primary exempt purpose is “to promote and encourage the organization and establishment of parks and playgrounds… and to establish, equip and maintain recreational places and playgrounds for the public.”

In describing itself as a public-private partnership, Unisphere’s federal filing goes on to explain that this new paradigm “allows the Parks Department to focus its limited resources and budgets on acquisition, upkeep and stewarding capital projects while allowing interested private constituents to fund ideas that could never be accomplished with the limited dollars to go around.”

In December, Parks blamed high winds for extinguishing the light just a month after it was fixed. Unisphere paid for that repair as well, which cost $12,000.

The October fix came after the light atop the tower had been out for at least two months. Park Administrator Estelle Cooper had not told Queens Deputy Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski about the burned out bulb until the two were together at a meeting in the offices of the Queens Tribune.

David Oats, president of the Flushing Meadows Corona Park World’s Fair Association, said he would contact the Governor’s office to seek state control over what he calls a horribly neglected historic treasure.
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