The short spance between the Queens Blvd. and 65th Place
overpasses, heading south. 65th Place is an exception to one of
NYC's unwritten norms, as far as streetnames go. In outer boroughs
like Queens, there's a general pecking order among streets, somewhat
denoted by their designations. At the top, of course, are the
limited access highways. Below them, the major secondary roads
are usually called Boulevards, occassionally Parkways. Below them,
usually grouped together in numerical bunches, are Avenues, Roads
and Drives. Then come the "Streets" and occassionally
grouped with a run of numerical Streets, are shorter, more inconcequential
spurs, called Place or Lane. Most of these latter two run for
only a block or two. It's rare that a Place will ever see a traffic
signal, let alone anything more, but good ole 65th Place has wrested
a bevy of goodies for itself, in the heart of Woodside, Queens.
It runs for more than a couple of blocks, has traffic signals,
takes in exit traffic from an expressway, has itself a classy
expressway overpass and a boffo high volume intersection with
10 lane wide Queens Blvd. It's a relatively major neighborhood
thoroughfare. A long, long time ago, when the streetnumbering
first took place, someone, somewhere in whatever passed for a
DOT then, must've envisioned a much more subservient future for
this stretch of asphalt.
Note thew rusty lamppost in the center median. It is undoubtably
one of the late 50's originals, that once wore Westinghouse cuplights.
Somehow it survived the SLECO Bigloop era and the onslaught of
newer types, exemplified by the trussarmed poles following the
overpass. Shot in the spring 1998.
