WNYC Transmitter Park |
WNYC Transmitter Building |
WNYC (AM 820, FM 93.9) provides a radio news source about civic and cultural events around the city in addition to child-oriented programming and music programming. Today, WNYC Radio is the most listened to public radio station in the U.S. The station, which was once owned by New York City is now an independent station supported by listener donations, as well as contributions from corporations and foundations. WNYC is a member station of NPR, as well as PRI and is New York's source for NPR broadcasts.
When I used to commute to my companies' Long Island office, I tuned into WNYC's AM station since the longer wave length of AM allowed me to pick up the signal far outside the city; however, while WNYC seems to be going strong, AM radio like print journalism and broadcast television is under pressure from technological displacement in our digital age. In addition to shrinking market share, AM broadcasting which was surpassed by FM and more recently Satellite Radio and web based broadcasting is now being threatened by interference from smart phones and other consumer electronics. There is currently a debate on weather or not to convert the AM frequency for use by other devices. Ajit Pai of the FCC is advocating for the salvage and overhaul of AM broadcasting and given my affinity for relics of a bygone era I appreciate his quest.[3]
Art Deco Detailing |
Transmitter Park Tidal Wetland & Historic Ferry Landing |
The wetland at Transmitter Park looks like it could use a little maintenance. It does not look much different than it did almost a year ago when I visited the site after Hurricane Sandy.
WNYC Transmitter House Plaque |
Manhattan at Dusk from WNYC Transmitter Park |
References:
- "History" WNYC.org
- "Greenpoint to Lift Skyline With Pair Of Radio Towers" Newspaper (no citation indicated). 15 December, 1935.
- Wyatt, Edward. "A Quest to Save AM Before It's Lost in the Static" New York Times 9 September 2013.
You need to check out the following links:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wnyc.org/story/155872-wnyc-am-transmitter-1937/
http://www.wnyc.org/story/123806-artist-and-architect-a-g-lorimer/
http://www.wnyc.org/story/89938-blog-wnyc-moves-back-greenpoint/
not a possible antenna base...part of art deco design. 304 foot towers came down years ago.
Hi Andy, This is one of my first blog posts and I am in the process of revising it to include more historic information. The information included in the linked web pages will be helpful. Thank you for the links.
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