Wednesday afternoon, historian Judith Berdy got a call she never expected. The Bronze Lamps preserved from Goldwater Hospital, then stolen last week, had been recovered. They’re in tough shape, no longer intact, but not melted down as feared.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
As reported, the bronze lamps served over 70 years along the front entrance ramp at Goldwater Hospital. When they demolished Goldwater, making way for Cornell Tech, crews preserved the bronze lamps as historical treasures.
That was in 2013. Lacking a plan for their future, they were stored in a lot behind Coler Rehabilitation Hospital. For a decade, they were safe, but in two broad daylight raids, last week, a gang using an unmarked truck pulled up and carted them off.
Berdy and others feared that they’d soon hit a scrapyard, be broken down and melted for the bronze, but something remarkable happened.
Bronze Lamps Recovered
An NYPD detective called Berdy with good news on Wednesday. The lamps had been recovered before they could be destroyed.
“Apparently, the scrap dealer who acquired them from the perpetrator recognized their value and history,” Berdy told The Daily, and notified the police.
But all was not rosy because the thieves broke the lamps down in preparation for the sale.
“The condition they are in is shocking,” Berdy said, “and we must imagine what can be done with them to bring them back to a useful purpose.”
The legal process as well as insurance and ownership concerns will require sorting out. That will take time before a home and use for the bronze lamps is determined.
In the meantime, Berdy says, “Thanks to NYPD, Coler Hospital Police and the un-named scrapyard dealer for recovering the lamps.”
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