NYC "ONE WAY" signs

[M3019C LPS20]

Throughout the years, in the city of New York, there have been different variations of the "ONE WAY" sign. The rather common kind of today stems back to the mid 1960s, and it has been the permanent variation since then.

Prior to that time, some of you may remember that "ONE WAY" signs were actually shaped as arrows. They were in use in different locations of the boroughs as far back as to the 1920s. Several were in production, and most were manufactured by the city's Police Department. Before 1950, the Police Department was in control of New York City's traffic control system.

I personally have three variations of the "ONE WAY" sign, and each one saw service in the city of New York. While this is not a complete collection of all the signs, this merely gives you an idea of what was in use on the streets.



They are in chronological order (top to bottom), and all three were manufactured by the city's Department of Traffic (now Department of Transportation) in the 1950s and 1960s decades.

From top to bottom, the first variation was the first "ONE WAY" sign manufactured by the Department of Traffic in the early 1950s, and it was rather short-lived. It was similar to a previous kind, which was manufactured by the city's Police Department. It had the label "POLICE DEPT" on what I call the fin of the sign. The D.O.T. never put its label on this one.

The second one is probably my favorite kind that was in use in the city of New York. It appeared sometime in the mid 1950s, and it ultimately replaced the previous kind. It was the norm throughout the boroughs for about ten years.

Finally, the last one is what is considered as the permanent variation as of present day (though there have been some minor changes in the sign's design throughout the years). The one I have shown in the picture above is a 1st generation 1960s "ONE WAY" sign. This one actually saw service somewhere on Spruce St. near Pace University in lower Manhattan. Sometime before 1970, it was hit by a vehicle, which resulted in its removal afterward.