fourteenthstreet

I have been on a search to identify unknown objects embedded in the sidewalk on 14th street in manhattan. this forum was exceedingly helpful identifying a horizontal control point... and now I have another one. I would not have guessed that this was an indicator of a monument but this is the info i have: "The attached cover is for a box that houses a New York City surveying monument. Once the cover is removed there should be a pin with coordinates and elevations. " and "the square cover is a Manhattan monument box, which is no longer made. The lettering stands for Borough President Manhattan. " can anyone confirm this, and give the history of this sort of marker? Thank you!

Thank you for the editorial help! right, specific seems like a better term. and i got the information about the marker being used to designate property lines from an email from a new york city government engineer. i'm still on the hunt to discover attribution (who put that there??) and am following up with the department of transportation, since they issue sidewalk permits. who knows, maybe they will have the answer.

Thank you all again. I'll stick with the #s, but know that you just beat a cabbie out of a fare. much obliged for the help!

yikes, that seems like a lot of space. i think i may flag a cab with gps, get in, ask for the reading, pay the driver for the favor and be more precise!

thank you! i got something very close (Lat: 40:43:59N (40.73312) Lon: 73:59:02W (-73.98379) of course, what exactly does "close" mean? your quote is great... going to kipling. thanks.

thank you for all of these suggestions. the more precise the better, just for the sake of integrity, but not truly necessary. In the mockup for the project i used fake coordinates, but would like to be more actual: http://margotspindelman.tripod.com/ProposalMockup.jpg

Hello, This forum helped me out a lot a couple of months ago for a project i was working on about street infrastructure. This is now going to be part of an exhibit of sorts about the perception and interaction of a street in new york city. For my part of this project, I need to find the exact longitude and latitude of the horizontal control point that my students and i found. any tips? online tools? for free? thank you for any help and information!

thank you all! here is what will probably be the final word: City engineers involved with City infrastructure design and construction have advised that this is not an official City monument, but a control point established by a private surveyor. Private surveyors tend to keep their benchmarks and control points confidential - hence the lack of an identifying name. it is surprising to me that private surveyors are allowed to just implant the sidewalk with something of their own, but that seems to be the story.

thank you for all of the input! i'm turning the focus local and trying to pinpoint this (via the city and local engineering/surveying companys) as a city owned piece of hardware. i'll update if i get a conclusive answer.

I am working on a project with my art students in New York City. We walked up and down 14th st in Manhattan, trying to document and then identify all of the unknown infrastructure items on the street. On the southwest corner of 14th street and 2nd avenue we found an approximately 1.75" circular metal plate with the words "Control Point", the number 143, and a triangle symbol with a dot in the center. We have since learned that this is a geodetic marker, and we are trying to determine function and ownership. the NOAA says it isnt theirs, and we seem to be at a bit of a dead end. and then we found your web site! can anyone out there help? i have an image i can email... much obliged!

hello benchmarkers, i had no idea that any of this existed until i began a project with two of my art students to identify the unknown infrastructure objects that appear up and down the length of 14th street in manhattan. plenty of mystery abounds. our research about one object led us here. we have found a geodetic marker -- a metal (brass?) plate, with a triangle and a center dot, and the number 143. i havent seen images of markers without any other identifying marks, and we cant figure out who is responsible for placing this. an email from the noaa says it isnt theirs. any suggestion about how to determine ownership? thank you in advance! and happy hunting... this is all fascinating. -margot