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At The Corner of Ampere & Ohm In The Bronx (Yes, This Intersection Actually Exists!)

ByScout


Ha, OK, this is the strangest thing. Last week, I was driving around the east side of the Bronx when I found myself in a nice residential area…

01

I happened to look up and notice the street sign:

02

Huh. Ampere Ave. Sort of an unusual street name for a residential neighborhood. For those (like myself) who have forgotten their basic high school science, an ampere, or amp, is the term for a unit of electric current.

Curious, I slowed at the next intersection to see what the cross street was…and I have to say, it gave me quite a charge..

03

Holy crap! I was literally standing at the corner of Ampere & Ohm! (an ohm is the term for a unit of electric resistance). I expected to look up and see a nuclear research lab, or something similarly fitting for such a prestigious scientific address.

Except, this is all there was:

03a

Glancing at my map, I saw that quite a few streets in the neighborhood had electrically inspired names: Watt Ave to the north, Radio Drive to the south, and by extension, Research Ave and Library Ave. How did this come about?

map

According to the Parks Department, the land was donated to the city by Issac Leopold Rice, inventor and president of the Electric Storage Battery Company, and later the Electric Boat company and the Electric Vehicle company. Because of his background, the city chose to honor his donation with appropriately named streets.

rice

Though this could have easily wound up a Maple & Oak intersection, or an Elm & Pine, can we all agree that it’s really great the world has at least one Ampere & Ohm?

-SCOUT


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19 Comments

  2. Not related but there’s a corner of Staten Island where the streets are all named after the Mercury Astronauts.

  3. Check out Ampere Way in Croydon UK on the map and you’ll find Volta, Franklin, Maxwell and Hesterman – all electrical pioneers.

  4. How especially appropriate that these signs appear on a utility pole with some wires nearby, instead of a normal street sign pole.

    It must be mentioned that the name of this corner is Volt (or Volta, if the streets are named after people). This is not a proposal, it is by definition, since V=IR.

  8. Evers Seaplane Base is an FAA-recognized facility with the identification code 6N6. As best I can tell, it’s just a small patch of shoreline where one man occasionally moors his seaplane.

    1. Charlie Evers does have a seaplane. His father opened the marina/seaplane base back in the 20’s and actors and others “Gatsby’s” would come into the city this way. A lot of things came into the city via the seaplane base.

  10. I like how there’s also a Griswold Avenue, which seems fitting considering his obsession for all things Christmas lights.

  11. When I click on the Parks Dept. hotlink, I get something in Queens. That is why they can’t get snow removed, maybe.

  13. I love that you’ve been posting articles from my neighborhood. Keep ’em coming! There’s some interesting things to scout in Pelham Bay Park if you go off the beaten path.

  14. Watt a “revolting” development, I was positively “shocked” to discover that!

  15. I’m a couple of days late to the game on this, but just have to comment: whoa! I work on a Cold War era submarine that is a museum now, and it was made by the Electric Boat Company. This is going to be a fantastic bit of trivia to add to our historical narrative!

  16. leopold rices’ spouse was even more famous than he was, in a somewhat more comical way. google julia rice and her Suppression of Unnecessary Noise organization.

  17. That’s my sisters house on the corner of Ampere and Ohm! Not sure how she found this 🙂

  18. If you have been in engineering you know that there is a large amount of recourses which are full rubbish, thankfully your blog is just not one of these sites, i really like your content very much, keep up the excellent job

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