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What’s with that weathervane?

By Michael Giardina
for The Brooklyn Paper
Enlarge this image
The Brooklyn Paper / Julie Rosenberg
Look, up in the sky! Is it a ball? Is it a pan? No, it’s super lightning rod!

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What is that weird thing sitting on top of the main post office?

The odd silver structure that stands atop the Cadman Plaza East postal branch leaves many onlookers puzzled.

“I have absolutely no idea,” said customer Curtis Stephen. “It looks like something from ‘the Jetsons.’”

Others suggested that the vaguely cult-like ball and spire could be concealing a cellphone transmitter.

“Or maybe it’s sending out signals to planets all over the galaxy,” added Ira Eras, only partially joking.

We spent the morning polling the men and women on the street, but no one had any idea what the fancy filial meant.

Mystery solved: It’s just a nifty lightning rod, said the federal General Services Administration.

“It is a decorative spire,” said Renee Miscione, regional press officer for the GSA, which owns the 73-year-old building. “It is an architectural structure that serves as lightning protection.”

Brooklyn Heights can rest without worrying: Their post office is not, apparently, sending out any signals.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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