The directors of the New Yorker Hotel in New York City had to come up with a very special way to celebrate the hotel's 75th anniversary in 2005. What could be the icing on the cake for this event? Project planners decided to replace the huge, burned-out sign atop the hotel with new LED letters.

For three years, the focus of the impending anniversary celebration revolved around a site survey of the existing sign, planning and obtaining permits for what we believe is the largest LED sign in North America. Upon deciding to replace its sign, the 846-guestroom New Yorker Hotel called on my company, LED Solution (White Plains, NY), to complete the project. I've worked on many other projects in Manhattan, several in Times Square, which include Applebee's, HMV and Universal News signs.

The new, LED, channel-letter sign can be seen from as far as New Jersey.

Electrical history

The New Yorker, which opened in 1930, operated with the aid of its own electrical power plant, which was installed in the basement — the largest private power plant in the United States at the time. Old DC switchers and a large, inoperative, locomotive engine still stand within the walls of the New Yorker as evidence of its electrical history.

It so happens that electrical power pioneer Nikola Tesla, a physicist, electrical engineer and alternating current (AC) inventor, spent the last 10 years of his life living at the New Yorker Hotel (which was run by DC power). A commemorative plaque was placed in his honor in 2001.

New owners took over in 1994 and renovated the entire hotel. Chief engineer at the hotel, Joe Kinney, continues efforts to make the hotel the leader in electrical-advancement operations. Kinney has updated the mechanical/boiler and electrical standards of the building so that its electrical needs are met for the next 30 years.

The hotel is also familiar with LED signs. Four years ago, they replaced all of their illuminated wayfinding signage with LED technology. Therefore, it's fitting that the New Yorker Hotel boasts this enormous LED sign.

Installed in 1941, the original neon sign fell into disrepair. It was last illuminated in 1964. Originally constructed using steel, copper and porcelain, each original letter looms 21 ft. tall.

The old letters and neon were removed carefully to keep them from crumbling to the streets below.

Planning the new sign

After studying the project, I explored the existing sign's condition. The New Yorker had contracted with engineer Scott Lewis to test the sign's structural engineering. Surprisingly, the existing steel frame was in good shape, with minimal upgrades needed. The letters, however, had badly deteriorated. The original plan to repaint and add LEDs to the existing letters was quickly scrapped.

We decided to remove the existing letters, repair the massive steel frame, where needed, and fabricate new letters that would be half the thickness of the existing letters and a fraction of the weight. We selected 3⁄16-in.-thick Cyro Acrylite SG red, modified acrylic for the face material. Each letter weighs 750 to 1,000 lbs.

A permit was issued for the letters' replacement and illumination. Under a grandfather clause, the sign could be no brighter and no larger than the original.

Old letters were removed and new letters were installed in phases.

As head of the project, I called upon New York City-based Service Sign Erectors to install the project. Because they possess more than 75 years of experience (they were founded in 1928) and are union contractors, I felt comfortable with their competency for this job.

LED selection was a major component of the project. Having considered numerous manufacturers, we selected SloanLED (Ventura, CA) based on product reliability, availability and responsive technical support — a paramount component for a relatively seamless installation and optimum functionality.

Sloan assisted my team by assembling a 33-in.-wide x 9-in.-deep x 25-in.-tall letter section mockup that included the letters' stroke and return. We tested the mockups to compare the light output of the SloanLED ChanneLED4 red LEDs on 4-in. centers (the distance between the strips) vs. 5-in. centers, both with two modules per foot. We took nine readings with an Extech Foot Candle/Lux meter.

The test showed that the 4-in. centers, two modules per foot, is 16% brighter than the configuration of 5-in. centers, two modules per foot. Having reviewed the test results, we chose the 5-in. centers, which would ensure that the output would be comparable to the old neon. Approximately 30,000 red LEDs are installed in the sign and are powered by Sloan 12V DC LED power supplies.

Next, we established a project schedule for the sign's installation. The existing sign had to be completely dismantled, the existing structure repaired and the new letters installed.

Workers used swing stages and harnesses to access the letters.

Installation

The project had to be completed within 12 weeks, in time for the hotel's 75th anniversary celebration. I called upon longtime friend Joseph Sous to manage the project. Sous has served as project manager on several of our other large projects.

Problems quickly surfaced regarding removal of the existing letters. They were so badly deteriorated that the mounting clips broke away, and, when the crew moved the letters, they crumbled apart, spilling rust into the bottom of each letter. The sheer movement of the Sawzall vibrated enough to break the letters apart on their own. This presented a problem, because, if all the letters fell apart, pieces of debris could land on the sidewalk below. Thus, the letters had to be removed with great care - piece by piece.

Three to five workers at a time worked on the letters, which stand 40 stories above the ground.

Three to five workers on each shift used swing stages and harnesses to access the letters for teardown and installation. They first removed the letters "NEW," repaired the steel structure, installed the new "NEW" letters, and then removed "YORKER," repaired the steel structure and installed the new "YORKER."

We faced a dilemma of how to lift the new 21-ft. letters up to the rooftop. To hoist them up the side of the building would add enormous costs to the installation. Luckily, the New Yorker has an old freight elevator, so we fabricated each letter in 7-ft.-tall sections, took each one up on the freight elevator and assembled the letters on the rooftop. Beforehand, each letter was tested and fitted for ease of installation onsite.

An animation feature was designed into the new sign for certain times of the year, such as New Year's Eve. The animation feature was programmed so each letter would illuminate individually to spell out N-E-W-Y-O-R-K-E-R, then just NEW followed by YORKER and then, as the ultimate New York tribute, NEW - YORK - ER.

Through careful project coordination, the sign was installed with just a two-week delay, which had been set as a buffer in the original project schedule anyway.

On a beautiful winter night in December, a countdown was conducted, and the switch was flicked. The audience applauded as they watched the sign come alive, 40 stories above the ground, to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." The gala event was attended by past family representatives of the New Yorker, the hotel's executives and many team members, representatives from LED Solution, Service Sign Erectors and SloanLED.

In hindsight, the only thing we regretted was not lighting the sign years ago. The New Yorker Hotel has its own backup, electrical-generator system that can power the building's essentials, including the sign, in the event of a blackout. The "NEW YORKER" sign can be viewed from as far away as the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

What a sight it would have been during the Northeastern blackout of August 2003 had the famous New Yorker sign been the only thing lit along the Manhattan skyline.