The New Ham Radio

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Despite vociferous objections from residents and community board members, telecommunications giant T-Mobile is forging ahead with plans to install a wireless signal tower on top of a Maspeth home.

But with city officials still weighing whether to approve the project, outraged residents and community leaders are doing everything in their power to stop it.

On Tuesday, nearly three dozen opponents crammed into a Board of Standards and Appeals hearing room in Manhattan to protest T-Mobile’s plan, which would place a 27-foot-tall wireless transmitter disguised as a flagpole atop a two-story home.

Rising more than 50 feet above ground level, the American flag-topped tower would “close a gap” in wireless service, according to T-Mobile spokesman Wayne Leuck. The tower would measure 36 inches in diameter — far wider than a typical flagpole, critics noted — and would be illuminated by at least two spotlights installed on the roof.

Critics say the tower will look “absolutely hideous” amid the neighborhood’s low-rise residential landscape. “It’s a matter of aesthetics,” said Assemblywoman Marge Markey, who has repeatedly urged T-Mobile to relocate the planned tower to one of Maspeth’s more remote industrial corners.

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The telecommunication company first presented its idea to Community Board 5 in October, after gaining permission from the building’s owner to install the 27-foot-tall device (part pole, part equipment box) on his property for an undisclosed fee.