Welcome Back, Apple Bank Sign: The Local Who Helped Fix It

Following some technical difficulties—during which it displayed wildly inaccurate temperature readings before going completely haywire—the Apple Bank sign was decommissioned in October 2024, after ILTUWS sent a week-long report to Apple Bank detailing the discrepancies at various times of day and night.

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But it was a faithful tipster who first alerted us to the issue, emailing ILTUWS and asking us to look into it. So thank you, ILTUWS tipster, for helping get the iconic sign display in business. As of April 12, a new sign has been installed, as the bank promised, and we’ve conducted our first test on the updated system.

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While we make near-daily rounds around 72nd Street—a section some call the gateway to the Upper West Side, thanks to its long strip of shops and restaurants and multiple subway stations—it was again a tipster who alerted us that the new Apple Bank sign, located at 2100 Broadway and West 73rd Street, had been installed. This story has caught the attention of many locals who, like us, had been waiting to see the familiar sign back to doing what it does best: telling us the time and temperature from a great distance.

ILTUWS reached out to Apple Bank for the specifications of the new sign, which at first glance has a more digital appearance compared to the vintage, light bulb-style aesthetic of the previous version. It’s a transition reminiscent of the neon Pioneer Supermarkets sign that was replaced in 2023 on Columbus Avenue—swapping neon for digital, but still charming in its own new way. At 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 13, we stood beneath the sign at the corner of 72nd and Broadway, by the Bank of America, to admire its newfound glory—and to check the readings, of course.

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At 5:30 a.m., the new Apple Bank sign showed 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike the previous version, there’s currently no Celsius reading displayed. We asked Apple Bank if Celsius might be added back into the sign’s rotation, as it was before. Our phone told us it was 41 degrees in the 10023 zip code—just like in our original report. We also returned to the same M104 bus stop on Broadway between 73rd and 74th Streets, where the display read 40 degrees at 5:32 a.m.

It’s worth noting that after a quick pick-up from a nearby fruit stand and a coffee run, we could still see the Apple Bank sign from Broadway at 70th Street. At 5:40 a.m.—10 minutes later—it was showing 42 degrees. For now, the readings appear to be accurate enough. That’s a change from before, when the Apple Bank sign consistently displayed lower temperatures than the M104 bus, though the difference varied. In the days leading up to the sign being turned off and ultimately taken down, it began projecting wildly inaccurate numbers at random.

You never know how key a tip can be, so if you see something, feel free to send it to ILTUWS—we love a good investigation. We’ll update this story when we hear back from Apple Bank.

Have a news tip? Send it to us here!