CITY LORE; Futile Beacons of a Bygone Age

The logic is simple. If you put up a light bulb -- or better yet a sign that says Taxi -- and flip on the switch when you need a ride, moments later your yellow chariot will await. So practical. So civilized. So passé.

''It's an anachronism,'' says Allan J. Fromberg, a deputy commissioner of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission. ''The modern cabdriver is really looking for the hail. The light bulb has sort of suffered by comparison.''

Hundreds of these little lights can still be found in the city's upscale neighborhoods. Many doorman buildings place a bare bulb, in a glass or plastic casing, at the front top of the entrance canopy; a few employ lighted taxi signs. When a resident needs a cab at night, the doorman switches on the light in the hope that taxis will see it and swing by. At least that's the idea.

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