Gamewell (awesome logo) was the dominant manufacturer of fire call boxes in the US, but it's quite rare to spot one of the company's boxes here in NYC. Within the city, they're apparently found in just a few Queens neighborhoods. This one in Jamaica Estates is only the second that I've noticed, and the first intact one: the other was retrofitted with a modern fire/police button unit.
The cylindrical thing on top is a mechanical Arrestolarm, which would have blasted a "loud and distinctive warning shriek" whenever the box was triggered. This was intended to discourage pranksters from setting off false alarms by drawing immediate attention to anyone reporting a fire, like the hastily robed young woman below.
Gosh, where did that photo come from? Great “homework”, Matt!