Archive for the ‘sunnyside’ Category
decided agitation
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Fear that I’ve let you down today is inescapable, as the 2013 tour schedule (long promised) is still not quite ready for public review and remains a revisionary work in progress. There’s a lot of behind the scenes nitty gritty to lock down, HTML to code, and routes to solidify and I’m just not done yet- unfortunately. I’m hoping to have the list live by early next week and apologies are offered. It has been a busy few weeks for me, and everybody is pissed off at me that my ducks aren’t- as usual- in a row..
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Just the other day, Tuesday as a point of fact, I unexpectedly and suddenly ended up onboard a ship which was carrying the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance annual conference, serving the event as one of several “staff” (volunteer) photographers. The group presented a “who’s who” of planners, maritime experts, and political types discussing the post Sandy shape of our local vicinity. Discussion of various plans of action was offered, as well as a swell luncheon.
Additionally, on Wednesday night, a Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee meeting went long at the sewer plant in Greenpoint. NCMC, as the latter group is known (nickmick is how its pronounced,) is one of the longest serving community groups in NYC. NCMC interacts with the DEP to ensure that neighborhood concerns are dealt with at the enormous and still under construction Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment facility.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
My devotions to the various organizations of the Newtown Creek community such as Newtown Creek Alliance or NCMC, or the larger harbor community groups like Working Harbor Committee or the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance demand the expenditure of enormous amounts of time spent in meetings and attending “events,” but it really is a worthwhile investment. There is so much to learn about this City of New York, facts which range from the utterly mundane to the fantastic, that it is worth every minute spent even if it means you’re a little (or a lot) behind on your own work..
Also: Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman presented by the Working Harbor Committee, departs Pier 17 in Manhattan May 26,2013 at ten a.m. Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
eternal day
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Queens, a humble narrator has been rather busy for the last few days.
Next week, the schedule of spring and summer Newtown Creek tours will be revealed to you at last, as well as some details about the ambitious schedule of boat tours which the Working Harbor Committee is planning. Short perambulations around the neighborhood have been my only distraction from the plotting and planning of this year’s excursions. Unnatural and unseasonable cold, however, has left the streets adorned in a drab winter appearance.
One starves for color.
from queensnyc.com
On Sunday, we joined over 140 people aboard a New York Water Taxi for the Working Harbor Committee’s tour of Newtown Creek. The tour was narrated by Mitch Waxman whose encyclopedic knowledge and passion for the area can be seen on his blog The Newtown Pentacle, and on his tours and work as the historian for the Newtown Creek Alliance.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Resorting to hanging around the produce departments of storefront merchants brings no surcease to this desire for the bright hues of Spring. Normally, one would expect the trees to show some sign of returning vitality and conscientious property owners would have already begun planting early varietal. Free ranging grasses should also be raising bright green shoots by now. Instead, the yellows and browns of winter linger, as does an unnatural chill.
One thirsts for warmth.
from nytimes.com
Not that Mr. Waxman is any sort of an academic. While the Newtown Creek Alliance, an environmental advocacy group, lists him as its resident historian, his credentials were earned on the street and the Internet, through countless solitary walks and countless nights poring over obscure archives.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Mainly, I’m just tired of hanging around in the cold wastes waiting for something to happen, and truly look forward to a day spent entirely out of doors and unencumbered by the heavy garments of an overly long winter. The next few months should be pretty interesting, lords and ladies, and without spilling a certain can of beans- pencil me in for May 26th.
One desires company.
from blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu
Usually it’s not a great thing when your memory of the first time you met someone person is inseparable from a terrible, gag-inducing stink. But with Mitch Waxman, it comes with the territory.
artificial means
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Maritime Sunday is suspended again this week, so as to incorporate the timely but dire warning that another Abomination has been spotted, moving freely through the community. This time the sighting was on Greenpoint Avenue in Sunnyside, whereas the last place and time I reported that such an entity walked amongst us was in Manhattan, back in December of 2012.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
The beast had taken up station on the block opposite the park, and in some wild pantomime of clumsy gesticulations admonished passersby to accept a script of some kind. The blood chills thinking about what sort of bargain might be offered by such a creature, and one wonders if there are some things which might well be worth any cost.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
The whirring staccato of my camera shutter attracted the attention of this rodent of great size, no doubt due to its overdeveloped auditory capabilities. Irregular coruscations of the cardiac action ensued deep within your humble narrator when the great beast suddenly stiffened and began to turn towards me, for given the speed legendarily attributed to its kind an attempt at escape would be, at best, a fruitless endeavor.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Cruelly baleful in expression, the monster fixed me in its glare while baring monstrous teeth, which were not fangs, instead its mandibular apparatus appeared to be bare plates of bone whose prominent shape and appearance reminded one of nothing less than the steel blades of jack hammers. ThIs halfling hare was around one and three quarter meters tall, and seemed both sturdily built and well armored by a dense hide which tended to hang loosely about its presumably sinewy limbs.
Watch your back out there today, it may be Easter Sunday, but this Abomination was lurking around, on the sunny side of the Newtown Pentacle, just yesterday.
irresistibly borne
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
- photo by Mitch Waxman
A few more shots from the low light photography exercise I’ve been forcing myself to perform all winter.
Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this place. It’s a dinosaur, a relic of the “old” Queens Plaza, which has somehow withstood the arrayed powers and potentates who have completely remade most of the area. One would hope that for the sake of history, and in order to preserve the cultural heritage of the Borough of Queens, that this shop and its signage be granted landmark status and preserved “as is”for all time.
Obscured by the lamp post, one would add, is the signage that reads “Ladies Welcome.”
I’ll bet they are.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Acela was in its bed and snug as a bug in a rug.
Acela maintains a difficult schedule all day and really needs her rest. She is very sweet however, and everyone has nothing but good things to say about her. This is where the modern train receives maintenance and attention from trained mechanics and engineers, at the Sunnyside Yard.
from wikipedia
Generally Amtrak train crews consist of an engineer, a conductor, and at least one assistant conductor. Acela trains also have an On-Board Service crew consisting of two First Class attendants and a Cafe Car attendant. In addition to the food service provided in the Cafe Car, on most trains an attendant will also provide at seat cart service, serving refreshments throughout the train. First Class passengers are served meals at their seats on all services.
At Amtrak, the On-Board Service crew is considered separate and subordinate to the Train and Engine crews. Acela maintenance is generally taken care of at the Ivy City facility in Washington, DC; Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York; or Southampton Street Yard in Boston, Massachusetts.
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Apologies are offered for any unintentional “artsy fartsy”ness to the shot above, I was just trying to push the exposure and catch the light. This one was on Northern Blvd. incidentally. All of these were handheld shots, at a variety of exposures and iso settings using environmental light, for you photographic types.
Project Firebox 61
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
- photo by Mitch Waxman
Out of order is what the sign says, with instructions to instead call 911 or some other specialized number for the Queens Fire dispatchers. There are several fire boxes bearing similar screeds which have been seen around Sunnyside in recent weeks, so my guess is that some central switch or relay is out somewhere. Imagine the horror of this scarlet watcher, unable to reach out to its distant firehouse to summon aid. This box also carries an option for summoning the gendarme, by the way, a feature I remember as originating sometime during the second or first Koch administration.
