The Newtown Pentacle

- photos by Mitch Waxman

The recent and much commented on Blizzard of December 28, 2010- which we in the frozen zone of Astoria refer to as “The Snowpocalypse”- produced many memorable moments around the ancient village. Made especially clear was that the internet, designed to withstand a nuclear attack, has become vulnerable to seasonal weather in the hands of corporate stewards such as Time Warner Cable.

Here’s a few photos of the experience, and notice the Daily News Truck- which was stuck in the middle of 44th street from 4:30 AM to 11PM and was finally towed out by a block long hydraulic chain. The auto in the second to last shot zipped up the block- the wrong way- and got stuck into the very spot that the truck was in. Some of these shots are unforgivably grainy, as they were captured at extremely high iso speeds.

Incidentally, the iPhone shot of the truck being towed finally out is here.

Astoria still suffers from an information blackout, as Time Warner Cable and to a larger extent- the City of New York- have once again forgotten we’re here. Most of our streets are unplowed, despite the fact that the citizenry has abided with law and custom by clearing the sidewalks. Vehicles remain stuck, including an ambulance which was mired down for an astounding 20 hours. The Daily News truck in the shot above came to a halt at 4:30 am yesterday, and the tow truck in the shot had just freed it at 11:00 pm. Shots and posts were all done on my iPhone as the main computer is isolated by Time Warner’s inability to forecast that it might snow during the winter.
We’ve seen many interesting things the last couple of days, as soon as I’m web capable again- I’ll be posting.

Forgive the lack of formatting, and the normal presentation- as this message is being sent via my phone. The snowpocalypse, as manifested in the silken lanes of Astoria, has led to a major Time Warner cable outage. Since Sunday night at approximately 11pm, both cable and Internet connectivity went blank. The natives are restless and deprived of emptytainment, whereas I am frustrated by inability to “do my thing”.
I’ll be back as soon as the very worst of New York’s utility monopolies lets me get online again. Feels a bit like the Great Astoria Blackout of 2006, actually.