Slogging south, and a Hey Now!
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Something horrible must have happened on one of those highway ramps, as a big cloud of white steam, or smoke, or dust, suddenly drifted in front of the camera here in Pittsburgh.
Your humble narrator was nearing the end of a long walk, and my energy levels were flagging.
This scuttle ended up being around eleven miles, all told. Started up on ‘The Bluff,’ included a section of the Uptown Neighborhood, and then I attended a lecture at a library in Squirrel Hill after a quick cab ride. After the lecture, I started walking towards the South Side neighborhood, in pursuance of eventually accessing the T Light Rail, for my ride back to HQ in Dormont.
All caught up?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
God help me, but I do love this point of view.
Getting to this POV is kind of harrowing, but I’ve always talked about my love of photographing the massing shapes of highways, with their elevated ramps. The path involves following that sidewalk on the right side of the shot to the Birmingham Bridge over the Monongahela River. Have to get out here at night sometime.
As far as I’ve been able to work it out, this complex of ramps and highways is more or less where the J & L steel mill used to be found.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a lot of construction activity going on in the section of Uptown which it touches the Birmingham Bridge, which makes the scuttling a bit difficult as I need to vouchsafe my still gamey left ankle.
See? haven’t mentioned it in a while!
Here’s the catch up – it low grade hurts all the time, and I know when it’s going to rain as my ‘ankleometer’ goes off (due to arthritis). Fun!
Saying that, I’m more or less able to get around and do what I want to again, so… win?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the southern side of the bridge, there’s a point of view over the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision’s Tracks, and I hung around a few minutes in the hope that…
Hey Now! (I literally say that out loud when a train appears)
– photo by Mitch Waxman
CSX #3174, which is some sort of train.
I’ve been trying to call out the make/model of these things, and figure out their stories. I’m not a railfan, I just like taking pictures of trains, and I just didn’t feel like deep diving for this trio of shots as it’s kind of surface level and fairly disingenuous to pretend that I care about this thing being rebuilt in some recent year. I feel like it’s offensive to actual railfans trying to speak intelligently about their area of expertise.
#3174 was heading easterly, and hauling a mixed up series of cargo cars.
Personally, I hate it when some newbie starts telling me about something I ‘nerd out’ about – comic books or sci-fi stuff which they’ve just discovered, which have the status of religious texts for me. I try to keep that resentment of the uninitiated newbie in mind, regarding the world inhabited by the railfans.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My internal fuel tanks were empty by this part of the day, and a not insignificant mental effort to ‘keep going,’ not punk out by calling a cab, was underway.
It was just a few more miles… keep going… you’ll rest when you’re dead… go… go… go…
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Where the other half learns
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This section of a recent scuttle played out in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and walked a path around – and through – parts of the campuses of Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh – aka PITT. This made three university campus visits for me on this walk.
It’s pretty much what you’d think Ivy League school campuses would look like, around these parts. Lots of hustle and bustle, crowds of impossibly young people rushing about… all that.
I recently learned that a single semester’s worth of matriculation at CMU – for a freshman – costs in excess of $70,000. Wow.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned during prior recent walks through this zone, it’s a nice and a quite familiar feeling to me, having tall structures to use as navigational aids.
The bridge overflies a ravine which is colloquially referred to as ‘Panther Hollow,’ but which I’m told is technically ‘Junction Hollow’ instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s train tracks, a big steam boiler facility, and all sorts of ‘stuff’ down there. On my list for future scuttles, this path.
I’ve walked around and through a more southeasterly section of Panther Hollow just once, shortly after moving to Pittsburgh back in 2024, but didn’t scuttle through to this particular spot.
One continued along. It was late in the afternoon and the evening ‘rush hour’ was setting up in Oakland.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Oakland is the de facto daytime population center of Pittsburgh.
Multiple large hospitals, university buildings, offices of every kind can be found there. One of the few places where you’ll encounter what a New Yorker would describe as ‘traffic.’ My path followed one of the ‘main drags,’ called Forbes Avenue, where buses line up to accept and cart away the crowds of commuters who work in the area.
As mentioned several times, Newtown Pentacle is so far ahead of schedule right now that we’re existing in a time warp together, lords and ladies. These shots are from early May, the words from early June, and you’re receiving this in mid July. I mention this, as that fellow in the shot above is wearing a jacket, despite how warm and humid the afternoon was when this shot was gathered.
By the time you’re reading this, a humble narrator declares, I will have ridden upon a Pittsburgh bus and explored at least one of the busways. I’ve been threatening to do that for a while now and ‘do what you say, say what you do’ applies.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The walk gets ‘hinky’ at the foot of Forbes, where it transmogrifies out of a highway off ramp. Pedestrian and bike concerns are an afterthought in this area, and there’s an extremely risky street crossing at the end of it.
No Bueno.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the crossing, which I’ve mentioned before. Vehicles emerge on that off-ramp from I-376 moving at highway speeds, and they don’t have a stop or yield sign either. There is a painted crosswalk, however, so it’s a ‘legit’ crossing. I’ll just say it again – No Bueno.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Squirreling through the hills
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described previously, your humble narrator was heading for a historical lecture being offered at a library, in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, and one had just crossed the South Tenth Street Bridge over the Monongahela River in order to facilitate a ride share pickup to carry me to said library.
The horizon line in the shot above is where I had been walking around in the posts published last week – an area called ‘The Bluff’ – which hosts both Duquesne University, and the neighborhood called ‘Uptown.’
I used Uber for this ride. Common practice that I’ve picked up here in Pittsburgh is to query both Uber and Lyft and see which one is cheaper for the same ride. Uber beat Lyft by about $7 so ‘win.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One arrived at the library, and it was thankfully quite cool within. This was one of the first truly warm days in late Spring for Pittsburgh.
Yes, the Newtown Pentacle time warp persists. Photos from May 11, words from early June, and you’re in mid July if I got my scheduling right.
The lecture itself was academic in nature, with a detailed description of the historian’s methodology. Personally, whenever I was doing one of these kind of talks about Newtown Creek back in Brooklyn or Queens, I liked to drop in a few jokes and use colloquial language, and avoided getting into the slog of how I researched the presented information, but then again I don’t have a PHD in Jewish history as the presenter did – as I’m just some schmuck with a camera who knows far too much about Newtown Creek.
I learned things, though, it was worth attending.
After about an hour, the presentation was over and one was vomited forth back onto the streets, where he belongs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Squirrel Hill is a really nice neighborhood, and kind of pricey to live in as well due to desirability, at least compared with the rest of Pittsburgh.
This ‘zone’ is literally Mister Rogers’ neighborhood, as a note.
The plan… and this is where the second half of my efforts for the day begin… was to walk all the way back to the T Light Rail on the South Shore of the Monongahela River, and use that to get back to HQ in the Dormont section. More or less about a seven mile walk. Best to just lean into it.
I had more or less decided on a path, but left it kind of fuzzy to accommodate serendipity, should it manifest.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, really lovely neighborhood.
Reminds me a great deal of Brooklyn’s Midwood, in the section where it nears Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway in the east ‘teen’ streets, and along the H-N avenues. Historically speaking, Squirrel Hill is meant to be a Jewish majority neighborhood, just like Midwood is back home. Most of the ‘important’ non Jewish people live out here – politicians, and university brass, the wealthy corporate types.
It was hot on the streets, I tell you, hot. Your narrator was humbly shvitzing while scuttling.
I’ve got a whole routine for this sort of weather, by the way. Number one thing is breathe through your nose and keep your mouth shut or you’ll dehydrate quickly. Number two is walk in the shade if you can. I’ve mentioned that I’ve recently started carrying a water bottle, yes?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a lot of weird traffic interchanges in Pittsburgh, and the one pictured above is an example. It’s at a border where Squirrel Hill bumps up against Oakland, where a large park and the two big universities are found. Hills and valleys, hollows and peaks…
This leg of my day would end up adding about seven miles of wear to the hiking shoes. After returning to HQ, I noticed that the treads on those shoes had essentially been ground smooth in the last few months, and I had to order another pair. Merrel Moab 3, if you’re curious. Been wearing this model of shoe for years, and they’re a critical part of the ‘kit.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That water bottle recently added to the kit came in handy on this walk.
A paroxysm of comparison shopping led me to purchase one of the fairly leak proof offerings from the Nalgene outfit, and I now have a 16 ounce parcel of travel liquid to rely upon during scuttles.
A big difference between NYC and Pittsburgh revolves around the presence of Bodegas. NYC has them, Pittsburgh doesn’t.
In NYC, you’re never more than a mile from someone wanting to sell you a cold drink, in Pittsburgh you have to rely on a coroner retrieving your water starved husk of a corpse, found lying on the side of a road pointing towards a Bodega which doesn’t exist.
Back tomorrow with the next leg of this scuttle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Under bluffed
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey, that’s where we left off last week – with your humble narrator about to scuttle into the Armstrong Tunnel in Pittsburgh’s pedestrian and bike path. Fun!
Said tunnel pierces a land form dubbed ‘The Bluff,’ connecting Forbes Avenue to Second Avenue, along the Monongahela River waterfront nearby the South 10th street bridge. Whew… all caught up.
This would be a two part scuttle, with an intermission in the middle. Your humble narrator had signed up to attend a lecture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the cool things which I’ve found to do here in Pittsburgh revolves around the availability of a vast numbers of academic presentations, historical talks, and live lectures that are offered at the City’s many libraries, historical societies, and cultural institutions – mostly for free.
Going back to a recent question of ‘is walking around all that I do,’ learning new things is also something I enjoy doing.
One entered the Armstrong Tunnel, secure in the knowledge that I would not bump my head on the ceiling, as I would enjoy some 7 feet and 11 inches of headroom and approximate leeway, therein.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s fairly grim within, and kind of loud. Saying that, pedestrian path!
The lecture I was heading to was being offered at a library, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, and presented by a historian from the Heinz Museum who held a PHD in Jewish History.
One of the Pittsburgh neighborhoods which was historically considered ‘Jewish’ back in the day, was the same area I had been walking around for the last couple of hours – ‘Uptown’ on the Bluff.
I wasn’t attending this lecture to find some lost relative or anything, instead it’s just another part of learning about this crazy place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve attended Hebraic oriented tours here in Pittsburgh, which included visits to the monumental Rodef Shalom Synagogue in Oakland, and Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill. Both made me think about Eldridge Street in Lower Manhattan.
I grew up Jewish. People ask me all the time if I still practice Judaism, and my answer is always ‘nope, I’m really good at it, no need to practice anymore.’
In case you’re wondering, the graffiti in the tunnel was likely eliminated in the run up to the NFL Draft at the end of April. Don’t worry, just a matter of time until it’s back.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Time was growing short, and as I’m notoriously early to everything, I began flying into a panic about that. I had 45 minutes to go about five miles… sigh…
The plan was simple, I’d emerge from the tunnel – like some sort of human turd hurtling out of a mountainous ass – and then walk across a bridge, and summon a ride share to carry my pre-corpse there.
I may write all fancy, but my internal dialogue is profane and common.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bridge crossing in question would involve the South Tenth Street Bridge, pictured above.
It would be a bit easier to get a rideshare pickup on the south side of the river than it would be on the northern shore, which hosts a busy traffic interchange, as well as a jail and a large homeless shelter. I walked across and activated the app, summoning a ride.
When my Uber arrived, the guy was driving a pickup truck. That’s a new one.
Back tomorrow with more wanderings.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
As one scuttles above, so too below
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Jesus Christ! Mary, Mother of God!
I was walking around the periphery of the campus enjoyed by Duquesne University, and this statuary is part of the Catholic University’s outdoor collection. It’s the centerpiece of a memorial for lost WW2 soldiers who were former Duquesne Students, that’s dubbed as ‘The Victory Garden.’
Here’s a shot of the signage, and here’s a page from American Legion about it. Couldn’t find the name of the sculptor, and I did look.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I negotiated my way from the statuary, and started heading back to the non-campus streets. They were fairly steep.
This section of my day was ‘phase one’ of a longer scuttle – which would play out all day and frankly – exhaust me. By the time I got back home, it was a quick dinner and then early to bed. I’ve mentioned that it’s gotten a bit warm around these parts, even so back in early May when these shots were gathered. It pretty much went directly from Spring to Summer in Pittsburgh, seemingly overnight.
Yes, the Newtown Pentacle time warp is indeed still in effect. Shots are from May 11, words are being typed on June 8. If my scheduling is correct, this post publishes on July 10, a Friday. From my current point of view, you’re ‘wizard’ as you know how the future comes out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself at the edge of another high speed road that was busted through an urban landscape, in the name of progress and traffic flow. This is an older example of this sort of urban renewal, called the Crosstown Boulevard (and it’s one which Robert Moses had a hand in creating!).
Crosstown Boulevard is a road in a trench, which is connected to multiple enormous concrete and steel ramps. It leads into the center of the City, through an area where urban renewal went horribly wrong to the north, then goes through a different area destroyed by urban renewal in the center of the city (pictured today), then branches off in multiple directions towards more examples of the sort of blight which urban renewal projects often bring found to the east, south, and north.
Pennsylvania is actually still up to this sort of nonsense, and is building a brand new tolled highway not too far away from here, which is blighting its way through neighborhoods and businesses all in the name of the common good, and it is dubbed the ‘Mon Fayette Expressway.’
Wow. Learn from history. Please.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s a section of the Crosstown Boulevard complex pictured above.
It forms the western border of the Bluff/Uptown/Duquesne Campus.
According to Google’s AI, dubbed Gemini, there are approximately 45,000 to 52,000 vehicles trips through this corridor every day. Admittedly, I’m often driving one of those vehicles, as this is how I get ‘there’ from ‘here’ a bunch. Don’t want to stand on a soapbox about this subject without admitting that I’m a sinner too.
Thing is, this used to be a productive part of Pittsburgh with office buildings and homes. Instead of organic privately based capital growth, you’ve instead got a thoroughfare designed to have people drive their money quickly away from Downtown Pittsburgh towards a distant suburb, and they’re going to spend it there instead of where they earned it.
That economic dog don’t hunt.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It legitimately sucks to be a pedestrian hereabouts, walking blocks and blocks just to get around all the highway ramps.
Funny thing is that Pittsburgh City Hall is only a few blocks away from this spot. All the politicians will tell you how ‘walkable’ Pittsburgh is. The surrounding architecture in this part of Pittsburgh is what I describe as ‘inhuman.’
Monolithic, building campuses are set back great distances from both the curb and sidewalk, with humanity incidental to and not welcomed into the designs. I’ve offered observations about the inhumanity of Philip Johnson’s PPG plaza before.
‘Opinions are just like ‘iceholes,’ everyone’s got one.’ My dad used to say that in a more colorful fashion, usually when I scolded him for driving too slow back in Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the bottom of the Bluff, pretty much directly beneath that crazy set of metal ‘City Steps’ I was standing on in yesterday’s post, some 10-12 stories above, is the Armstrong Tunnel.
This bit of infrastructure had been under construction for the first couple of the years I’ve spent here in Pittsburgh, but Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself actually had scuttled through it before, during an ‘Open Streets’ day in May of 2024.
This tunnel was going to be how this particular chicken got to the other side, I had decided, as it’s got a dedicated and protected bike and pedestrian lane with concrete separation from vehicle traffic. Win!
Back next week with more – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 