The Newtown Pentacle

– photo by Mitch Waxman

In the posting “Weird Synchronicity“- from September 8th of 2009-  I commented on the odd coincidence that a Dutch Kills factory that I was preparing a post on was immolated at the very same time that its photos were uploading to the interwebs. On a rainy saturday a few weeks later, I made it a point of stopping by to see what remained. The inset shots are obviously pre fire, and the whole setting is at the end of the “Empty Corridor” in Long Island City.
(empty corridor is a term entirely of my own invention, by the way. I also call Gantry Plaza state park down by Queenswest “that piers thingie by the Battery Park City thing” and call the RFK Bridge- Triborough)

– photo by Mitch Waxman

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Devastation seemed pretty selective, but I imagine that a couple of weeks of attention for a demolition crew, -whose presence and arts are evidenced by the clean cut lines of separation observed in the structures- would involve a thorough scouring for salvage. Metals are still quite the recyclable item, although the bottom has dropped out of the cardboard recycling game.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

As longtime readers know, I never cross a fenceline or knowingly trespass. These shots were taken from the sidewalk, which in this case, is the glass and steel ceiling of an underground vault connected to this fallen structure. The back of this property abuts the Dutch Kills. I must admit to having used the weed choked frontage of this former factory for… the elimination of bodily waste… in the past. This embarrassing acknowledgment is ventured solely to comment on the elaborate and long habited homeless camp that existed just 16 inches from the sidewalk and which was hidden by the thorny foliation issued by the Dutch Kills. Whoever it was that lived there had opened a hole into this vault, whose depths swallowed the light of my trusty electric flashlight.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

No trace of the former residents is observed, they seem to have disappeared into the same manner as that duo from 50th avenue and 27th street who lived in a broken down car that burned away- and that enigmatic man with no legs who lived under the Pulaski Bridge’s Queens tower. Curious.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

– photo by Mitch Waxman

From Fox 5:

A massive fire is burning in a two-story warehouse in Long Island City, Queens.

The flames broke out at around 6 a.m. at 50-10 27th Street and 50th Avenue.

Giant plumes of smoke from the blaze are covering the western side of the Long Island Expressway just before the Queens Midtown Tunnel.

Expect delays of at least 25 minutes on the Expressway.

NY Traffic Authority Ines Rosales recommends drivers in the area take he 59th Street Bridge or get off on the Queens Boulevard and take the Queens Borough Bridge.

There are no reports of injuries.

and from ny1.com

A three-alarm fire in Long Island City was brought under control just after 9 this morning, but not until after it caused major congestion on the Long Island Expressway.

The fire broke out just before 6 o’clock inside an empty warehouse at 50th Avenue and 27th Street, just below the LIE.

The smoke reduced visibility on the roadway and briefly forced its closure.

Fire officials say the heat from the fire was intense, forcing firefighters to fight the flames from the outside of the building.

“We originally sent people in, but it was deemed unsafe, too much fire and a whole building that had been vacant,” said FDNY Deputy Chief Bob Maynes. “So we were worried about the safety of our firefighters.”

About 150 firefighters were needed to bring the fire under control.

The flames completely destroyed the facade of the building and took off most of the roof.

Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries.

Fire marshals have begun their investigation into the cause of the fire.