Project Firebox 40
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the edge of nowhere in Maspeth, this noble soldier of the realm sits on the truncated remains of the Jamaica and Newtown Turnpike, which was once carried the Maspeth Plank Road over Newtown Creek. A no mans land of trucks, industrial concerns, and desolation, the corner it polices is one seldom travelled except by those of us drawn to the mysteries of the Creeklands. In the distance, one can discern the Freedom Tower rising in the Shining City.
The Newtown Pentacle 
Mitch, do these things still work?
gthea
April 14, 2012 at 11:49 am
Some do, as I understand it. A lot of the alarm boxes are out of order, but that because the city was planning on eliminating them and stopped maintenance. Supposedly, they are wired to the local firehouse rather than the 911 system.
Mitch Waxman
April 14, 2012 at 11:57 am
There’s supposed to be an orange light way up high on a pole in the immediate vicinity of the alarm box. To indicate to the public that a box is located in that vicinity. I wonder if these orange lights are operable for the 40 boxes you’ve already photographed. And if that operability might indicate that the alarm box was “live”?
georgetheatheist
April 14, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Did not know that. In the future, I’ll check.
Mitch Waxman
April 14, 2012 at 2:24 pm
I noticed today that these orange lights can be on anything “high up there”. These orange lights are affixed to all kinds of different elevated structures.
georgetheatheist
April 15, 2012 at 1:15 am