Archive for July 2012
clearing sky
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling across the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge recently, enroute to a Newtown Creek Alliance meeting featuring a presentation by the DEC’s head oil spill man -Randall Austin, this fellow was observed hard at work by one unused to such exertion. As a zoom lens was already affixed to my camera, I decided to see what might be captured, and realized that I knew almost nothing about the process of welding.
Of course, what I do know about is Newtown Creek.
from wikipedia
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material (the weld pool) that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat, or by itself, to produce the weld. This is in contrast with soldering and brazing, which involve melting a lower-melting-point material between the workpieces to form a bond between them, without melting the workpieces.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On a basic level, I understand the process, but having never undertaken the task- am largely ignorant of its mores. Something I do know of welding, however, it that a welded tank is preferred to a riveted one for bulk storage of petroleum- which was once the industry “standard”.
Incontrovertibly, if one is at Newtown Creek, and the word “Standard” comes up- only one meaning can be gleaned.
from wikipedia
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked (i.e., deformed), so that it expands to about 1.5 times the original shaft diameter, holding the rivet in place. To distinguish between the two ends of the rivet, the original head is called the factory head and the deformed end is called the shop head or buck-tail.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The facility that this torch bearing fellow was at work in is either the Lukoil or Metro depots, but I’m never certain about the property lines in the petroleum district- and given the generally paranoid atmosphere loosed roughly upon society and caused by the ongoing Terror Wars- it’s probably best not to speculate too long about the subject of whose fence begins or ends and where the property lines are.
What’s more interesting about this spot along Newtown Creek, to me at least, is that this laborer was at work in a very special spot- historically speaking.
from wikipedia
Oil depots are usually situated close to oil refineries or in locations where marine tankers containing products can discharge their cargo. Some depots are attached to pipelines from which they draw their supplies and depots can also be fed by rail, by barge and by road tanker (sometimes known as “bridging”).
Most oil depots have road tankers operating from their grounds and these vehicles transport products to petrol stations or other users.
An oil depot is a comparatively unsophisticated facility in that (in most cases) there is no processing or other transformation on site. The products which reach the depot (from a refinery) are in their final form suitable for delivery to customers. In some cases additives may be injected into products in tanks, but there is usually no manufacturing plant on site. Modern depots comprise the same types of tankage, pipelines and gantries as those in the past and although there is a greater degree of automation on site, there have been few significant changes in depot operational activities over time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was right across the street from an early (1840) Kerosene refinery- Sone and Fleming, which was later acquired by John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust and transformed into an oil refinery. This facility has been mentioned before, in connection with an armageddon like blaze which Greenpoint suffered through in 1919. Such disasters were fairly common occurrences in the early days of oil refining and storage depots, and often were caused or made worse by weaknesses in petroleum tanks that were defectively riveted.
Today, there are no refineries along the Creek, it’s all about distribution and temporary storage.
from nytimes.com
TWENTY ACRES OF OIL TANKS ABLAZE; BIG FACTORIES BURN; Flames Cross Newtown Creek from Standard Yards Storing 110,000,000 Gallons of Oil. LOSS RUNS TO MILLIONS Each Fresh Explosion Fills the Sky, as from a Volcano, with Flame and Smoke. 1,200 FIREMEN AT THE SCENE Blaze Spreads for Blocks–Two City Fireboats Catch Fire and Two of Crew Reported Missing. TWENTY ACRES OF OIL TANKS ABLAZE Burned in 1883. Crowd All But Engulfed.
also- check this photo at cah.utexas.edu out, it’s from 1919, showing the fire’s aftermath.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welded joins are an order of magnitude better than riveted ones in such structures. Owing to my ignorance of this industrial art, a quick check was made with a neighbor who was formerly a member of a steam fitting trade union. He instructs that a perfect weld should look like a series of quarters overlapping each other seamlessly, and that an x-ray spectrum radiological photograph can be inspected to confirm a firm and lasting fit- something which cannot be obtained with rivets.
See, you learn something new every day- here in heart of the Newtown Pentacle- along the loquacious and utterly provocative Newtown Creek..
from 1921’s Welding engineer, Volume 6, courtesy google books
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Click for details on Mitch Waxman’s
Upcoming boat tours of Newtown Creek
July 22nd, 2012 NEXT SUNDAY- There are Just a few tickets left, don’t miss out
Working Harbor Committee Newtown Creek Boat Tour
established categories
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This maritime Sunday, it’s a return to the Newtown Creek, where a tug was witnessed heading out to the East River with two barges of what seems to be metal. Unusual best describes the manner in which the barges are tied to the tug, at least in my limited experience. Most of the tandem tows I’ve witnessed over the last several years orient multiple barges in a line, after the manner of train cars in relationship to locomotive engine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Although I can report this only from having seen photos, on the Mississippi or other inland waterways, several barges will be lined up in long rows before tugs. Unfortunately, I came upon the Mscene too late to capture any identifying information about this tug, even the identity of its company. Hopefully, our friends at tugster might be generous enough to identify at least the name of the towing corporation based on the “colorway” of the boat for you, gentle readers, in the comments section.
Project Firebox 49
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Forgotten by all save I, this lonely node of a far flung network hangs forlornly in ancient Maspeth. Alongside a gargantuan parcel delivery yard, and not too far from either the Long Island Rail Road nor Maspeth Creek, it waits… and waits… should trouble pass it by.
impelling fascination
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long time readers will recognize the shot above from a January 2012 posting entitled “Hermes Trismegistus“, which describes the great statue which adorns the Vanderbilt Rail Palace known as “Grand Central Terminal” in Manhattan.
Recent adventure carried me to the place, where I found myself with an uncommon view of the Tiffany Clock which bejewels the carving.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Inside of it.
More on this in a posting next week, but I can’t just sit on these shots without sharing them. The clock face itself is pretty enormous.
A simple image search will show this to hardly be a unique photo, but regardless, this was a thrilling place to visit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a chamber back here, of masonry and exposed steel, which the clock is mounted into. The number six on the clock’s face is a window outfitted with a hinge. This wasn’t “urban exploration”, incidentally, my presence here was sanctioned.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is what Park Avenue looks like from the clock at Grand Central Station, that’s Union Square in the distance. Click the image to check out larger views at flickr.
More next week.
____________________________________________________________________________
Click for details on Mitch Waxman’s
Upcoming boat tours of Newtown Creek
July 22nd, 2012 NEXT SATURDAY
Working Harbor Committee Newtown Creek Boat Tour
ordered terraces
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The blasted heaths of Western Queens, which the art of engineering have conquered fully, must have once been quite lovely. What exists at the dawn of the second millennia, however, represent obeisance to the motor vehicle and “flow”. Gaze in horror upon the Queens Midtown Expressway section of the Long Island Expressway, a 1939 expression of the seeming ennui felt by Robert Moses for the ancient villages and communities of Long Island City.
Your humble narrator is often struck dumb and blind when doing so.
from wikipedia
Symptoms of acute stress reaction
The symptoms show great variation but typically include an initial state of “daze”, with some constriction of the field of consciousness and narrowing of attention, inability to comprehend stimuli, and disorientation.
This state may be quickly followed by either further withdrawal from the surrounding situation (to the extent of a dissociative stupor), or by agitation and overactivity, anxiety, impaired judgement, confusion, detachment, and depression. Autonomic signs of panic anxiety (tachycardia, sweating, flushing) are also commonly present.
The symptoms usually appear within minutes of the impact of the stressful stimulus or event, and disappear within 2–3 days (often within hours). Partial or complete amnesia for the episode may be present.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At its apex over the Dutch Kills tributary of the languid Newtown Creek, which climbs to some one hundred and six feet over the water, the steel roadway begins a precipitous change in declination which carries vehicular traffic to the subaqueous Queens Midtown Tunnel and into Manhattan. The roadway was elevated to this altitude for no reason other than allow ocean going vessels egress to the turning basin of the Degnon Terminal at the head of Dutch Kills, and the blighting effect it had on Long Island City was quite unintentional. The industrial center became something to be ignored, driven over, forgotten, and quite irrelevant- seemingly by design.
If this is not the case, why are there no entrance or exit ramps between Greenpoint and Vernon Avenues?
from wikipedia
Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is a dissociative disorder (ICD-10 classifies the disorder as an anxiety disorder) in which the sufferer is affected by persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization. A diagnosis is made when the dissociation is persistent and interferes with the social and occupational functions necessary for everyday living. Diagnostic criteria include persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from one’s mental processes or body. “Dissociation is defined as a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity and perception, leading to a fragmentation of the coherence, unity and continuity of the sense of self.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The complicated snare of vehicular access to Manhattan as it all compacts in Long Island City has often caused me to fall into a stupor when contemplated. Subway lines, railroads, passenger and freight vehicles- all form a tight fist gripping the heart of this formerly vital center. Storm water flows freely from exhausts onto local streets, causing temporary lagoons of sooty liquids to agglutinate about garbage choked sewers. Many of these sewers bear the screed “no dumping, drains into waterway” embossed directly on the iron grates.
Perhaps one is entangled in some waking nightmare, and all of what may be observed is merely some fevered ideation?
from wikipedia
Oneirophrenia is a hallucinatory, dream-like state caused by several conditions such as prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, or drugs (such as ibogaine). From the Greek words “ὄνειρο” (oneiro, “dream”) and “φρενός” (phrenos, “mind”). It has some of the characteristics of simple schizophrenia, such as a confusional state and clouding of consciousness, but without presenting the dissociative symptoms which are typical of this disorder.
Persons affected by oneirophrenia have a feeling of dream-like unreality which, in its extreme form, may progress to delusions and hallucinations. Therefore, it is considered a schizophrenia-like acute form of psychosis which remits in about 60% of cases within a period of two years. It is estimated that 50% or more of schizophrenic patients present oneirophrenia at least once.
____________________________________________________________________________
Click for details on Mitch Waxman’s
Upcoming boat tours of Newtown Creek
July 22nd, 2012- Working Harbor Committee Newtown Creek Boat Tour
The Newtown Pentacle 