Archive for 2012
stranger whence
Notice: the November 9th Magic Lantern Show with Atlas Obscura is cancelled for now. We hope to reschedule for sometime during the winter. Observatory, where the event is scheduled to take place, has been damaged by Hurricane Sandy and flooding.
Alternatively, it has been decided to move forward with this Sunday’s Newtown Creek “SideTour” Poison Cauldron walking tour in Greenpoint, details are found at the bottom of this posting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Completing the survey of the distaff tributaries of the fabled Newtown Creek in the aftermath of the so called Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, my stalwart companion Hank The Elevator Guy and your humble narrator proceeded to the heart of darkness itself, the malign English Kills which runs along the borderland of Bushwick, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Ridgewood.
There are few casual visitors to this spot, and those of us who are familiar with this section of the Creek make attempts to limit our exposure to it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Reports from those who live nearby, and don’t enjoy the measured luxury of choosing how often to breathe the unique perfumes of English Kills, indicated that significant flooding occurred here. The water was meant to have infiltrated out from the bulkheads, overflowing the tracks of the LIRR’s Bushwick Branch, and onto both Morgan and Johnson Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shells of bivalves were extant upon the moist ground. Can it be possible that they were deposited by the tidal surge? One thing which should be noted is that the smell one normally associates with this area, something not dissimilar to a turtle’s aquarium tank, was absent. Everything smelled… well, wet.
Only way to describe it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Everywhere that I’ve seen exposed rail tracks around the Creek, they all exhibit this fresh patina of orange corrosion. Causation does not equal correlation, however, if you were to compare them to the shots in the Newtown Pentacle posting from March of this year “approaching locomotive” you will notice a distinct change in color which your humble narrator would ascribe to immersion in brackish water.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The water in English Kills, as always, was horrible to behold. It was a bit murkier than usual, as would be suspected, and a large amount of floatable trash was observed. Again, not unsurprising. There is a reason that my old pal Bernie Ente called this spot “the heart of darkness” and why I use “gods gift to pain“.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a pretty well established spot for homeless shanties and sometimes full blown camps to be established. It’s hidden and far enough away from “civilization” for no one to complain about a camp fire, after all.
This shanty was smashed, no doubt by heavy winds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The CSO at the end of the Newtown Creek’s furthest extant. One can only imagine what was erupting from it during the storm surge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The larger Homeless shanty dwelling atop the CSO seems to have survived the storm, and they are flying the flag.
Notice the storm debris hanging from the plants along the banks, no doubt left behind as the waters receded, sucking along anything that was submerged or floating in it on the way back into the waterway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator has been in contact with certain members of the government about oil sheens and petroleum residues observed around the Newtown Creek on this survey. They assured me, and asked that I pass along that they will be back on the beat with us as soon as they clear up the disastrous situation in the Rockaways, Staten Island, and especially the Arthur Kill. They have asked that if anybody in the area spots oil, especially after the coming storm on Wednesday, that you call the NYS DEC Spills Hotline, open 24 hours a day at 1-800-457-7362.
Tomorrow, I’ll be tying things up with a visit to Greenpoint and Hunters Point made on Saturday, sans the services of Hank the Elevator Guy.
Upcoming Newtown Creek tours and events:
Note: there are just 4 tickets left on this one, which is likely the last walking tour I’ll be conducting in 2012.
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
shallow mud
Notice: the November 9th Magic Lantern Show with Atlas Obscura is cancelled for now. We hope to reschedule for sometime during the winter. Observatory, where the event is scheduled to take place, has been damaged by Hurricane Sandy and flooding.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hank the Elevator Guy and I next proceeded to the Grand Street Bridge in our survey of the Newtown Creek watershed, post Hurricane Sandy. Reports during the storm itself described the area as impassible, and knowing that the low lying areas around Metropolitan and Flushing Avenues are normally prone to flooding, it was with no small amount of trepidation that we approached DUGSBO.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the Brooklyn side of the Grand Street Bridge, there was evidence of washouts and sedimentation from the banks, and a pile of rubble and even a wooden staircase was piled up against the fence which separates the street from the bulkheads of Newtown Creek’s East Branch.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Additionally, the fire hydrant at the foot of the bridge was painted with muck and mire, indicating that the water overflowing the banks rose to at least its height. This is startling, as it is close to 15 feet over the normal waterline. However, given the presence of the enormous CSO back on Metropolitan Avenue, it would reasonable to assume that the surge rose from two directions here, one traveling eastward along the Creek from the East River, and another rising from the multiple vaults underlying Metropolitan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Clearly affected by the flooding, this low lying yard which houses a school bus company was hard at work. Most of the buses had their engine hoods open, and mechanics were seen tinkering with the machinery therein. Additionally, there were people inside the buses working with cloths and mops. Another one of the subjects which I’ll likely be called to task for in the future by political wonks and area wags, one only hopes that an enormous amount of bleach will be expended by these laborers, before children are allowed onto these buses when schools open next week.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It should be noted, and admitted to you lords and ladies, that your humble narrator is embroiled by controversy and derision these days. Unsought but uncomfortably accepted notoriety has brought no small amount of joy to me, but there is a dark side to this as well. My notably unpleasant personality and aberrant disobedience to social norms, it would seem, is best taken in small doses. Fair enough, one must always remain and function as an outsider, for this is where I belong.
sinister swamp
Notice: the November 9th Magic Lantern Show with Atlas Obscura is cancelled for now. We hope to reschedule for sometime during the winter. Observatory, where the event is scheduled to take place, has been damaged by Hurricane Sandy and flooding.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Maspeth Creek overflowed its banks during the surge, and flooded surrounding properties. Luckily, from a humanist point of view, these are industrial sites. Unfortunately, from an economic and environmental point of view, Maspeth Creek is pretty polluted under best case circumstances. All of the businesses nearby had pumps at work and their loading bay doors were wide open, no doubt to aid in drying the places out.
My understanding is that several of these businesses lost entire inventories, and are dealing with untold contaminations of their work place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The day after the storm, Newtown Creek Alliance distributed video and photos of what was going on here, and it seemed that one of the videos depicted the large CSO (Combined Sewer Outfall) as submerged and emitting raw sewage into the surging water. The material so disgorged must have ended up everywhere. The fellow who was giving me a ride around the watershed, Hank the Elevator Guy, decided to stay in the car for this spot.
A point was made of stamping out my shoes before reentering the vehicle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We continued on to our next destination, the Maspeth Plank Road. It was impossible to approach the water, as the always swampy soil was absolutely gelatinous. Unsure as to what might be hidden in the vegetation and not wanting to accidentally pierce my skinvelope via a hidden bit of metal or glass (everything you’re looking at in these posts should be considered highly contaminated), caution was held tightly against the wind and I decided to see what I could see from the pavement.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What was visible was essentially Brooklyn, where the coastline of the former Furmans Island remained unchanged, except for one thing. There was virtually zero activity, and this stretch of Maspeth Avenue is normally abuzz with trucks and heavy equipment. The sound of pumping was not as evident coming from this direction, best described by Maspeth Avenue’s landward intersection with Vandervoort.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some water moves between the largish “aggregates” company next door and Newtown Creek, which is the product of its workers complying with dust abatement rules by spraying water on the mounds of soil and stone they process and sell. The ground, however, was highly saturated this day. Normally, this little pathway has a trickle of water flowing through, not the small creek which you see in these shots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Discretion, valor, and the better part of both demanded that I not try to walk closer to the water. Again, anything you might encounter close to the shore of the Creek after this event is likely coated with filth. Filth, that is, if you’re lucky. All manner of chemicals and fuel products were loosed in the flood waters, and sewer bacteria is merely the tip of the periodic table of possibilities of what you might be exposed to here.
The smell on the air here was not unlike the commercial disinfectant spray sold under the Lysol brand.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Everybody’s friends at Riverkeeper have released a bit of an advisory on what to expect around the waters edge, and how to protect yourself in some way from it. The logic of storm surges and their aftermath demands that a tremendous amount of material will find its way into the water conventionally- down storm drains or washed over the edge- or unconventionally- as submerged fuel and chemical tanks leech their contents into the water.
Be real, real careful when nearby the shoreline, lords and ladies.
solid stones
Notice: the November 9th Magic Lantern Show with Atlas Obscura is cancelled for now. We hope to reschedule for sometime during the winter. Observatory, where the event is scheduled to take place, has been damaged by Hurricane Sandy and flooding.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing our survey of the Creeklands in the immediate wake of Hurricane Sandy, Hank the Elevator Guy and I entered venerable Calvary Cemetery in Blissville. Truly, I did not expect to see what was evident there, which was virtually zero impact from the storm.
Not a downed headstone nor anything larger than a fallen tree limb betrayed the tumult.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not sure of how this was possible, given the exposure and high elevations of the place. Wherever you are along the Newtown Creek, the highest natural elevations visible are Calvary (Laurel Hill) and the hill next to it (Berlin). It is certainly the highest point between Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood and the East River, and is an unstructured hill well planted with trees.
The majority of the monuments merely sit upon the ground and have no foundation other than a stripe of poured concrete.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One truly expected to find the place laid low, with grounds crews attempting to right the stones and clear away fallen trees. How strange. It is almost as if someone was looking out for the cemetery and steering the destruction away from it. Sunnyside, which is at a slightly lower declination than Calvary, suffered massive losses of trees. So did Maspeth proper which is at an even higher elevation.
I guess Dagger John knew how to pick a piece of land…
dark moor
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of the survey of places around Newtown Creek impacted by Hurricane Sandy which your humble narrator knows that no one else cares about, mainly because they’re in Queens, and after leaving the Borden Avenue Bridge Hank the Elevator Guy and I drove over to the Dutch Kills turning Basin at 29th street. The smell here, a mix of raw sewage and petroleum, was overpowering. There was some street flooding, but this is fairly normal for 29th street. As mentioned, nobody cares as it’s Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wasn’t expecting to see much destruction back here, as the sea walls and bulkheads were set up in an earlier time of maritime industrial dominance and weren’t “built short” to accommodate kayaks or enhance the experience of park attendees. This is the end of Dutch Kills, by the way, and is a somewhat relict waterway with no maritime customers extant in the modern day. The terrestrial based industries all along Dutch Kills were busy pumping water and dragging soaked inventory out to dumpsters while I was there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Accordingly, the large CSO’s at the end of the canal deposited a noticeably higher amount of flotsam and jetsam than normal, and the water was particularly foul. Again, this is a normal occurrence after any storm event. When Queens flushes a toilet during a thunderstorm, it’s contents end up here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One wishes that it could be said that all of this garbage was deposited by the actions of flooding, but again- this is normal. The dumped materials definitely seemed to have been moved around a bit by high water, but in Queens illegal dumping is an art form and Dutch Kills is its Guggenheim.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The water was in horrible shape, that’s raw sewage you’re looking at, collecting at the bullheaded shore and behind the two sunken fuel barges which have been decaying back here as long as anyone can remember. From my vantage, I couldn’t see any of the petroleum slicks seen a few blocks away at Borden Avenue, but I could smell them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hank the Elevator Guy and I returned to his trusty truck, and we headed off for other spots to survey. Next up was Calvary and then Maspeth Creek, and finally English Kills. All three spots will be discussed and revealed over the next few days at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
The Newtown Pentacle 