Archive for May 2013
Project Firebox 70
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Embedded within a cement sidewalk, opposite the fabulous and fossilized remains of the Loose Wiles building of the largely forgotten Degnon Terminal on the Thompson Avenue viaduct stands this soldier of the realm. Unlike many of its brethren in Western Queens, this firebox functions on, awaiting the day it will be needed.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
sacred grove
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Maspeth Creek, at low tide, does not smell like lilacs. A lot of that is due to the natural actions and out gassing of exposed mud flats, but the miasma which plagues the area around it is due to the combined sewer outfall (CSO NC-077, which discharges better than 288 million gallons a year of untreated sewerage into the water). The waterway, severely truncated and canalized, was locked into its current shape and size back in 1914 by the Army Corps of Engineers at the behest of the United States War Department. Nearby was the LIRR Haberman siding, and this was a strategic locale during the early 20th century full of chemical plants and manufacturing companies.
Once, Maspeth Creek ran nearly all the way to Elmhurst, rather than ending in an open sewer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Descriptions of this area, in particular, tickle the fancy of those who come to Newtown Creek with preconceived notions about the place. Here they find stink and sediment mounds, and witness abandoned cars dissolving slowly into its waters. As early as 1908, reports of the area describe it as a “dismal swamp, distributing evil smells and ugly to the last degree.” Witnesses in the early 20th century detailed the presence of railroad yards, factories, acid running from open pipes into the water, fat boiling in open vessels, oil works and chemical yards.
Nearby were the bone blackers, fat renderers, and every sort of malodorous occupation imaginable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is mysterious, to me, that I have been unable to find mention of the place in literature from the so called “muck raker” era whose setting involves this area- the closest you get is in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” Accounts of Packing Town in Chicago abound, notably in Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” Nellie Bly drew a cogent picture of being institutionalized on Blackwells Island in “10 days in a madhouse” and everyone from Walt Whitman to Horace Greely have left behind accounts of the miseries of Manhattan’s working class communities and the horrible conditions encountered around the factories which lined its riverfront shorelines.
How odd it is that this spot, so close to the geographic center of New York City and with a rich colonial era history, has escaped comment by any other than just a few long dead journalists and a half dead yet humble narrator.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
sylvan bower
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Snarling guardians of the public good offer a fierce defense when they discern that a passerby is carrying that veritable thunderbolt of the gods, a weapon fiercer than any other, which is called a camera. The theft and imprisonment of valuable photons in digital form is surely the greatest menace faced not just by America… nay… but by the entire World itself.
The glint of recognition crosses their noble brows, followed by a surprised glance at the lens toting madman’s face. Surely the thing he’s carrying says “Canon” for a reason they think, and then they imagine what might happen should it be pointed at them. Irritation is doubled by the fact that I NEVER cross fence lines or do any of the crazy “Urban Explorer” derring do, or climb bridges the way my pal Dave Frieder used to.
I’m like a Vampire, I need to be invited in to do my work. I also don’t like when people clunk up my shots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The guardians, like certain employees of this seemingly wholesome scrap metal operation on Provost Street in Greenpoint, grow incensed at the very mention of such devices. Confrontation of the animal invader with its dangerous weapon occurs, and wild interpretations of civil code are shouted at it.
Puzzled, an odd mendicant with a penchant for flowery prose and long wanderings about a certain Creek- with just such a weapon in hand- was forced to remove his headphones when confronted by one of these guardians recently. Interaction with the human hive is anathema.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Most of what I wanted to say to this fellow could probably be construed as a hate crime in California, but this is Greenpoint in Brooklyn- so I toned it down a bit- but, since he volunteered and all…
I sort of began an impromptu lecture on constitutional rights, the importance of the recycling industry in which he was gainfully employed, the fact that there are no laws in the United States forbidding photography except around certain Federal facilities (inside, but not outside, a secure Military or Intelligence base, airline security etc.), certain radical notions I have about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, and avoided questioning the parentage of his mother out of respect for the dear lady. He turned and walked away when I whipped out a pocket edition of the Bill of Rights which I keep in my camera bag.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman – Sunday, May 26,2013
Boat tour presented by the Working Harbor Committee,
Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
for a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
grovelling obeisance
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having arrived at the venerable Nature Walk amenity found in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant early one morning, it seemed that all of my worst fears about the troubled waterway had come true. Bathed in the cascading emanations of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, the face of a seeming cacodaemon grinned proudly from a paramount several yards over the pavement.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Baleful, the grinning countenance of the thing had been set atop one of the modernist lighting fixtures which adorn the spot. Upon gazing into its hollow and glowing eyes, the phrase “there can only be one” rudely entered my mind, and unwelcome remembrances of the 1986 Russell Mulcahy film “Highlander” began to flower therein.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
With the assistance of one of the stalwart groundsmen employed by the government to clean and polish the place, what turned out to be a mere Halloween mask formed of latex or rubber was removed and laid out for display and examination. Were it instead the once ubiquitous “Tor Johnson” latex mask produced by the Don Post company, depicting the former wrestler’s infamous role in director Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” one such as myself very well might have gone mad and run off to the Cripplebush.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman – Sunday, May 26,2013
Boat tour presented by the Working Harbor Committee,
Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
for a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Sunday -the 26th of May- the Working Harbor Committee is producing and offering a boat tour of the Newtown Creek for any interested parties to attend. A special emphasis on the waterway’s storied history and maritime legacy will be made.
I’m going to be doing the history part, speaking in my capacity as the Newtown Creek Alliance Historian, and am tasked with highlighting the various points of interest encountered along the route. Anticipated to be some three hours in length, this boat tour will be delving some three miles inland, proceeding to the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge crossing English Kills in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Maritime History of Newtown Creek is one largely forgotten in these decadent times, but even now an odd tugboat and barge might be spied making their way down the waterway on any given day. Property owners were considered to have been blessed by some of the finest industrial bulkheads in the world a mere century ago, yet many of the businesses based along the Creek today ignore this invaluable resource, allowing their waterfront property to decay and decline.
Nevertheless, a staggering amount of maritime traffic is still observed here, and towing companies such as Reinauer, K-Sea, DonJon, and Poling and Cutler are regular visitors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Vast operations will be witnessed by those onboard, many of which are involved in the scrap metal and recyclables trade. Responsible for an enormous amount of cross harbor shipping, companies such as SimsMetal are heavily reliant on the maritime trades for their economic success.
Not all that long ago, Newtown Creek carried a greater tonnage of cargo than the entire Mississippi River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An active and thriving industrial zone in the center of New York City, from the water one can truly grasp the sheer scale of Newtown Creek’s busy waterfront. Normally hidden by high fences and obscured by street facing structures, the intensity of the Newtown Creek is laid bare before the admiring gaze of first time visitor and veteran urban explorer alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A tributary of the estuarine East River, Newtown Creek extends some 3.8 miles from its junction with the more familiar waterway, and provides demarcation for the currently undefended border of much of Brooklyn and Queens. Named to the Federal Superfund list, the Creek suffers from a history of environmental degradation and municipal neglect.
An era of great change is upon the Newtown Creek, and this trip will be one of your last chances to see it in its current form.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We will see four moveable bridges, and this year will be your last chance to see the static Kosciuszko Bridge as the NYS DOT has indicated that construction on its replacement will begin as early as the Fall of 2013.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along it’s banks, great fortunes have risen.
Amongst others- Peter Cooper (BO Railroad, Canton Iron, and Cooper Union), Charles Pratt (Astral Oil, and Pratt University), and ultimately John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil)– all grew richer than the dreams of avarice in this place. Alongside them, the darkest mills of the industrial revolution- rendering plants, yeast distilleries, bone blackers, and acid factories provided tens of thousands of jobs to the immigrant populations of Brooklyn and Queens. Today- National Grid, BP, Amoco, ExxonMobil, and a host of other multinational companies still maintain an enormous investment in this valuable industrial canal.
Upcoming tour: Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman.
On May 26th, Mitch shares his unique point of view and deep understanding of the past, present and future conditions of the Newtown Creek as the narrator and expedition leader for this years’ Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman.
Our NY Water Taxi leaves from South Street Seaport at 10 a.m. (sharp) for a three hour tour of the Newtown Creek. From the East River we’ll move into the Newtown Creek where we’ll explore explore vast amounts of maritime infrastructure, see many movable bridges and discover the very heart of the Hidden Harbor.
Limited seating available, get your tickets today.
Tickets $59, trip leaves Pier 17 at South Street Seaport at 10a.m. sharp.
We will be traveling in a comfortable NY Water Taxi vessel with indoor and outdoor seating. There will be refreshments and snacks available for purchase at the bar.
Other upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
for a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
The Newtown Pentacle 