Archive for November 2013
Project Firebox 96
An ongoing catalog of New York’s endangered Fireboxes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This firebox (which is pronounced as “Fy-Ur-Bochs” by the locals) was from somewhere on the northern side of Astoria, a heavily residential section whose fence posts are adorned with a concrete bestiary. This servant of all that is safe stands guard over king and castle, ready to cry loudly that help is required from the highly skilled folks who ride around the City in shiny red trucks.
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scrawled upon
One of my favorite archive shots today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator was up on the bridge serving the City as a Parade Marshall during the Queensboro Centennial Celebration back in 2009 while down on the streets, a movie crew was readying for the days shoot. This was an Angelina Jolie film, “Salt” I believe, and I couldn’t resist the shot. It’s great when a group of professionals that somebody else is paying dresses a theatrical set in view of my camera.
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once noble
An archive shot from 2007.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We call them “Shwarma Joe” but that’s not their name. This food cart has been operating at the corner of 34th Avenue and Steinway Street in Astoria for as long as I’ve lived here. They do a Halal menu, and offer one of the more affordable lunch options in the neighborhood. I favor the Chicken Kabob wrap myself, sans white sauce. This is an archive shot, as mentioned, captured during the heady days of the second Bush administration. Shwarma Joe never called their offerings “freedom fries,” however.
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dared not
Overwhelmed and underwhelming, that’s me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, we have once again hit that time of the year when the offerings here at your Newtown Pentacle are going to consist of an odd image and a pithy comment or two. The reason for this is the same as it has been every November – busy, busy, busy and exhausted. A short break from substance is required, to allow a humble narrator the opportunity to actually get out there and explore and shoot and research. Today’s shot is from the Procession of San Pio in Astoria, a religious ceremony conducted by St. Joseph’s RC Church.
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olden king
The end of an era happens today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a generation out there- and whether they be youngsters, immigrants, or migrants from other States or Cities- the only Mayor of New York City they’ve ever known is Michael Bloomberg. Like him or hate him, he’s been nothing other than a fact for the last eleven and a half years. Luckily, the likely and chosen successor has not made it through the electoral process to today’s plebiscite, and its time to figure out what we should do next. This is no partisan political post, btw, as I view the political class as little more than employees- which ever side of an imaginary ideological line they happen to stand on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Arrogant, unapproachable, stubborn, inflexible- all of these are words I’ve heard others use to describe him. Often, municipal employees will go pale and say “This is coming straight out of City Hall” when telling a community group that something they wanted is denied. All in all, it could have been worse. Say the words “Mayor Mark Green” and your blood will turn to ice. The little big man will likely be remembered fondly down the road, as his administration has more profoundly altered the municipal landscape than any Mayor since Lindsay or LaGuardia, and we will be reaping the rewards of the vast infrastructure investments made in the last 11 years for decades.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The likely next Mayor is comically tall, could probably palm a dinner plate, and inherits a raft of issues which even three terms could not solve for the current guy. I like the idea of fresh air blowing through the halls of power, but worry that Park Slope will be coming to City Hall with him. There are mid level officials in power there today who were hired during Giuliani’s first term, and its time for a change in management. Not because they’ve done a bad job- they haven’t- but because de facto corruption festers in long municipal tenancy.
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