Archive for May 2014
saucily cocked
The boulevard of death.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Queens Boulevard has the single greatest appellation of any street in New York City – the “Boulevard of Death.” The thoroughfare has earned its nom de plume via the ridiculous number of people who have been smashed to death by automotive traffic along its length over the years, and as is the case with most things municipal, the elected guardians of the citizenry have enacted various programs and campaigns to safeguard against future tragedy. None of these well meaning efforts have been terribly successful.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The failure of “traffic slowing” or whatever they call it this week or year is generally not being caused by inherent flaws in municipal design or logic, instead, it boils down to the same thing that a corporate IT officer will blame 90% of their computer problems on – user error. As a dedicated pedestrian, I see this happening all the time, and I’m not really sure how much “cherishing of life” nor “sense of self preservation” is possessed by someone who tries to cross Queens Blvd. diagonally and from the middle of the block has, nor how you can codify or legislate that sort of stupidity away. In many ways, its Darwinism at work.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Remember “public service announcements”? PSA’s used to admonish against littering, or starting fires, and instructed on proper etiquette when onboard bus or subway. The PSA’s also used to inform newcomers on how to safely cross the streets and follow the rules. If you follow the street rules, odds are that you won’t end up as a greasy smear on the streets on Queens. Cross at corners, wait for the walk/don’t walk sign to flash white, look both ways before entering the vehicle lane. A humble narrator advises standing behind something like a street lamp when waiting to cross a high speed eight lane street, out of an abundance of informed caution.
This sort of conventional wisdom seems out of style at the moment, and Queens Blvd. remains the “boulevard of death.”
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
there flashed
A life form, encountered.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Involuntarily marching home after a long day in the sun, one found himself on 36th avenue, in the Brazilian section. A generous and friendly, sometimes volatile creed, the Brazilians are a charismatic group who bring much needed color to an otherwise moribund section where Astoria bumps up against the Dutch Kills neighborhood. That’s where I encountered the bird, who was a member of their community.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A descendant of the mega saurians who once ruled the earth, in those days before the hammer of god itself smashed the planet into ruination, the bird was perched imperiously upon a firebox. He seemed haughty, and offered knowing glances to all the mammals marching to and fro.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The creature seemed possessed of a sentient intelligence, and one grew increasingly uneasy when its stare became fixed upon me. Wonderings about whether or not this bird might be associated with or involved in organized crime came to mind. It seemed to be demanding something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s when this affable child of the southern hemisphere appeared, offering the avian some sort of elixir, which was served in a wholesome seeming cup. The entity quaffed whatever was in the vessel, but it’s fixed yellow gaze never left my vicinity. The birds servant opined about how wonderful the creature was, but that might have been something that he had no choice in. Was this, in fact, the Don of some underworld clique, as I suspected?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Can a bird be a member of the underworld? By definition, wouldn’t a bird be part of an overworld? Better not ask too many questions, lest my days become haunted by flocks of rough looking characters bent upon a campaign of torment and harassment. Who can guess, all there is, that might be hidden up amongst the rafters and rooftops of the Newtown Pentacle?
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
continuous scheme
A thing, encountered, in Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Innocently, one decided to take advantage of the recently favorable atmospherics and engage in a relaxed perambulation of the greater neighborhood here in Western Queens. Measured gait carried a humble narrator in a generally eastern direction, from almond eyed Astoria toward the spicy elevations of Jackson Heights, and soon one found himself on Northern Blvd. and the “carridor.”
That’s where I witnessed the unexpected, the unwelcome, the inconceivable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Monstrous, this flapping giant was lurking observed on Northern Blvd. in front of one of the many used automobile dealers, for whom the name “Carridor” has been assigned to the section, found along the great road. It was at least two stories tall and animated by an unknown motive force. Malevolent in appearance, the entity filled me with some nameless dread.
Vast physical cowardice, coupled with an uneven constitution, caused ones blood to run icy cold at the mere sight of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its movements were a staccato of jerking movements, a sort of rising and falling dance which betrayed a jellyfish like quality. Clearly – this creature bore no endoskeleton, nor external carapace, and it flopped about in the steady breeze – and would occasionally lunge toward pedestrians and passerby.
All reserve cracked, and I soon found myself descending into “one of my spells.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Worried that knowledge of this entity, this untrammeled and unknown thing, might consume my already fragile sanity – a hasty retreat back to Astoria was enacted. Why, oh why, must I leave the safety of my home so often? There are things… squamous, flopping, unnatural things… inhabiting the streets and alleys out there.
Who can guess, all there is, which there might be lurking out there?
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
blind alley
It’s nice just to be amongst people.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tour schedule is underway again, which has been going pretty well. So far, it’s been a full house on every excursion. Accordingly, your humble narrator has found himself all over the City of Greater New York (avoiding Manhattan whenever possible) and one has been waving the camera around at a vast variety of subjects. As you’re reading this, I’m likely in historic Newtown (aka Elmhurst) searching for certain signs and portents left behind by earlier generations.
I was in South Brooklyn recently, for an opening reception of the “Combined Overflow” show at Proteus Gowanus, which I was invited to hang a few prints in.
from wikipedia
The English loanword “wanderlust” was already extant in the German language dating as far back as Middle High German. The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering that may be traced back to German Romanticism and the German system of apprenticeship (the journeyman), as well as the adolescent custom of the ‘Wanderbird’ seeking unity with Nature.
The term originates from the German words wandern (to hike) and Lust (desire). The term wandern, frequently misused as a false friend, does in fact not mean “to wander”, but “to hike.” Placing the two words together, translated: “enjoyment of hiking”, although it is commonly described as an enjoyment of strolling, roaming about or wandering.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While at Proteus Gowanus, I decided to snap a couple of exposures of the lamentable Gowanus Canal as witnessed from the Union Street Bridge. Call me a “size queen,” but seriously – compared to Newtown Creek – Gowanus seems pretty compact. Attempts to get to know this waterway are being undertaken, as business carries me to South Brooklyn at least once a month these days.
from nyc.gov
The Union Street Bridge is a double leaf Scherzer rolling lift bascule supporting Union Street over the Gowanus Canal in the borough of Brooklyn. The bridge has two vehicular traffic lanes, each approximately 17 feet wide, and two sidewalks, each 6 feet wide. Both traffic lanes carry eastbound traffic.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These two views are from either side of the Union Street bridge, and depict a landscape unfamiliar. On Newtown Creek, I can see through time and tell you about the outlines of long demolished chimneys and mills, whereas here at the Gowanus – I’m just a visiting tourist seeking the vicarious. That’s nice, I tell you. Something to learn about, new rocks to turn over, and a world which I do not know.
from wikipedia
The Gowanus Canal, also known as the Gowanus Creek Canal, is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, geographically on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay, the canal borders the neighborhoods of Red Hook and South Brooklyn to the west, Park Slope to the east, and Sunset Park to the south. It is 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long. There are seven bridges over the canal, carrying Union Street, Carroll Street (a landmark), Third Street, Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, the Gowanus Expressway and the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway.
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
organic norm
Tug Ireland in DUGABO.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Tug Ireland on Newtown Creek, at the Lukoil Getty bulkhead, nearby the fabulous Tidewater building, alongside the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, in a spot that one refers to as DUGABO. Ireland has been mentioned before at this, your Newtown Pentacle, in the posts “sizable rift” and “thither shouldst.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot is noteworthy simply for the fact that Newtown Creek ain’t what she used to be, maritime traffic wise, and the fact that one seldom sees a Tug tied up anywhere in the harbor. Normally, tugs are like police cars or taxi cabs – existing in a state of perpetual motion while in pursuit of their duties, and any time which a working vessel spends inert and at dock is costing the owner a pile of cash and its crew lost wages.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Can’t tell you what Ireland was up to, tied off in Blissville to the Tidewater building bulkheads. I can tell you that it looked real pretty, bathed in the late afternoon radiance offered by the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, while bobbing around on the malign surface of a waterway demarcating the currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens that is called Newtown Creek.
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 