mocking instruments
One dares, or he dares not.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, one found himself entering the death inducing environs of Queens Plaza last week. Navigating the cryptic signage painted onto the pavement, which mixes bike lane and pedestrian lanes intermittently, at night… Well, the NYC DOT really needs to be thinking about a do-over concerning them. Path finding is not based on any sort of recognizable municipal language, and there are few if any “tells” indicating where the pedestrian pathways fall. I walk through here all the time, and it scares the patootie off a humble narrator every time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Automotive lanes suddenly appear in front of you, ones in which cars are already moving at a pretty good clip by the time they hit a badly marked cross walk. There’s nothing to “stand behind” while waiting for the light to change, and a feeling of exposure is experienced. This can’t be right. When the Dutch Kills Green park on the northern side of Queens Plaza opened a few years back, it dramatically improved the pedestrian situation on the Dutch Kills side, but the south eastern side is dangerous as all get out and difficult to navigate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Don’t get me wrong, the northern side ain’t perfect, but it’s vastly easier to navigate through it than its opposite. As a note, I’ve been unable to stop noticing the super tall Manhattan building “432 Park Avenue” and everywhere I go these days it’s just popping up and demanding to be acknowledged. Here it is from Queens Plaza, a monster building as seen from the central gearbox of the Great Machine. One wonders, and more than wonders, what the weather is like up there.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 
Can you imagine spending millions to live on the top floor of that building on Park Avenue? I’d be pretty wary of a plane flying in. I can’t not notice it either. What a bland entity just like the Freedom Tower. The entire NY skyline is now effed’ up. In midtown, the most beautiful building is the Chrysler building with the Empire State number 2.
georgetheatheist . . . Lasciate ogni speranza o voi ch'entrate.
October 17, 2014 at 12:23 pm
I’d like to spend a solid clear day up there, with tripod and camera, of course.
Mitch Waxman
October 17, 2014 at 12:59 pm
I once went up to the very top of the Chrysler Building. Around 1977. The top floor had a dentist’s office, I took the elevator all the way up. Nobody checked at all for ID in dem dere daze. Instead of opening the door to the dentist’s office, I took the unguarded stairs up another flight to some kind of roof storage area with little windows. Took a few photos and then high-tailed it out of there before someone came up to ask what I was doing there..
georgetheatheist . . . Lather Lad
October 22, 2014 at 2:22 pm