Archive for April 23rd, 2019
illustrious bones
Iron Triangle, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One often remarks to himself how much Batman’s Gotham City and the Borough of Queens seem to have in common. Conventional comix fandom recognizes Gotham as being an admixture of Chicago and Newark, but neither of those places has a “Ravenswood” or an “Iron Triangle.” Logical supposition would place “Stately Wayne Manor” on the northern shore of Nassau or Suffolk County, but the whole “Queens County is Gotham City” preposition begins to fall apart when you consider that Superman’s base of operations – Metropolis – is widely considered to be an analogue for Manhattan. If you’re living in a place where you need both of those super duper guys around to keep the peace, it would be a good idea to just move away to someplace a bit more quiet.
Saying all that, last weekend I accompanied a group of folks on a tour of Flushing’s Iron Triangle and Flushing Creek which was organized by my pals at NYC H2O.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time I scuttled around the Iron Triangle in Willets Point was with another tour, that one organized by Queens Borough Historian Jack Eichenbaum several years ago. Jack’s tour occurred earlier in the season, and the endemic flooding of the broken streets in these parts – caused by the purposeful neglect and blighting of the area by a conspiratorial alliance of Real Estate Industrial Complex players and their political puppets in both Manhattan’s City Hall and Queens’ Borough Hall which has played out over five or six decades (Mario Cuomo, for instance, began his political career around this issue) – was completely frozen over.
Jack Eichenbaum walks like a mountain goat and managed the icy devastations with grace and style, but the rest of us were slipping and sliding all over the place, as a note.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Personally speaking, I was just glad to be amongst people for a few hours, and to observe an area which I’m not overly familiar with. The blasted heath which is the Iron Triangle, a light industrial zone adjoining CitiField and Flushing Creek, makes for nice photos IMHO. The usual forces – EDC, the politicians, REBNY and the whole crew of loathsome sentience from over in Manhattan – want to wipe away this area and replace it with the usual totemics – “affordable housing,” a “sports field,” and or a “shopping mall.” The fact that they’ll be wiping out hundreds of blue collar jobs isn’t part of their equation or narrative, which is to act as “Progressives.”
Remember – Robert Moses was a “Progressive,” as in “Progress” and “you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” When the modern politicians and economic development people call themselves “Progressives” they’re telling you point blank what they are, but trying to give you the impression that “Progressive” means something other than what it does.
More tomorrow.
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Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Events!
TONGHT! Slideshow and book signing, April 23rd, 6-8 p.m.
Join Newtown Creek Alliance at 520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a slideshow, talk, and book signing and see what the incredible landscape of Newtown Creek looks like when the sun goes down with Mitch Waxman. The event is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP here. Light refreshments served.
The Third Annual, All Day, 100% Toxic, Newtown Creekathon. April 28th.
The Creekathon will start at Hunter’s Point South in LIC, and end at the Kingsland Wildflowers rooftop in Greenpoint. It will swing through the neighborhoods of LIC, Blissville, Maspeth, Ridgewood, East Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Greenpoint, visiting the numerous bridges that traverse the Creek. While we encourage folks to join us for the full adventure, attendees are welcome to join and depart as they wish. A full route map and logistics are forthcoming.This is an all day event. Your guides on this 12+ mile trek will be Mitch Waxman and Will Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance, and some of their amazing friends will likely show up along the way.
The Newtown Pentacle 