Archive for June 2020
festering horror
Archive week, pandemic period.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While the tribulation was really gearing up, my walks around Western Queens continued. As mentioned yesterday, one is feeling a bit reflective about the recent months, and the shots presented this week were recently gathered and some presented before. On the 18th of March, one wandered around the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City. The skies were starting to change a bit, and stars became visible to the naked eye. I began to notice troops of Raccoons walking around like they owned the street, and those dickweed Canada Geese reappeared.
The most notable thing, to me, was the quiet. With automotive traffic reduced by an enormous percentile, the “buzz” of NYC disappeared. It was not unpleasant, but you could hear Ambulance sirens screaming from miles away in all directions. Things had just gotten grim.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Returning from a shorter walk on March 22nd, a blazing inferno was encountered around the corner from my house. Whereas I originally thought I didn’t know anyone who lived there, it turns out a friend of a friend was made homeless by this fire. The office of Jimmy Van Bramer was made aware of the situation, who helped find some temporary shelter for them, I’m told.
This is about when I started receiving news about friends or family who had come down with Covid, and when people in the extended network of “people I talk to” began to relay horror stories. It’s also when I started seeing EMS personnel wearing surgical gowns, respirator masks, and face shields over their uniforms in Astoria.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Late March was when I decided to just hang around HQ for a few days. The weather was crappy, and a decision to perfect certain photo techniques which I’d previously dabbled in was arrived at. Controlled environment practice is critical for pulling something off in the field, with its myriad distractions. Over the years, I’ve taken a LOT of pictures of that bodega, here in Astoria.
The one just above was captured on March 28th.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, June 22nd. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates as we move into April and beyond, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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.
fever brought
Archive week, pandemic period.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time I had to attend a meeting in person was March 10, and as it later turned out – one of the people at the meeting already had COVID. She’s recovered, thank goodness, but like a lot of my friends who have come down with this bug, describes an extended period of recovery from it with a distinct set of medical symptoms different from the active fever period. There’s a reason the word novel is in its name, I guess. One has not been tested for the virus, yet, but I’ve got a doctor’s appointment next week for a routine checkup and they’ll be taking blood anyway…
This week, I’m feeling kind of reflective on the recent tribulations, so I thought it might be interesting to review where I’ve been and what I was taking pictures of.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been working on the whole night photography thing for a while now, so wandering around the deserted and darkened streets of Long Island City on March 14th wasn’t out of the ordinary for me. I’ve been trying to observe a day in/ day out model through the pandemic, emerging from HQ well after sunset and heading for the mostly shut down industrial zones. Few, if any, humans spreading cooties hereabouts.
It’s going to be a while, perhaps never, before someone jabs you in the butt with a needle and says “Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you’ve got the cooties shot.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one is also from March 14th, and is (I think) from the corner of 31st street and Northern Blvd. looking towards the new Durst Organization building rising above Queens Plaza. The dream is within reach, lords and ladies – you can soon not only live in Queens Plaza you can also swim around in an infinity pool high above it.
The next morning in March, I seem to recall, is when all the bad news bombs started going off. Remember Murder Hornets and toilet paper shortages? LOL.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, June 22nd. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates as we move into April and beyond, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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.
made wild
It’s freaking Friday?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few odds and ends for today’s post. That’s a Department of Sanitation recycling pickup truck exiting from DUGABO – Down Under the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge Onramp – back onto the normal street grid in Long Island City’s Blissville section. Now, as I often chide – you’ve got garbage trucks from all over Queens making their way to Newtown Creek to drop off their collections. The truck above is based at DSNY’s Queens 13 garage, which is in Flushing. This bit of information should make you wonder about equity, environmental justice, and why you don’t find transfer stations (which is what you call the facilities which garbage trucks dispose of their collections) in the communities which are generating the trash.
Instead, little Blissville does the job for the rest of the Borough, and what do they get in return? Local hiring? Compensation for the annual tens of thousands of truck trips moving through their community? What?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Apologies for today’s post being a couple of hours behind normal schedule, but one was up late exploring on of those internet rabbit holes you occasionally find yourself trapped in. This one involved people setting themselves on fire. Combustion seems to be another one of those concepts which some do not grasp, or seem to have much foreknowledge of. I saw one where, for some reason, a young lady decided it would a great idea to fill a drinking glass with rubbing alcohol and then strike a match.
Fire is a punk way to die, incidentally. Brrr.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It would seem that here in Astoria there’s a fellow named Omar who only has one boxing glove. If you’re reading this, Omar, 34th Avenue and 44th street is where the left one is. Another public service offered.
More fun next week, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, June 15th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates as we move into April and beyond, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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.
sprang suddenly
Tiamat be praised, it’s Thursday.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A visit to the Penny Bridge site in Greenpoint, said site pictured above, qualified as my turn around point for a fairly long walk last weekend. “Turning points” are critical for me when out on one of my photo walks, since if you choose the wrong one you’re walking through a boring residential neighborhood. Nothing wrong with residential, of course, but I don’t like taking pictures of people’s houses. I do like taking pictures of “the People’s house” as in our commonly held properties like Government facilities or various privately held but often publicly traded industrial locations. I like a good waste transfer station or the odd oil terminal, I tell ya.
Luckily for me, the new Kosciuszcko Bridge hosts a pedestrian and bicycle lane, so instead of having to walk all the way to Grand Street to cross back into Queens I can reattach at Laurel Hill Blvd. and get home via Sunnyside’s 43rd street rather than having to loop through Maspeth and Woodside.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The view from up on the Kosciuszcko Bridge is commanding, and worthy of your attention if you haven’t been up there yet. You can pick up the pedestrian/bike lane on Laurel Hill Blvd. in Queens, or Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn. A couple of new playground/parks will soon be opening under the bridge in both boroughs.
I’ve mentioned this a few times during the recent tribulations – the communities surrounding Newtown Creek have found their way to the waterway during the pandemic, and I’ve seen far more people than normal just walking around or riding their bikes in recent months. Does a humble narrator good seeing this, but… joggers in Industrial Maspeth? Yikes.
Be careful, I tell them all, Newtown Creek is an easy place to get dead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
High above it though, lots and lots of people are enjoying pleasant strolls across and over the Newtown Creek. Seriously, if you haven’t walked over the new bridge at sunset/dusk, you’re missing one of the best free shows in NYC. If you get lucky, there’s a chance that tugboats and or rail traffic might be moving around. I like me a good scenic overlook, I does.
May all your Thursdays be happy days, back tomorrow.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, June 15th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates as we move into April and beyond, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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.
undone once
Whoop-dee-doo, it’s Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It took a bit of hustle, but one got to Penny Bridge just in time for dusk. Found at the northern terminus of Meeker Avenue in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section, the Penny Bridge site is – as the name would imply – the former locale wherein one would, prior to 1939, encounter a movable bridge crossing Newtown Creek whose toll was famously a penny. The Penny Bridge’s purpose was negated by construction of the original Kosciuszcko Bridge, which was originally called the Meeker Avenue or New Penny Bridge. The Penny Bridge site has received a terrific amount of attention from my colleagues at Newtown Creek Alliance over the last few years. There are plantings, regular cleanups of illegal dumping, and there’s even a picnic table there. Check it out sometime, if you find yourself in the neighborhood. The deeded owner of the spot is actually the New York City Department of Transportation – the DOT – so it’s actually your property since they are merely our collective employees.
Get to Penny Bridge at the right time, and the shot above is one of the views you’ll receive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking eastwards from Penny Bridge, you’ll see the new Kosciuszcko Bridge, with its unearthly chromatic radiation. The Brooklyn shore is on the right hand side of the shot, with Queens filling most of the frame. The Kosciuszcko Bridge marks the delineation between the Blissville section of Long Island City and the West Maspeth/Berlin section of Maspeth. The bridge carries the Brooklyn Queens Expressway over the Newtown Creek, and is found 2.1 miles from the East River.
The lighting package installed on the Kosciuszcko Bridge is currently rotating through a chromatic scale – yellow, green, blue, purple, red. One has been trying to discern if there’s a hidden message embedded in the frequencies of light and the order and speed of their repetitions. Often when staring at the weird colorations, a sudden irresistible desire to purchase NYS Savings Bonds rises in me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Careful attention is paid to the shadowed shorelines. Sooner or later, I will get a photo of something, something impossible. Again – rumor and innuendo, nothing solid enough to pass on. Yet.
Who can guess, all there is, that might be buried down there?
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, June 15th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates as we move into April and beyond, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 