persistently haunted
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in Friday’s post, a humble narrator set out for Greenpoint’s “Penny Bridge” street end to capture a few sunset shots. What with the heat and all the rain we’ve been having, it’s been difficult to find the right time and get to the right place. Penny Bridge is at the foot of Meeker Avenue, incidentally, where there used to be a crossing to Queens. The Penny Bridge, as it was called, was demolished in 1939 when the original Kosciuszcko Bridge opened. My pals at Newtown Creek Alliance have been looking after this spot, and have even installed a bit of historic signage about Penny Bridge. If you visit, be careful with the everpresent mud found there, as it’s quite slippery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The mud clogs up a sewer grate, meaning that there’s also always a giant puddle of super nasty water. Luckily, this allows what seems like a billion mosquitoes a place to breed. That’s the good stuff, I tell’s ya.
The night I was at Penny Bridge was about 24 hours after Tropical Storm Henri blew through the City, and my beloved Newtown Creek was particularly aromatic. The “licking a battery” smell of raw sewage was prevalent due to the Combjned Sewer Outfall system. Mixed into the aroma was a distinctly petrochemical perfume, and the nearby waste transfer stations that handle municipal refuse were introducing the scent of wet garbage into the atmospheric cocktail. Never has Anosmia sounded so good, thought I.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The weird emanate of light from the Kosciuszcko Bridge paints the landscape of the Newtown Creek with a lacquer of surreal and over saturated colors. The hues and intensity of the bridge’s lights are like no earthly color. Instead, they are not like some colour out of space or anything, instead they remind one of a certain Greek coffee shop back home in Astoria.
More tomorrow.
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“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 
Now I know meaning of Anosmia, thanks! The hydrant scene was disorienting at first, an interesting experience. I saw lava flow, reflections of clouds in the sea.
dbarms8878
August 30, 2021 at 8:09 pm