Archive for August 2021
dimensioned original
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A frustrating series of events found a humble narrator staggering about the “Happy Place,” which is what I call industrial Maspeth. It just before sunset, and a bunch of birds were visible, doing bird things.
Every time I try to say what kind of a bird a bird is, I get it wrong, so nowadays I just make up names for them. Hence, the shot of that Crenulated Bean Stealer is offered. This was captured at an open sewer called Maspeth Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not far away, at the Maspeth Avenue Plank Road, there were two Triple Lobed Blunderbusses. Really, you can’t understand why the Audubon people hate me so much? I mean… seriously… they fundamentally don’t like me. It’s probably because I seldom admit how important their selves are.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The second blunderbuss, which I had described to a friend as a “football standing on one leg,” is pictured above.
While I was shooting these images at Newtown Creek, there was some guy who was casting a fishing line out into the water. He was “catch and releasing” and at one point pulled a foot long striped bass from the water.
“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.
archetypal infinity
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One often questions the thought process of others. To wit, the waves visible on the surface of the fabulous Newtown Creek – pictured above – were caused by the passing of a jet ski. You get pretty moist when riding a jet ski, as the thing is positively cleaving the water at a high rate of speed. Speaking as someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time on all sorts of water craft on this waterway, the last thing you want to do at Newtown Creek is get wet. Particularly if it’s rained recently. Yuck.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has also been keeping busy, despite certain existential annoyances and “have to’s” manifesting themselves all around me. Given that the physical symptomology, described in prior weeks, of my malfunctioning left foot continues to bedevil and hinder necessitating transit use – there’s been lots of opportunity to photograph subway infrastructure, like the 7 train entering the Vernon Jackson station in Long Island City pictured above. Here’s your history trivia fact of the day – this was the very first subway station in Queens and it opened in June of 1916.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Woodside, one observed the ghastly evidentiary leave behinds of the Queens Cobbler, a likely serial killer who leaves singular shoes as taunting trophies in pursuit of tormenting the gendarmerie.
More tomorrow at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
natural result
Nehua notōcā Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last weekend, one found himself at Newtown Creek Alliance HQ for an event, and then stuck around for a while to capture a few photos. Depicted above is the sewer plant in Greenpoint. The NYC DEP has changed the name of the place so many times in the last ten years that I’ve decided to just stick with “the sewer plant in Greenpoint” in retaliation. The DEP’s Deputy Commissioner has chided me about this, saying that I’m denigrating her profession. Sorry Pam, if you’re reading this, but when you changed it to the “Newtown Creek Wastewater and Resource Recovery Plant” you lost me.
Imagine answering the phones there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s been a minute since I’ve set up the tripod and got busy like this at night around Newtown Creek, given that I’ve been enjoying the freedom of my vaccinated status out on the rivers and in the larger City. It’s funny how the same people who are describing the latest missives from City Hall about proving vaccination status before entering a theater or restaurant as “show me your papers” are the same ones who are demanding that Election Day poll workers and cops say “show me your papers.” Everybody wants to see my papers, for different reasons, apparently. Armbands are likely the next frontier.
Personally, I’m still on my Eric Burdon kick, and listening to his two collaborations with LA Funk Band “War” endlessly. Great version of Paint it Black on “Black Man’s Burdon.” Recommendation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Those four pipes are where the DEP burns off the methane generated by the sewer plant in Greenpoint. They are also the largest point source of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere in the entire borough of Brooklyn. “DEP” stands for “Department of Environmental Protection,” incidentally.
One of Eric Burdon’s biggest hits was “We Gotta Get out of this Place.” Listen to that guy, he was (and still is) the Walrus – koo koo kachoo.
Speaking of Lonely Hearts Club Bands… what are you doing tomorrow – August 7th? I’ll be conducting a WALKING TOUR OF LONG ISLAND CITY with my pal Geoff Cobb. Details and ticketing available here. Come with?
“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.
inconceivable orbit
wǒ jiào Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start – that’s a ship, not a boat, since it can launch either of the two boats it carries. A ship can launch a boat, a boat can’t launch a ship, and how big the thing is doesn’t qualify it as either. Secondly, that’s the United States Coast Guard’s WMEC-909 Campbell. Campbell is a 1986 vintage “medium endurance cutter.” The white hull paint signifies that it’s part of the USCG’s ocean going fleet, and its mission includes law enforcement, search and rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, fisheries law enforcement, alien and migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, and Homeland Security.
It was spotted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where, to my eye at least, work on and upgrades to its avionics, radar, and other electronics was underway. That’s all the gear on top of the wheelhouse, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The SSI Marvelous was also spotted at the Navy Yard. It’s a bit less glamorous than a military ship, of course, given that it’s a “bulk carrier” freighter. It was built in 2013, and is currently flagged by the Marshall Islands.
“Flagged” indicates the supposed port of call for a ship, but as you’d imagine, where you flag your boat has a lot to do with not paying taxes or having to oblige health and safety laws for your employees. Let’s just say that if Gilligan’s Island existed in the real world, Mr. Howell’s heirs would have an empty office building stuck on it today, one whose phones forward to other offices in LA or Beijing. The international shipping community is populated by fairly grotesque and ultra corrupt characters, but y’all keep on focusing in on Jeffrey Epstein and people drinking baby blood. Distractions abound, huh? Don’t notice the man behind the curtain, nothing to see here…
There’s a concrete company at the Navy Yard, and you often see large cargo vessels like Marvelous here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A “response boat small” was observed a little further south on the East River, this one being operated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s “Encon” Police. I’ve written about the “response boats” quite a few times in the past. Basically, post 911, it was decided to use the “weapons platform” concept to create a basic maritime chassis which the various Police and Emergency Responder agencies could customize to their uses. Coast Guard has a version of this craft with an M60 machine gun bolted to the bow, FDNY has versions that spray water, the NYPD have theirs rigged for towing and ramming. There’s three versions of these – response boats small, medium, and large.
Back tomorrow with something different at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
Speaking of different… what are you doing this Saturday on August 7th? I’ll be conducting a WALKING TOUR OF LONG ISLAND CITY with my pal Geoff Cobb. Details and ticketing available here. Come with?
“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.
black plastic
Mi chiamo Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last Friday, a humble narrator decided to spend the afternoon on the water, so yet another ticket for the NYC Ferry was purchased. This particular trip paid off for me in terms of seeing maritime industrial activity, but truth be told – once a boy has visited the Kill Van Kull on a busy night, he’s jaded. The central section of the East River isn’t exactly super interesting in terms of variety and quantity of shipping activity, but it’s definitely got the best backgrounds.
That’s the Paula Atwell tug, towing a barge of what is likely either sewer solids or garbage, rounding the bend nearby Corelars Hook under the Williamsburg Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The NYC Ferry swings over to Manhattan’s 34th street street for one of its stops, and our Captain navigated that by moving past the north side of U Thant Island. Formerly Belmont Island, this little pile of rocks sits in front of the United Nations Building, and it’s manmade. Literally, these stones were the mining spoils for what we call the 7 train’s tunneling operation. U Thant was a United Nations Secretary General for whom the little island was renamed for when it was converted to a bird sanctuary and taken over by the NYC Parks Dept.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ride continued south, and two more tugs – a large Reinauer one (gold and red) towing a fuel barge and a smaller DonJon one (blue) towing two empty bucket barges – rounded the bend in the river at Corlears Hook, opposite the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Did you know that the Williamsburg Bridge was considered to be so hideous in the years after it was built that the Municipal Arts Society was formed to ensure that nothing like it ever got built again?
Speaking of ugly… what are you doing on August 7th? I’ll be conducting a WALKING TOUR OF LONG ISLAND CITY with my pal Geoff Cobb. Details and ticketing available here. Come with?
“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 