all observant
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s all so depressing… shortly after cataloguing the dissection of the Dutch Kills shoreline, and other features in the immediate vicinity thereof, one hopped on the 7 train at the elevated Court Square station.
It was time to head home, and after spending a full early February day out and about, my energy was ebbing low.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The plan I had hatched involved taking the 7 to Queens Plaza, and then hopping aboard an N or W train to Astoria, whereupon a short walk to a local pizzeria would result in me walking into HQ and greeting Our Lady of the Pentacle – with a triumphant couple of slices in hand.
The MTA, though… their game is strong.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The frequency of the 7 line is pretty fantastic these days, since they’ve completed the decades long CBTC signals replacement project. It really does come every 5-10 minutes, the 7.
Unfortunately, the gold badged Broadway line trains – R, N, W – never received an upgrade to their signals, and especially so in midtown Manhattan, where it is desperately needed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The signals upgrade allows for precise control of train set positioning and line wide coordination. This allows the trains to be run much closer together than using the old 1920’s style system, and allows for better “transit saturation.”
Over in the Shining City, there are several choke points for Queens bound trains – notably at the tracks leading into 34th/Herald Square and 42nd Times Square, and at the approaches to the Steinway and 63rd st. tunnels under Columbus Circle. If ANYTHING goes wrong at any single one of those points, EVERYTHING goes wrong with all three lines – as well as affecting the M, and the E, and the F lines. This triggers a meltdown in the system that can ripple from Manhattan all the way back to Brooklyn and Queens within minutes.
The Q, which formerly was part of the Astoria line, is now Manhattan only and running on the Second Avenue Subway tracks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After about twenty minutes of standing on the platform at Queens Plaza, I got bored and started waving the camera around.
What is it with the new people in the luxury condos and their lack of drapery, window coverings, or Venetian Blinds?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After about a half hour, during which I was dreaming of pizza, the N finally arrived.
It was long day, and there were lots of photos that needed developing when I got back to HQ.
More tomorrow.
The Newtown Creekathon returns!
On April 10th, the all day death march around Newtown Creek awakens from its pandemic slumber.
DOOM! DOOM! Fully narrated by Mitch Waxman and Will Elkins of Newtown Creek Alliance, this one starts in LIC at the East River, heads through Blissville, the happy place of Industrial Maspeth, dips a toe in Ridgewood and then plunges desperately into Brooklyn. East Williamsburgh and then Greenpoint are visited and a desperate trek to the East River in Brooklyn commences. DOOM! Click here for more information and to reserve a spot – but seriously – what’s wrong with you that you’re actually considering doing this? DOOM!
“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.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
[…] all observant […]
all observant – Urban Fishing Pole Lifestyle
March 31, 2022 at 11:28 am
[…] My last dragon to slay, as I described a collapsing Dutch Kills bulkhead along LIC’s 29th street to Our Lady of the Pentacle, began to catch my eye in “yellow rays.” Throughout the year, I never missed a chance to ride the 7 train, as I did in “all observant.” […]
molasses sloops | The Newtown Pentacle
December 28, 2022 at 11:01 am