humming music
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The John J Harvey Fireboat stopped at the dock in Blissville, along Newtown Creek, where we picked up the majority of the people who accompanied me on my last navigation of the waterway. The crowd debarked, although some of us stayed onboard for the ride back to Manhattan’s West Side. The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge had opened again, and allowed us to pass.
The Captain of the Fireboat, Huntley Gill, decided to offer me a salute and fired the water monitors onboard the Harvey for a display.
My pal Scott Wolpow managed to grab some video of that, here it is:
– video by Scott Wolpow
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I managed to get one or two last shots from the water on our way back to the East River, and eventual docking on the Hudson at Manhattan’s Pier 66. That’s the recycling company which I got rid of all my electronic and metallic junk at, dubbed Allocco Recycling, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek was a masters class in environmentalism, government, and the non profit business world for me. I learned so much, from so many smart people. I stayed honest here, even when I had to compromise, which is something I’m proud to say. Unfortunately, a definitive answer to the only question that truly matters was never arrived at. The question?
Who can guess, all that there is, which might be buried down there – in the sedimentary black mayonnaise – underlying the lugubrious waters of the fabulous Newtown Creek?
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The Newtown Pentacle 
Hi Mitch,
I grew up on the south bank of the Newtown Creek in the 1950’s. We lived in the downstairs apartment of my grandparent’s house on Meeker ave. They waxed poetic of the latter days of crossing the Penny Bridge. It was a short walk to its remnants. First with my father, then just with myself and my brother. We spent much of our free time exploring the foul (but somehow beautiful) shores between the K bridge, and the abandoned sanitation incinerator, with its challenging smokestacks and tunnels.
Here I am living on a beautiful river in upstate NY that has recovered from its 18th and 19th century industrial development. We are fighting a major development on this wildlife supporting place.
I discovered the Pentacle in 2017. My Mother died. We spread the ashes on her favorite spot on the Hudson. My Sister and I spent the next day wandering the streets of Greenpoint. Internet searches on that day led us to many places, including your Pentacle. Glad it will continue along the 3 rivers.
Roger
Roger Ericksen
December 1, 2022 at 1:59 pm
[…] John J Harvey Fireboat conducted a public facing tour on Newtown Creek for me, as described in “humming music,” and then I was back in Pittsburgh with Our Lady of the Pentacle in “crystal stream” and […]
assorted hands | The Newtown Pentacle
December 29, 2022 at 11:05 am