Archive for December 2024
Looking totally ‘Sus’
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ask anyone who knows me, your humble narrator always leans a bit paranoid. Part of it is that even as a child, old ladies would clutch their purses when I walked by. It’s all ‘vibe,’ I guess. If you saw me walking towards you the first thing you’d think is ‘wtf’? Accordingly, one is always quite aware of the fact that I’m being watched by suspicious eyes and acknowledgment of that fact is an admission of how ‘sus’ it must look when I stride or drive up somewhere and then whip out a camera with a huge telephoto lens. Ain’t normal. I’ve got rules, thereby, to govern my actions.
The shot above is an exception to one of these rules, and there are many rules, as it depicts a private home. The only reason it caught my interest is that it’s at the dead end of two streets, and its back yard fencing separates the property from a rail yard and the river.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I prefer large and somewhat anonymous chunks of infrastructure as a subject, as in the case of the Birmingham Bridge over the Monongahela River – pictured above. Nobody is going to emerge from the bridge with a shot gun to keep me from cracking out a shot or two. Ok, maybe the cops, but they mainly use pistols and assault rifles these days.
After a bit of exploring in Hazelwood, I had driven across the river on a different bridge and was picking my way along the south side of the river in a generally homeward direction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For all of the posts you saw this last summer and spring that involved Pittsburgh’s ‘City Steps,’ that’s the landform which the steps that I’ve so far focused in on are set into. Won’t be chancing any journeys of that type for a while, as the broken ankle continues to heal.
As far as that drama goes: the Surgeon is happy with the X-Ray, the Physical Therapist is happy with my progress, and it looks like the whole “PT” experience will be wrapping up at the end of January – barring any mishaps. I’m able to walk again, although with a bit of a limp.
Saying all that – the car will be coming with me for photowalking duties, and for a while.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“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.
Hazelwood, too
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s an Allegheny Valley RR freight train pictured above, sitting pretty in CSX’s Glenwood Yard, alongside the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood section. This time around, your humble narrator was out scouting while behind the steering wheel of the Mobile Oppression Platform, a Toyota. I pulled over right next to the ‘No Trespassing’ signage for the rail yard, btw. Rules.
As mentioned last week, Hazelwood is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh which is regarded as having a ferocious reputation by the locals. The ‘Yinzers’ react to the statement ‘I’m going to Hazelwood’ with the same worried intensity that you’d get from a New Yorker if you said ‘I’m going to walk around East New York with a camera today.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The St. Stephen Catholic Church building, above, caught my eye and caused me to wonder about all of the tan colored bricks that I’ve observed around the city. They’re ubiquitous, thereby most probably locally produced and budget friendly at the time… There’s always something new/old to learn. Look at the revelations offered by a bit of research back in Astoria that was aimed at the sort of bricks used to construct the ‘Matthew’s Model Flat’ residential blocks.
This is Pittsburgh’s ‘Second Avenue,’ as a note, heading roughly southeast and along the northern shore of the Monongahela, moving away from the so called ‘Golden Triangle’ of the downtown business and political center.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The steel and coke mills are long gone. Pittsburgh’s showrunners in City Hall have arranged a development scheme along the 150 and change waterfront acres here, one which has been decades in the making. Soil remediation is meant to be completed, and ‘affordable housing’ is on the way – which will bring hundreds of jobs and solve all of Hazelwood’s problems virtually overnight. Just ask the Politicians and the landlords, they’ll tell you so.
A rise in Real Estate valuations fixes all of America’s problems.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
Hazelwood, Mon
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, a humble narrator drove over to Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood section to scout the location of a CSX rail yard which is found along the banks of the Monongahela River. I don’t know much about this area, other than that it has a ferocious reputation. There’s several neighborhoods here in Pittsburgh where crime is reportedly a problem, but ultimately it’s the usual story where groups of fairly impoverished people find themselves having to do whatever needs doing to keep their heads above water. Saying that, you really don’t want to get in anyone’s way while they’re splashing about and doing what they’ve got to do.
All of those homes in the shot above looked abandoned. There’s lots and lots of abandoned homes here in Pittsburgh. More than 50,000, I’m told.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shorelines of both sides of the river here used to dominated by a steel mill called the Eliza Furnace, and there was also a coke furnace located here that was active as late as 1997.
Hazelwood and the other surrounding neighborhoods in this ‘zone’ were settled by laborers who worked at the mill. When the mill left, part of the community stayed behind. At least some of them did, whereas others picked up and left. Demographic collapse is a very real thing in this section of the country.
I found my rail yard, by the way, which I’ll be offering a photo of next week.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had a bit of time to kill, and found myself slowly prowling along the fairly empty streets in the car, searching for serendipity. I’m not a huge fan of shooting photos from the driver’s seat, it should be mentioned, but with my ankle still recovering from the injuries it’s not like I’ve got much of a choice.
Back next week with more, 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.
Still no drones…
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator had to get out of the house, for a variety of reasons, so the Mobile Oppression Platform was loaded up with the camera bag and I drove ‘into town.’
As a note: I’m not observing any of those mega drones y’all back around NY Harbor keep talking about seeing in the sky, here in Pittsburgh.
Stairs, you see a lot of municipal stairs here – the Yinzers call them ‘City Steps.’ One was recently privy to a heated conversation about local slang debating whether chunks of Pizza are called ‘cuts’ or ‘slices.’ They got’s their own language around these parts.
Me? I was heading towards a rail yard I’ve been wanting to take a look at, in an ‘on the triangle’ Pittsburgh neighborhood called ‘Hazelwood.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the Monongahela Riverfront, you’ll notice an enormous empty property which used to be some sort of steel mill (Eliza Furnace). Rail infrastructure, including a former roundhouse which is now disconnected from the tracks, runs through here on multiple paths. The bridge pictured above is called the Hot Metal Bridge, and it was discussed in prior posts.
I’ve walked the opposite side of the river multiple times, but this spot in Hazelwood is a bit harder to access on foot than it is by car. Additionally, and allow me to say this gently – Hazelwood can be a rather rough section of town – so it’s best to drive rather than scuttle through it.
Also, given that my ankle is still mending – scuttling isn’t really on the agenda for a bit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Across the water, on the southern bank of the Monongahela, is the water facing section of a parcel called ‘Hay’s Woods.’ Haven’t been there yet, but apparently it’s a fairly wild parcel which hosts a lot of critters, including nesting Bald Eagles. Neat! I plan on scuttling through there this spring. See what you can see and all that.
Back tomorrow with more from your recently reactivated 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.
From ChristmAstoria’s past
Merry Christmas
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Due to recent events, I haven’t got a 2024 Santa shot to use today, so I reached back to my Astoria archives for the one above.
Merry, merry. Back tomorrow with something else.
“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 