Tyranny of the now
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welcome back to fresh content, here at your Newtown Pentacle.
The ice, as it were, has broken and Pittsburgh is now in a warming cycle for a few days. Bad news is that there’s likely going to be some flooding at some point soon as vast sheets of river ice, currently bound up in rural counties hundreds of miles away, will be flowing towards the confluence of the three rivers hereabouts. The Army Corps seems pretty concerned about the arrival of ‘ice dams.’
That’s tomorrow’s problem, although the level of the water in the Port of Pittsburgh continues to ominously rise.
These shots were gathered in a section of Pittsburgh’s North Side called the ‘Mexican War Streets.’ As the name of the place might suggest, the streets are named for American Generals who distinguished themselves during the Spanish American War (as it’s now known).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It has been profoundly cold and snowy/wet here for what seems like an eternity. It felt great to be outside, although I was tied to the car. I love the convenience of just being able to drive up to something and get a shot, but it ain’t the same as the ‘serendipity’ of finding something unexpected and I’m also anchored to a certain geography because of where I parked.
I know, first world problems. An hour or two of time was available to me on this particular day, which I decided to throw away by hanging around a train yard at which absolutely zero locomotives appeared.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While cooling my heels and kicking the dirt, one of Pittsburgh’s ‘PRT’ buses appeared. I’d point out the bike rack on the front of the thing, and mention that this is another one of the things which NYC’s MTA says absolutely cannot be done, but then again I’m done arguing with the MTA.
Back tomorrow.
“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 
The streets were named after Mexican-American War sites or personages in what was then a newly developed neighborhood. The war was in 1846. Mexico separated from Spain in 1821. The Spanish-American War was in 1898.
Liman
February 24, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Thx for the correction, I bungled that one
Mitch Waxman
February 25, 2025 at 6:43 am
Shadeland? Where is Shadeland? I know know where Shadyside is, but I’ve never heard of Shadeland.
Back in the dusty recesses of time – that would be 1980 – I lived on the Northside on one of the Mexican War Streets, sort of directly across the street from Franko Harris.
Lawrence Lambert
March 12, 2025 at 12:16 pm
It made a right, if that helps
Mitch Waxman
March 12, 2025 at 1:10 pm