The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

When you near the eastern section of the Ohio River Water Trail, the West End Bridge just sort of rises up and looms over you. That bridge is involved in one of the many walking routes I’ve been evolving for myself, since moving out here to Pittsburgh from my lifelong residency in NYC. There’s a set of ‘Bernie Holes’ in the fencing overlooking CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks which offer commanding views.

Check out prior posts from up top on the bridge by clicking here.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I’m super curious about what happened with that tree above. Just saying. Normally, you’d grind or burn a stump out, you don’t excavate it root and stem. Weird.

Last time I walked through this area, a well established homeless village was found here. Advanced encampments, with water and power, constructed from tarps with structural supports, was observed here and there were probably two to three dozen people living rough along the river. It’s an election year here, and the incumbent Mayor has just been voted out during the Democratic primary and these encampments were a serious component of the critique of the current administration. Saying that, the outgoing Mayor really seemed to send the Cops and Garbage people out to eradicate all of these encampments and tent cities which had sprang up around the trails in the leadup to the primary.

Wonder what happened to all of those poor people.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s a pier here, which seems fairly condemned and is definitely disintegrating, so I didn’t walk out too far on it. Cool view, though.

A lot of post steel development has occurred in the area I was just scuttling into, which isn’t too far from the stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers dwell in revenant gaze. There’s a casino, the Carnegie Science Center, and a bunch of ‘new’ construction bars and restaurants set midway twixt the dwelling place of the Steelers and that of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.

Sportsball, and gambling (or games of skill, as they call them in PA).

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Personally, I was never injected with the sports thing or gambling thing as a child. I’m the nerd who can talk intelligently about Star Fleet uniform specs, Godzilla, and what things a Jedi does or does not do. Obscure DC comic I also don’t like gambling all that much, but given that I’ve worked as a professional artist in one way or another for 40 years – there’s my gamble.

Right about this spot is where fatigue from the walk set in. Not in the ankle, oddly enough, but instead in the upper back. I was walking with a full pack on this afternoon, after all, and after a while…

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s a hotel, connected to the Casino I think, right where the rail trail returns to the street ‘grid.’ Looks like an architect’s rendering, doesn’t it?

The plan from this point was to acquire access to the nearby light rail station and secure a ride back to HQ in Dormont, which is approximately five miles from where this shot was gathered.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Along the way, couldn’t resist cracking out a shot or two when I noticed that one of the inclines on Mount Washington was moving, across the river. Neat!

Back tomorrow.

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“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.