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dancing forms
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The return to 30th Street Station section of my March 7th trip to Philadelphia took the form of a “photowalk” rather than the sort of “composed” photos which I’d been capturing most of the day. What that means is that I had a vague idea of where my destination was, but no route. This carried me through several mixed use and residential neighborhoods along the way.
Looks a lot like Bushwick used to look like, I thought.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Disturbingly, observed evidence along my route suggested that I’m not the only resident of Queens to have visited Philadelphia recently.
Could the Queens Cobbler be operating here as well? Is this where the Cobbler disappeared to during the pandemic months? Can’t be…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fires of gentrification, fueled by locally grown wood and spewing artisinal smoke, burn hotly in Philadelphia – I’m told. Real Estate, real estate. Notice the signage on this construction project promising “Luxury Living” alongside the elevated expressway.
What a view, huh?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, this was when it started to get weird. It can’t be, can it?
Given that it was “rush hour” while I was heading to the presumptive west, I just kept on walking.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s lovely historic architecture everywhere you look in Philadelphia. Again, one of the weird things for me as a New Yorker was a paucity of street level shops. No bodegas to be found, but I did eventually find a 711 storefront, where I snagged a coffee and a bottle of Gatorade to boost my fading energy. All told, according to the phone, I had covered about ten miles over the course of the day. A tiny corner of a huge city.
Scuttling, forever scuttling, I continued on my way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What the hell, Philadelphia?
The Queens Cobbler and I seem to haunt the same corridors.
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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.
moon men
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found his boots scraping along the concrete of Railroad Avenue, back in February. A long walk was underway, and the camera’s shutter was a-whirring.
Railroad Avenue was where my pathway led.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More evidence of the Queens Cobbler was observed. A probable serial killer who leaves behind single shoes to mark their efforts, I’ve been writing about the Cobbler for years. The Cobbler has even left personal messages for me in front of my own domicile.
Chilling, no?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just up the block from the Cobbler’s latest memento mori, yet another abandoned car was encountered. This one was electric, and tiny. Rumor has it that there’s a community of Homo Floresiensis who have recently moved into and taken up residence in Middle Village. Perhaps this was theirs? May I refer to Middle Village as the Shire now?
Really, the world I live in is so much more interesting than the real one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I walked up a somewhat private road, past the former Van Iderstine rendering plant, and back out onto Review Avenue.
One wasn’t quite done with Dutch Kills, and since the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself was exiting the sky’s vault – that was what I was waiting for to complete my task.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shots in today’s post date back to the 12th of February, incidentally. As mentioned in prior posts, the usual three image posts will be cast aside for a bit, in favor of six shot ones until I manage to get back into sync with the actual calendar.
Also, just in case you don’t scroll all the way down to the bottom – The Newtown Creekathon is happening on April 10th.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having looped back to Review Avenue, a humble narrator pointed his toes back in the direction that he started from – Dutch Kills.
Trucks, trucks, trucks. For some reason, I’m fascinated with trucks at the moment. Don’t know why, they just catch my eye.
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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Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Scuttling, always scuttling, camera in hand, filthy black raincoat flapping about, shoes scraping the concrete. That’s my life. Wherever I go, there I am. Nothing ever changes, nothing matters, nobody cares. Everyday, it all starts over again. Sometimes it rains.
Recent endeavor found me friendless, and wandering through Long Island City on my way home to Astoria after a long walk around a short tributary of the fabulous Newtown Creek. An FDNY crew seemed to be taking a break, but this particular ambulance was instead awaiting its turn to enter a gargantuan vehicle services garage that the agency maintains about a block away. I can’t ignore it when the fire people start strobing colored lights around the study area, so…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You have to pick your route, I always say. There’s so many “corridors” in Long Island City’s still industrial areas that dead end at a rail yard or a highway that you need to put a little thought into whether turning left or right at a particular corner is a good move. Make the wrong choice and you’re suddenly presented with an extra four to five blocks of walking in the cold dark.
Y’know, I never see stray cats or dogs around these parts. You see cats nearby certain industrial sites and shipping warehouses, but they’re generally being “kept” with food, water, and shelter to assist with pest control. You do hear a lot of hawks and falcons, but they are an illusion. The cries of these birds of prey echo about the empty streets, with said utterances being played through roof mounted speaker systems to scare away prey species like gulls, pigeons, and their ilk. The fear induction mechanism is meant to keep these feathery loiterers from nesting on building roofs, and degrading them structurally with guano.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While scuttling back towards HQ, my empty existence was suddenly illuminated by the appearance of a single shoe, perched along the fencelines of the gargantuan Sunnyside Yards. It would seem that the Queens Cobbler has reemerged from lockdown. A probable serial killer who leaves macabre singular shoe trophies to mock law enforcement and the surrounding communities, the Queens Cobbler has followed me home at least twice – and left behind personalized messages adorning the fence surrounding HQ.
How long will the Queens Cobbler’s reign of terror continue?
“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.
dully exhibited
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Endeavor found me wandering around Long Island City again recently. For several reasons, mainly climatology related ones, I’ve been keeping the walks a bit shorter in recent weeks and staying a bit closer to HQ. Luckily, Queens never disappoints. HQ’s positioning on the southern border of Astoria allows strategic access to a number of visually interesting locations, like the Sunnyside Yards pictured above.
That’s one of Amtrak’s “high speed” Acela train sets heading towards its maintenance bay. Instinctually, I refer to the large blue building they service the trains at as a “barn,” but I’m sure that isn’t the correct etymology. Regardless, a Festivus greeting is offered to whomsoever it is at Amtrak that is responsible for all of the holes in the fences of the yards which allow me to get these shots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Did you know that the cops have ambulances of their very own? The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit operates their cop ambulances out of a former firehouse on Northern Blvd. nearby Steinway Street. Spotted this one just strobing its flashers into the night recently.
NYPD and FDNY have all the best municipal gear. They both have cool marine units, and every possible form of motor vehicle you can think of, but I don’t think that FDNY has helicopters or surveillance drones. They sure don’t have a tank whose main gun has been replaced with a battering ram, armored personnel carriers, or those cool ass K9 trucks that are full of excellent dogs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to HQ, this puzzling scene was encountered. Not the Queens Cobbler, this, since there’s two shoes. The cobbler only leaves behind one. These children sized rain boots were just sitting there next to a parking meter. I have theories, with my primary one listed below.
Obviously – a condor or other large bird of prey snatched a toddler away so efficiently that the kid was yanked right out of their shoes.
“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.
archetypal infinity
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One often questions the thought process of others. To wit, the waves visible on the surface of the fabulous Newtown Creek – pictured above – were caused by the passing of a jet ski. You get pretty moist when riding a jet ski, as the thing is positively cleaving the water at a high rate of speed. Speaking as someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time on all sorts of water craft on this waterway, the last thing you want to do at Newtown Creek is get wet. Particularly if it’s rained recently. Yuck.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has also been keeping busy, despite certain existential annoyances and “have to’s” manifesting themselves all around me. Given that the physical symptomology, described in prior weeks, of my malfunctioning left foot continues to bedevil and hinder necessitating transit use – there’s been lots of opportunity to photograph subway infrastructure, like the 7 train entering the Vernon Jackson station in Long Island City pictured above. Here’s your history trivia fact of the day – this was the very first subway station in Queens and it opened in June of 1916.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Woodside, one observed the ghastly evidentiary leave behinds of the Queens Cobbler, a likely serial killer who leaves singular shoes as taunting trophies in pursuit of tormenting the gendarmerie.
More tomorrow 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 