Author Archive
it shines
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dutch Kills, and my little tree of paradise. I check in on this tree about once a week these days. It would absolutely break my heart if I showed up here and it was gone. Eventually, it will affect the structure it adjoins and will be removed, or it will be hydrologically undermined by the waterway and fall into the water. I understand this.
Saying that, gosh do I hope this thing continues growing and thriving in these horrific circumstances, along the Long Island City reaches of the fabulous Newtown Creek. These shots were captured in mid February, I should mention.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The thick plate of ice which Dutch Kills had been encased in was “rotting” away as I was moving around the zone. The polka dots effect was fascinating. I’ve had a few people ask me if this was due to some environmental factor, but I think it’s just what happens in a tepid tidal situation involving brackish water.
The extreme cold of early to mid February typically creates icing along the tributaries of Newtown Creek and in isolated sections along the main part of the waterway. Saying that, it has to be fairly cold for a protracted period of time for the “main stem” to get fully frozen over.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What I found kind of interesting was the presence of these snowflake shaped ice holes closer to the boundary between liquid and frozen. This particular spot is always lurking under the Borden Avenue Bridge.
As far as you seeing photos from February, with today being the Ides of March, one has been lucky enough to be a couple/three weeks ahead of schedule here at Newtown Pentacle for most of 2022. I’ve got some cool stuff coming your way, including another Amtrak based day trip to America’s consolation prize – Philadelphia. Also, I’m cooking up a few “in person” Newtown Creek events which I’ll be announcing soon.
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.
hellish hours
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Scuttling, forever scuttling, in the dark and cold of the Queensican night, camera in hand. Shoes scraping along the frozen concrete, friendless, filthy black raincoat flapping about in the stiff wind. Nothing matters, nobody cares. Sometimes it snows.
This time around, one was heading off in the direction of the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek here in Long Island City. As is my habit, a visit was paid to some of the better holes found in the fence lines of the cyclopean Sunnyside Yards. Fortuitous timing was achieved, since I got there just as a Long Island Railroad train set rolled past, navigating its way through the Harold Interlocking. Harold is the busiest passenger train junction in the United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s quite a bit of work underway down “on the deck” at Sunnyside Yards, as the latest phase of the MTA’s “East Side Access” project plays out. What that means to the passing photography enthusiast is that they’ve increased the intervals of time between trains to allow for longer periods of uninterrupted construction work, and they also seem to be timing things so that when they need to have the laborers step back to allow a train to pass safely, generally more than one train set is doing so during that interval.
“They” are the people in the control rooms at Grand Central and Pennsylvania Station who sit in front of large electronic screens detailing where, when, and how fast locomotives are moving about in the NYC system. I’ve seen the one at Grand Central, but I wasn’t allowed to photograph it due to “Homeland Security concerns.” “They” use homeland security whenever they don’t want you to report that they’re still using Windows 95 or something, as a note. The photo above depicts what is arguably the most strategic non military or political “spot” in the northeastern United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given the spate of rail activity observed, a humble narrator decided to just hang around the holes. I was particularly enjoying the snow on the ground, since it allowed a lot of the ambient light down on the tracks to bounce about and paint the scene in primaries and pastels.
Recently, one encountered a great YouTube channel for some rail museum, one which I’ve misplaced the specific links to, which explained – as if you were talking to a first grader – how to interpret the signals on the “traffic lights” found above rail tracks. This has been immensely helpful to me. Blinking yellow versus green? It also informed me about what the motions that train people make with their lanterns means. Now I know. If I hadn’t lost the link, you would too.
Scuttling, always scuttling…
“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.
harmless stupidity
Friday
– 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 snows.
Frost bitten and friendless, there I was at Dutch Kills as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself rose in the dawn sky. One hoped for the boughs of that little tree to be laden with snow, but this too was denied.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, due to a series of reasons that I don’t really want to get into, the decision to walk over to a nearby collapsing bulkhead before heading back to a heated room in Astoria was arrived at. All ten fingers were numb, but only six of them were reporting. So too did a couple of my toes go offline. The tip of my nose was similarly missing without leave. It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit, with a steady wind.
This isn’t the coldest I’ve ever been. There was that negative 37 time in Vermont, and that time I had to ride a boat up the East River at 5 in the morning in January with my old pal Bernie… I’ve been cold before. Saying all that, it was pretty uncomfortable being out. It’s taken weeks for my fingertips to recover. Good news is that in the interval, I’ve been able to pinch out candles with zero discomfort.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As far as 29th street, and the collapsing bulkheads along it go, my pals and I at Newtown Creek Alliance have recently been working the channels of “officialdom” and got sign on’s for immediate action from Congresswoman Maloney, Senator Gianaris, Assemblywoman Nolan, Borough President Richards, and Council Member Won along with a few other powers and potentates, as well as a few local business owners. It’s still a developing situation, down there in LIC.
Back next week with more numbed finger action, 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.
perilous disposition
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Remember that insanely cold day back in middle February when it was twelve degrees? That’s the one where a humble narrator got frostbitten, when he decided to be at the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City at five o’clock in the morning. I remember it well, since I’m just now starting to get the feeling back in my fingertips. Literally weeks later.
It’s felt like I’ve been wearing a band aid over my right thumb ever since, and it’s only in the last few days that the nerve damage from the frost bite has ameliorated sufficiently to perceive texture again. You have to suffer for your art, they say. Well, here’s what it looked like while I was sustaining an atmospheric temperature induced injury.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dutch Kills was thoroughly frozen over. A plate of ice several inches thick sat over the water. One was awaiting the arrival of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself in the vault of the sky, with the camera set up on its tripod. What that meant was that I was standing still with my feet in a six to eight inches of snow and a solid fifteen miles an hour wind hitting me. I needed to pee, but was afraid that if I “whipped it out” to do “that,” “it” might freeze and crack off.
Yes, I was wearing gloves. In fact, a layer of thermal underwear AND a long sleeve sweatshirt would have been found under my normal clothing. Additionally, a fleece sweatshirt would have been observed under the filthy black rain coat by the staff at the coroner’s office after being defrosted. On my left hand, I actually had two gloves on. On the right, there was just one so I could still operate the camera. Cannot tell you how difficult that is when you numbness has set in. Cold is my kryptonite.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had left HQ at about 4:30 in the morning and hopped in a cab for the journey to Dutch Kills, which I normally just walk to. Man, oh man was it cold.
The entire purpose of the exercise was the hope that my favorite little tree of paradise, pictured in the first shot, might have some snow on its bows. No such luck. Since I was already on site, I decided to just tough it out and wait for the morning light to arrive. That interval is what resulted in frost bite. It wasn’t “British explorer” frost bite, mind you. There was no discoloration or blistering, just a bit of nerve damage.
“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.
barbaric degeneracy
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of the recent sunken barge raising operation on Newtown Creek, crews working on the project had brought in several equipment barges which operated as platforms for them to work from. The Tug CMT Pike was there to keep everything placed correctly and provide motive power to combat the effect of tide and current. Pike seems to be hanging around the creek. I recently observed the tugboat from the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge in the dark of night.
The location where the barge went down was actually quite fortuitous for both myself and the environment. In my case, it was the rare occasion when something had happened and I could easily get three different points of view of the situation without having to climb on or trespass through something, and in the case of the barge – it didn’t settle down on any petroleum pipelines or conduits of criticality, or anything other than mud and yuck.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After getting my shot of the Pike at the gloriously named “Unnamed Canal,” I headed over to the Newtown Creek Nature Walk on the DEP’s property, along the Whale Creek tributary, and got in a few long shots of the action.
One maintained the tripod and filter setup for the camera, which I’d established at the start of the excursion. I also decided that I’ve got to buy myself an infrared filter. I’ve since ordered one, but it’s on back order, so hang in there lords and ladies – Martian landscapes will be coming this spring.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking westwards towards Manhattan along the main spine of Newtown Creek, this was one of the last shots I captured with the tripod and filter setup before reconfiguring the gear back towards hand held mode. Reconfiguring takes the form of changing a few menu settings, detaching the filter and tripod and cable release, and closing all of the hatches on the camera body which allow for “hands off” operation. The entire operation takes less than five minutes. I can do it faster, but what’s the rush and when you’re dealing with camera gear – it always pays to be methodical – in terms of storing the gear away and ensuring that all the switches and settings are circumstantially correct.
More 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 