Archive for the ‘NY 11103’ Category
decided agitation
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Fear that I’ve let you down today is inescapable, as the 2013 tour schedule (long promised) is still not quite ready for public review and remains a revisionary work in progress. There’s a lot of behind the scenes nitty gritty to lock down, HTML to code, and routes to solidify and I’m just not done yet- unfortunately. I’m hoping to have the list live by early next week and apologies are offered. It has been a busy few weeks for me, and everybody is pissed off at me that my ducks aren’t- as usual- in a row..
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just the other day, Tuesday as a point of fact, I unexpectedly and suddenly ended up onboard a ship which was carrying the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance annual conference, serving the event as one of several “staff” (volunteer) photographers. The group presented a “who’s who” of planners, maritime experts, and political types discussing the post Sandy shape of our local vicinity. Discussion of various plans of action was offered, as well as a swell luncheon.
Additionally, on Wednesday night, a Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee meeting went long at the sewer plant in Greenpoint. NCMC, as the latter group is known (nickmick is how its pronounced,) is one of the longest serving community groups in NYC. NCMC interacts with the DEP to ensure that neighborhood concerns are dealt with at the enormous and still under construction Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment facility.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My devotions to the various organizations of the Newtown Creek community such as Newtown Creek Alliance or NCMC, or the larger harbor community groups like Working Harbor Committee or the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance demand the expenditure of enormous amounts of time spent in meetings and attending “events,” but it really is a worthwhile investment. There is so much to learn about this City of New York, facts which range from the utterly mundane to the fantastic, that it is worth every minute spent even if it means you’re a little (or a lot) behind on your own work..
Also: Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman presented by the Working Harbor Committee, departs Pier 17 in Manhattan May 26,2013 at ten a.m. Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
splendid perfection
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These gentlemen were observed recently, consumed by their labors fulfilling the Real Estate Industrial Complex’s dream of maximizing the urban density and population of Astoria.
As you can see, one of the fellows on this scaffold is leaning into his work, stretching his arm and twisting his spine in a manner which OSHA inspectors would likely disapprove of. The two men, and what would appear to be buckets of ready mix cement, are perched on a pedestal of three boards that are supported by the steel structure. Certain past occupations, jobs held when one was a younger and more vital narrator, demanded clamboring onto similar scaffolds and I can report that they are shaky albeit stable structures.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Even a small vibration, such as dropping a tool or merely the action of shifting weight from one foot to the other, will make these temporary and quite modular structures quiver and rattle.
Climbing up is simple, but descent leads to uncertainty and doubt when the towering temporary structure begins to rattle and groan. They are pretty safe, however, unless something or something drops from the platform. That can be messy.
I’ve always been a bit too prissy for this sort of work, not physically strong enough for the demands of such occupation, but my Dad wasn’t. The Old Man was forced to do a lot of stupid things at work, and more than once he would suddenly appear in the family home, back in the Flatlands, covered in blood and displaying torn clothing. All he would say would be “go get your mother,” followed by “go tell your Aunt to call your Uncle at work and tell him to take us at Maimonides (hospital.) Didn’t happen often, but when Pop came home at 11:30 a.m., either somebody fell of the scaffold or he did.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Never quite clear why the Old Man always had my Uncle drive him from the Flatlands to Borough Park for emergency repairs, but this would happen whenever he fell off a ladder or ran afoul of some mechanized tool. Once, he even had a pail of Lye splash into his face and he was blind for a few months. It wasn’t all the time, of course, but often enough. Dad wasn’t in a Union, and those injuries of his just kind of came with the chaotic environment of the work place. Such bad familial fortune made me keenly aware of the dangerous world inhabited by the “Working Guys,” and it shreds me when I see two laborers working like this. One of their kids is likely going to be told “go get your mother.”
That shape is the outline of a demolished house.
These guys are three stories over where the sidewalk should be and working without a wire. One of my neighbors is a Union guy and he sets up safety cones when unloading groceries from his car.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Excesses and corrupt practices in the world of Organized Labor are many, and varied, but here’s where the Union guys shine. First thing any of them do at work is put on a hard hat, goggles, and work shoes. They also would never, ever, do this without tying themselves off to a harness. Likely, they would insist on the use of some sort of specialized machine to raise and lower a work platform, and demand to use “best practice” techniques in completing the work- not because they want it to be expensive but because they want to do it right.
They wouldn’t be reaching out over a three story drop and splashing concrete around like Jackson Pollock. Not without a guy from the bucket winchers regional, 2 guys from the trowelers local 6, somebody to hold a caution sign, a crew from platform handlers national, and a few carpenters.
Project Firebox 66
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Bro, this thing has been on this corner since nobody knows how long, its furniture- y’know? This is, you know where, in Astoria on 38th and 31st, near the Souvlaki guy- the one with the smoke- in front of that Brazilian restaurant with the good coffee. C’mon Bro”.
Such local Astorian, or patois, would best delineate the position and surroundings of this exemplar of municipal service, the humble firebox, were it to be described by far more than one of my neighbors.
eternal day
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Queens, a humble narrator has been rather busy for the last few days.
Next week, the schedule of spring and summer Newtown Creek tours will be revealed to you at last, as well as some details about the ambitious schedule of boat tours which the Working Harbor Committee is planning. Short perambulations around the neighborhood have been my only distraction from the plotting and planning of this year’s excursions. Unnatural and unseasonable cold, however, has left the streets adorned in a drab winter appearance.
One starves for color.
from queensnyc.com
On Sunday, we joined over 140 people aboard a New York Water Taxi for the Working Harbor Committee’s tour of Newtown Creek. The tour was narrated by Mitch Waxman whose encyclopedic knowledge and passion for the area can be seen on his blog The Newtown Pentacle, and on his tours and work as the historian for the Newtown Creek Alliance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Resorting to hanging around the produce departments of storefront merchants brings no surcease to this desire for the bright hues of Spring. Normally, one would expect the trees to show some sign of returning vitality and conscientious property owners would have already begun planting early varietal. Free ranging grasses should also be raising bright green shoots by now. Instead, the yellows and browns of winter linger, as does an unnatural chill.
One thirsts for warmth.
from nytimes.com
Not that Mr. Waxman is any sort of an academic. While the Newtown Creek Alliance, an environmental advocacy group, lists him as its resident historian, his credentials were earned on the street and the Internet, through countless solitary walks and countless nights poring over obscure archives.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mainly, I’m just tired of hanging around in the cold wastes waiting for something to happen, and truly look forward to a day spent entirely out of doors and unencumbered by the heavy garments of an overly long winter. The next few months should be pretty interesting, lords and ladies, and without spilling a certain can of beans- pencil me in for May 26th.
One desires company.
from blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu
Usually it’s not a great thing when your memory of the first time you met someone person is inseparable from a terrible, gag-inducing stink. But with Mitch Waxman, it comes with the territory.
Project Firebox 65
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Always on the look out for friendly neighborhood Fireboxes which have eluded my notice, this sturdy specimen was encountered on Astoria Blvd. at 42nd street. Unfortunately malfunctioning, it bears familiar signage adjuring the reader to rely on telephone contact with the Fire Department instead of using the alarm system.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Engine 263 and Ladder 117’s station house happens to be on the block” thought a humble narrator. “Why would there actually be a firebox on the same corner as a fire house” entered my mind next, but then I remembered that this was, after all, Queens. Logic and Queens are often exclusive of each other.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
No sign of the crews inside, so one imagines that this sign, advising one to use the broken firebox on the corner would need updating. Shame, as it is lovely typography.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A seeming memorial, this firebox like device ornaments a prominent spot on the building’s facade. The “343” is a reference to the number of FDNY personnel who perished at the World Trade Center at the turn of the century.
The Newtown Pentacle 