Archive for the ‘Astoria’ Category
bleeding hands
Astoria flava.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spotted this painting nearby Welling Court in old Astoria, part of a vast installation of murals and street art that adorns the industrial walls of an ancient lane which has definitely seen better days. One loves the Mexican influence (which seems a bit more Maya than Aztec to my eyes).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Advertisements for the services of the Universal Assistance Crew abound. I’m trying to think up a mission to hire the UAC for, perhaps I’ll employ them as protestors or something. Either way, they claim that they will do any and everything you might need them to.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mighty Triborough, spanning Astoria park on its way to the Shining City. Something curious is noticed around the footings of Triborough, btw. A complete and utter lack of graffiti, which is remarkable in itself.
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up,
one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms: Brooklyn’s Greenpoint with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor: Queen’s LIC with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
continuous scheme
A thing, encountered, in Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Innocently, one decided to take advantage of the recently favorable atmospherics and engage in a relaxed perambulation of the greater neighborhood here in Western Queens. Measured gait carried a humble narrator in a generally eastern direction, from almond eyed Astoria toward the spicy elevations of Jackson Heights, and soon one found himself on Northern Blvd. and the “carridor.”
That’s where I witnessed the unexpected, the unwelcome, the inconceivable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Monstrous, this flapping giant was lurking observed on Northern Blvd. in front of one of the many used automobile dealers, for whom the name “Carridor” has been assigned to the section, found along the great road. It was at least two stories tall and animated by an unknown motive force. Malevolent in appearance, the entity filled me with some nameless dread.
Vast physical cowardice, coupled with an uneven constitution, caused ones blood to run icy cold at the mere sight of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its movements were a staccato of jerking movements, a sort of rising and falling dance which betrayed a jellyfish like quality. Clearly – this creature bore no endoskeleton, nor external carapace, and it flopped about in the steady breeze – and would occasionally lunge toward pedestrians and passerby.
All reserve cracked, and I soon found myself descending into “one of my spells.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Worried that knowledge of this entity, this untrammeled and unknown thing, might consume my already fragile sanity – a hasty retreat back to Astoria was enacted. Why, oh why, must I leave the safety of my home so often? There are things… squamous, flopping, unnatural things… inhabiting the streets and alleys out there.
Who can guess, all there is, which there might be lurking out there?
There are two public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in LIC, Queens and one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Glittering Realms, with Atlas Obscura, on Saturday May 17th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on Sunday May 18th.
Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
worried faces
Would it kill you to smile?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While riding the Subway in New York City, observation of the interesting social behaviors exhibited by the citizenry entertains. There are those who present the “pfft, ain’t no thing” and those who present the “what the hell are you looking at” and also present are the “please, for gods sake, do not notice me” lean. Others pretend to sleep, or stare blankly at the floor (that’s the one which I favor), while a small group of extroverts feel the need to shout and otherwise draw attention unto themselves. Then there’s the buskers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are Mariachi’s, young couples who perpetrate the “gypsy baby” scam, those three kids who dance and perform acrobatics. Worst of all are the religious zealots, whose clumsy attempts at evangelism are enough to drive one into the arms of Satan itself. Skillfully ignoring these buskers and con artists, or not, is what separates the true New Yorker from the tourist. The tourists are the worst, of course, breaking all of the unspoken rules of subway etiquette which “regular” riders subconsciously obey and enforce. Nobody smiles, the MTA has a rule against that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My camera is always at the ready whenever entering these concrete bunkers with their pungent atmospheres, and one of the odd things I’ve noticed in recent years is the reaction some have upon seeing the device. Lens cap on and power switch off, they will stare at the camera in the manner one would watch the countdown clock on a bomb. I don’t understand this. Humans, they’re weird, and need to smile more often.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
unidentifiable flowerings
Catching up with the Newtown Pentacle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This long winter has been especially difficult for one such as myself, who possesses no reserve of warmth. Accordingly, hermitage is enacted. Hair, beard, and nails are allowed to seek their natural length while an induced stupor was enjoyed by the brain. Now that the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself has once more attained an efficacious position in the sky, all of the dead cellular material external to the skinvelope has been trimmed back and an understimulated brain called to action once more.
The long marches across the concrete devastations have resumed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The spot of trouble enjoyed by my household in recent weeks, regarding the reliable availability of internet service – as supplied by Time Warner Cable – seems to have been resolved due to the actions of this fellow. Last Saturday, the third most hated corporation in modern day America sent this fellow, Jose, over to rewire and rekajigger the connections. The connectivity issues seem to have been repaired accordingly, and now the service has returned to “it just sucks” as opposed to “doesn’t work at all.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last Sunday, whilst crossing the Pulaski Bridge to visit Greenpoint via Long Island City, these graffitos were spotted. Displaying an unusually literate and somewhat scientifically accurate credo, my attentions were caught. It wasn’t this screed which stopped me in my tracks, instead it was the one in the penultimate photograph adorning this post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
No comment, except to say that hidden in green slimy vaults, in his house at R’lyeh…
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
recumbent head
Hell in a hand basket, lords and ladies, and tongue held firmly in cheek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nothing can cause a humble narrator to fly into a rage faster than encountering a vehicle parked on the sidewalk. This is a big problem in western Queens, where the law is enforced subjectively at best, and especially here in Astoria with its population of expatriates and immigrants who were generally too uncontrollable, troublesome, or irascible to stay in the country which they were born in.
Just the other day, on my way home, this scene was spotted on 35th avenue in the 40’s.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These people… Sheesh. They come here with aspirations of building a new and better life, form a lasting relationship with our relatively non tyrannical government, and this is how they thank the natives? When I was a boy, people who parked on the sidewalk would find themselves swinging from a tree or lamppost, or just fed to a pack of wild junk yard dogs. It’s obviously the fault of real estate developers and our elected officials that this sort of thing is allowed to continue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Worst of all, this isn’t even an American made car. How does some newcomer afford a foreign sports car anyway? Can’t be from earning it… next you’ll tell me it was a gift. Grants and subsidies and social welfare programs set aside for immigrants that’s how. Can you imagine how much revenue the City loses, only enforcing the parking laws on its native born citizens?
Feh, satire bites
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 