Archive for the ‘Astoria’ Category
carven into
Getting back home is what its all about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My travels routinely find a humble narrator in far flung corners of the megalopolis which are remote from the north western corner of Queens wherein one dwells. Whatever event has carried me to these impossibly distant locations, it is paramount in my mind that I need to get back home to Queens and Our Lady of the Pentacle and my little dog Zuzu. Often will I find myself, as above, on a Staten Island Ferry looking through the ridiculously long transit tunnel which will provide me with a solution to this problem.
They used to carry cars on these boats, y’know, now this section is just for bicycles.
from nytimes.com
Deckhands said Ms. Bayer, sitting at the wheel of the car at the head of a sleepy line of drivers, appeared to have dozed off as the ferry lumbered across the harbor, just as the sun was turning the sky into a pink and orange patchwork of clouds. But as the ferry approached the terminal on Staten Island and the crew lowered the black metal gate, the deckhands said, Ms. Bayer was apparently jolted awake. The car began rolling, but the John F. Kennedy was not yet in the dock.
”It took off like a rocket,” said Kevin Hennessey, a deckhand. ”It was like something out of the movies.”
The first mate, Mickey Mardikos, said the car screeched ”and she went flying through the gate.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
With all the track work and repairs occurring on the weekends, it can be a real hassle getting to and from Queens. Ironically, I live not more than a mile from the transit hub which is Queens Plaza, but getting from Lower Manhattan to this spot on a saturday can often entail multiple transfers and “thinking on your feet.” Recently, it took me around a hour and forty five minutes to get from the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall terminal to Astoria, a distance I could have walked in around two and half hours.
Incidentally, the chronology quoted does not incorporate waiting for the train(s) to arrive, nor walking to and from the stations- it’s actual “on the train time.” Adding this time in makes taking the train anti competitive to just hoofing it. The closer you get to Queens, the more barriers and “gotchas” you hit.
from wikipedia
Queens Plaza is a plaza located on Queens Boulevard, between North and South Plaza streets, in Long Island City, Queens. The plaza is overlapped by an elevated railway transit (which was constructed in 1914), with the Queensboro Bridge starting on the western edge. It has a subway stop for the E M R trains at the Queens Plaza station below ground along the eastern edge, and the 7 <7> N Q trains at the Queensboro Plaza station above the west central part of the plaza on elevated tracks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Many have commented to me that I should just “accept the things I can’t control” and roll with it. It’s “nobody’s fault” and this necessary series of repairs are just a part of life in the big city.
I always respond, while ruminating on how much I’d rather be at home amongst the rolling hills of almond eyed Astoria, that moving around within Manhattan remains a cakewalk. It’s the connections with Queens that always seem to be problematic. Politicians offer that there is always the East River Ferry, which leaves you off at second street in LIC in the middle of nowhere at Hunters Point and runs on an hourly schedule during the weekend. They then say “Citi Bike” as if it means something.
May I offer that there is no such thing as a weekend in NYC anymore, and that anything which keeps me away from Our Lady of the Pentacle and my little dog ZuZu is sure to draw my ire?
Also, it is H.P. Lovecraft’s birthday today, he would have been 123 years old had he joined with Father Dagon and Mother Hydra in the cyclopean and many-columned street of Y’ha-nthlei, the subaqueous city of the Deep Ones.
from wikipedia
Homesickness frequently occurs when one travels and may be exacerbated by unfamiliar environments or foreign cultural contexts. Homesickness is especially common in youth. Young people may experience a sense of dread, helplessness, or separation anxiety on their first day of school, summer camp, or on a protracted summer vacation away from the family. Many first-year students at boarding schools or universities also experience homesickness. Some new members on military basic training and members on missions or deployments might also experience it.
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Project Firebox 84
An ongoing catalog of New York’s endangered Fireboxes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up on the hill which is Old Astoria, an expanse of manses and luxurious homes, one is normally blown down by the sheer Victorian glory of a manifest architectural record. It is easy to miss the tireless firebox, ignominiously serving its purpose. This scarlet gendarme wears its corroded complexion proudly, and it is always watchful.
lost struggle
A walk alongside the park.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Astoria Park is bordered on its western side by a quite busy road called Shore Blvd. Under normal circumstance, you’ll see families enjoying a riverfront promenade along Hells Gate, spanned by the Triborough and Hell Gate Bridges. There will also be codgers with deck chairs taking the sun, an occasional fisherman, and lots of people with cameras wandering about. Walking in the middle of Shore Blvd. on a normal day would result in quick death, as you would be accidentally ground into the pavement beneath the wheels of a Greek teenagers SUV in short order.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, this year the Green Shores NYC people are conducting the “5th annual Astoria Park Shore Fest target” in conjunction with the Astoria Park Alliance. Our Lady of the Pentacle had other plans, and a humble narrator had a rare weekend day off from my schedule of Newtown Creek tours, so I opted to shamble over and take a look at what was going on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The big deal for me, of course, was the ability to shoot the two bridges from a normally unavailable vantage without having to worry about the aforementioned Greek teenager obliterating me, but a lot of people turned out for this event. There were kids and dogs and all sorts of stuff happening, I even ran into my pal Richard Melnick from Greater Astoria Historic Society whom I seldom get to see due to our mutual tour obligations that play out over the weekends.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Shore Fest had all sorts of attractions- there was a blues band, all sorts of Eco friendly and green vendors selling or promoting their products, and almost all the kids I saw had painted faces. There was food as well, and as you see in the shot above- Ukelele lessons. The event is happening again this Sunday, and if you are lucky enough to be in Astoria- why not go check it out?
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
naturally prompted
The trains coming, hurry up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Perambulating across the blessed hills of almond eyed Astoria the other day, testing out my new lens (the Sigma 18-35 F 1.8 DS), a humble narrator suddenly perceived an ear splitting howl coming from on high. The elevated tracks on 31st street carry the N and Q service to and from Manhattan, offering Astoria’s huddled masses egress into the Shining City of Manhattan. One thing these tracks are not is quiet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself, along with our little dog Zuzu, live along the R line which is fairly cradled by the earth. Occasionally, happenstance or track work or just the urge to mix up my commute, I find myself on the elevated tracks. The views from up there can be stellar, but unfortunately the MTA has had to install sound blocking fences at the stations to calm the frayed nerves of those who live along 31st street. A busy commercial corridor, 31st street is also a primary approach to the Triborough Bridge and the Grand Central Parkway for traffic leaving Queens Plaza from the Queensboro Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its a funny thing, as Astoria is one of the few places in the central core of NYC that still looks like New York. Greenpoint has this quality as well, but the prime directive these days seems to be to obliterate any of the uniquely “New Yawk” elements of the cityscape in favor of a bland homogeneity and a mirror glass frontage which is built to the edge of the property line. Often have I wondered if this is caused by having a Boston transplant serving as the Mayor, who has hired a staff of Midwesterners and Southerners to serve as planning executives.
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
express purpose
Scenes from a short walk across a long Borough.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a notion afoot, amongst the Real Estate crowd and the urban planners, that Western Queens is somehow “under utilized” and needs to become more urban. This ideation was obviously formed by those who sit in air conditioned Manhattan office buildings who have never actually visited Queens for any reason other than to go to the airport or have only driven through it on their way to the Hamptons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When all the transportation infrastructure was rammed through Queens in the first half of the 20th century, this was largely an agricultural area. That’s why it was so easy to site the bridges and elevated subways and tunnel out here in the first place. Large lots of land which were easily purchased from a single buyer is a developers dream. Once all the steel and cement was in place, however, Queens grew exponentially. No kid from Astoria or Woodside will tell you he or she grew up in “the country.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, someone asked me what I thought of the current notion of turning Western Queens into some sort of Silicon Valley style digital hub and business incubator.
The idea is compelling, given the massive floor space and stout construction which the former factory buildings that distinguish the area, but I asked “what will these companies be connecting to?”. Astoria in particular is a hodge podge of wires carelessly maintained, with electrical and data cables spanning the streets. The utility poles which these wires are hung on are notoriously and precipitously overloaded, causing the them to bend and bow.
Does this look like the infrastructure that will draw a google or apple data center to the neighborhood, or does it remind you of some third world shithole in which one or two favored companies were granted a permanent franchise?
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
The Newtown Pentacle 