Archive for the ‘Blissville’ Category
twisting willows
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– photo by Mitch Waxman, 2012
During this infirmity which has struck me down, a twisting gimlet of overstressed tissue in my lower back (for those of you who haven’t read my endless complaints about it in the last week), an amazing amount of time has been spent combing the vast Internet in search of amusement and diversion. While doing so, a few images at the New York City Municipal Archives provided me with some intellectual whimsy. The shot above is quite modern, captured a few days after Hurricane Sandy. It depicts the “Queens Midtown Highway” section of the Long Island Expressway.
– photo by nycma.lunaimaging.com, May 13, 1941
The historic shot from May 1941, above, is shot from a few hundred feet south of my vantage point. Unfortunately, the spot where that photographer stood is now obscured by both a chain link fence and a highway sign which blocks the historic view. Of particular note in the 1941 shot are the presence of private homes, rather than industrial buildings, along the northern side of the highway. Also, the blanket of vaporous exhaust visible in the air of Long Island City is of some interest.
ache horribly
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down Under the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge Onramp, or DUGABO as I call it, on the Queens side of the loquacious Newtown Creek, is found south of the tracks of the Long Island Railroad. A largish industrial footprint, whose boot heels were dug into the swampy soil as early at the 1830’s, both describes and damns the area. The ghosts of fat renderer and yeast brewery alike haunt the spot, as does your humble narrator.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wandering around down here recently, this intriguing bit of graffiti was observed. I’ve seen such markings before, over on Dutch Kills Street nearby Queens Plaza. It’s unusual mainly because of the figurative nature of the illustration, most area graffiti tends to be gang oriented, typographical in nature, or features the usage of a stylized and highly practiced logo or “tag”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Deeper meanings and interpretation are best left to curators and wonks, but I for one like the drawing. The text betrays the twee irony of the hipsters, in my opinion. Always remember, lords and ladies, I go to these places so you don’t have to.
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solid stones
Notice: the November 9th Magic Lantern Show with Atlas Obscura is cancelled for now. We hope to reschedule for sometime during the winter. Observatory, where the event is scheduled to take place, has been damaged by Hurricane Sandy and flooding.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing our survey of the Creeklands in the immediate wake of Hurricane Sandy, Hank the Elevator Guy and I entered venerable Calvary Cemetery in Blissville. Truly, I did not expect to see what was evident there, which was virtually zero impact from the storm.
Not a downed headstone nor anything larger than a fallen tree limb betrayed the tumult.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not sure of how this was possible, given the exposure and high elevations of the place. Wherever you are along the Newtown Creek, the highest natural elevations visible are Calvary (Laurel Hill) and the hill next to it (Berlin). It is certainly the highest point between Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood and the East River, and is an unstructured hill well planted with trees.
The majority of the monuments merely sit upon the ground and have no foundation other than a stripe of poured concrete.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One truly expected to find the place laid low, with grounds crews attempting to right the stones and clear away fallen trees. How strange. It is almost as if someone was looking out for the cemetery and steering the destruction away from it. Sunnyside, which is at a slightly lower declination than Calvary, suffered massive losses of trees. So did Maspeth proper which is at an even higher elevation.
I guess Dagger John knew how to pick a piece of land…
open place
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in yesterday’s posting, an effort was made to get out and survey the various parts of the Newtown Creek and her tributaries which are normally focused upon at this, your Newtown Pentacle. Luckily, a friend- Hank the Elevator Guy– offered to drive me around. This simplified my life immensely and allowed me to cover several of the rather further flung sections which one would normally have to walk to.
Pictured above, for instance, are workers pumping out the Queens Midtown Tunnel on the corner of Vernon and Borden.
from jimmyvanbramer.com
Along both Center and Vernon Boulevards I visited businesses that experienced significant flooding damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy. In an effort to help them recover and reopen. I will be delivering FEMA Disaster Assistance forms to businesses. This information will help those affected on their way toward a full recovery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This post will concern what was witnessed along Borden Avenue, and subsequent postings for the next few days will highlight other sections of the Newtown Creek. All along Borden, a flurry of activity was underway, and nearly every street level door was opened and featured a flexible pipe carrying water out to the curb. The good news is that Long Island City seems to have rolled up its sleeves and is getting back to work, something which will act as a “force multiplier” for those sections of the City which weren’t so lucky.
from dnainfo.com
A storm surge that flooded “hundreds of properties” with Newtown Creek’s water carries intense economic and environmental repercussions, advocates warned.
“All waterfront properties took water, hundreds of properties,” said the Newtown Creek Alliance’s director Kate Zidar after surveying the scene by the highly polluted creek Tuesday. “The standing water and residue that came from the creek should not be considered clean.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Borden Avenue Bridge, as you’d imagine, survived the hurricane in apparently fine fettle, although the lots surrounding it showed signs of flooding and wash outs. WCBS, today, reported that Newtown Creek breached its bulkheads in LIC flooding the surrounding area- including the Midtown Tunnel.
Based on what I’ve seen and heard here though, the surge was as severe in LIC as it was over in residential Greenpoint over in Brooklyn.
Sandy Flooding Impacts Waterfront Properties on Newtown Creek
During the peak of the storm, Newtown Creek flooded throughout Zones A, B and C, and some waterfront areas experienced several feet of water. Luckily, waters receded quickly for the most part. Check out our photos from the storm, and our brief recap from Wednesday. If you are looking to volunteer with cleanup, send us an email at info@newtowncreekalliance.org.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately there was quite a bit of petroleum in the water, as evinced by not just olfactory evidence, but the presence of a rainbow sheen on the water. Instruction offered by officials of the DEC in the past has opined that the presence of such multicolored refraction indicates a fresh spill of “product”. Quite obviously, however, the sheer number of submerged automobiles and home heating oil tanks in the greater New York area means that there are literally tens of thousands of “non point” sources for such pollution.
from huffingtonpost.com
According to the Office of Response and Restoration at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard had requested scientific support from NOAA’s Emergency Response Division for three separate oil spills in Arthur Kill, as well as “reports of several orphan containers, and many potential hazmat targets.”
The so-called “products of concern” include 8,300 barrels — or about 349,000 gallons — of diesel, bio-diesel and slop oil, according to NOAA.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of the smell, the ineffable odor of raw sewage was omnipresent, also an expected consequence of the disaster. As mentioned in prior postings, your humble narrator has grown quite inured to the smell over the years, and it was pointed out by Hank the Elevator Guy as his eyes began to water. Such inability to perceive environmental factors is known as “adaptation”, which is something I think we are all going to be getting familiar with in the coming months and years.
from petervallone.com
·Tap water is safe to drink.
·Do not use generators or grills indoors. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious threat when these devices are used indoors. They should only be used outside and kept away from windows and vents. Everyone should possess and use battery-operated carbon monoxide alarms. Test the batteries if possible.
·If someone experiences sleepiness, dizziness, headaches, confusion, weakness, or if the carbon monoxide alarm sounds, they should immediately seek fresh air and call the poison control center at 212–POISONS (212-764-7667). They can also call 911, since poisoning is life threatening.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The water in Dutch Kills was actually quite active, but it was still fairly windy when these shots were taken. Under normal circumstance, this tributary of Newtown Creek is an unbroken mirror- surreal. There were tons of “floatables” in the water, flotsam and jetsam and wind blown trash and debris. I didn’t witness many birds, other than a seagull (a bird which is not commonly observed at the Creek, they like Astoria Park on Hell Gate, don’t ask me why) which was loudly announcing itself.
The chemistry in the air, which as mentioned was tainted by sewage, smelled not unlike the shop floor of any mid sized automobile mechanic.
SAVE THE DATE! Assemblyman Joe Lentol and District Dog will be partnering for a hurricane relief event on Sunday November 11th to collect goods for Brooklyn residents and animal rescue organizations that have suffered as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Under emergency conditions such as those which have shattered New York City, unthinkable things are now essential to recovery. Under normal circumstances, visible “product” floating around in any amount- let alone the enormous volume in these shots- would engender an enormous response from environmental watchdogs inside and outside of government. What you see here is unimportant right now, from a big picture pov.
There are kids out there- in the dark and cold.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying that, it will be a long haul to “get back to normal”, or it was so called eleven years ago – the “new normal”. Also, I cannot imagine how tired the same folks who always take it on the chin for the rest of us – cops, firemen, ambulance emt- must be. I’m sure it’s no joke for all the other services, who must have been “on” non stop for the last week with no end in sight.
For the rest of us, NYC will soon be operating under an entirely new rule book.
from greenpointers.com
At this point, there’s not a whole lot that can be done to prevent the Newtown Creek from overflowing. I was down there at noon today and the bulkhead at GMDC was already under water, and the water was a couple of feet short of overflowing onto Manhattan Ave. We are expecting a high tide tonight to coincide with the storm surge and that could mean a storm surge of 8-11 feet at Newtown Creek, which would obviously put Manhattan Ave under water.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Blue Crow’s shack, a homeless shanty which been encamped on the Borden Avenue Bridge for several years that has withstood blizzards and storms, is smashed. I called out to him in English and Spanish, but there was no answer. Hopefully, the fellow found some sort of alternative shelter before the winds took his home.
from observer.com
“As long as you stay indoors, you’re probably safe,” Mayor Bloomberg told the reporters at this evening’s latest press conference. But what about the people for whom it isn’t that simple? The Observer is getting reports that even as Sandy roars our way, some of the city’s most vulnerable–the homeless–are still outside.
As late as this evening, an Observer source found a group of people at Eighth Street and Second Avenue with no plans to leave for a drop-in or emergency center. ”We got shelter right here,” one man told her.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m sort of worried about the situation of the various homeless camps around the Newtown Creek. There are a substantial number of people who exist in the cracks and narrow spaces here, sleeping along fence lines and along industrial sidewalls. One cannot imagine their lives during normal circumstance, let alone Hurricane Sandy.
from housingworks.org
With the mess of Hurricane Sandy in New York City over the last few days, we have been hearing a lot about mandatory evacuations for people in Zone A: areas in Staten Island, lower Manhattan, and eastern Brooklyn (Red Hook and Greenpoint especially). To meet the needs of these Sandy evacuees, Bloomberg opened 65 additional shelters across the five boroughs, stocking these makeshift shelters—high schools, middle schools, etc.—with food, water, blankets, and pet food.
The strongest part of this evacuation plan is that it’s a piece of a larger puzzle, and that these shelters are only a detour until these people can return to their homes. But for the 50,000 people in New York City who are homeless and need shelter every night, they simply are not given the same thought-out consideration or planning, at least not outside of weather emergencies. Certainly, we must commend those who were on the front line of the storm over the last few nights, reaching out to the homeless across New York City and even into New Jersey (well done, Cory Booker) and encouraging them to seek shelter, but where’s the same outreach and energy on an average NYC night? Where is the long-term solution for the population that is the same as Hempstead, NY?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having thoroughly documented the area around the Borden Avenue Bridge, Hank the Elevator Guy and I got back in his truck and headed off for points east. More tomorrow at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
from riverkeeper.org
In addition to the extraordinary impacts to our homes and public infrastructure, Superstorm Sandy also had an extraordinary impact to our environment. Riverkeeper has sounded the alarm about widespread pollution in the Hudson River and New York Harbor by a variety of toxic chemicals, including petroleum and fluids from cars and boats; contaminants from flooded subways, roads, parking lots and tunnels; and contaminants washed from shoreline industrial sites, as well as commercial and residential buildings. Our message is being heard, as the press reports on widespread pollution, as well as specific waterways, from the Gowanus Canal to the Rondout Creek.
You can do a service for our water by helping Riverkeeper to document this pollution. Where possible, we will take action with environmental agencies to remedy pollution. In all instances, documenting pollution will help us understand the impacts of this extraordinary storm surge, so we can advocate for actions that will lessen or eliminate impacts from the next storm. When you see something, take photos, and note the location, time and conditions, as well as any other necessary information.
gleaming image
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It should be mentioned that under normal circumstance, the narration recited on board one of the Newtown Creek boat tours which I’ve been a part of in the recent past has been “the straight story”. By that, I mean that the normal narrative which readers of this blog have grown used to is toned down a bit, and a more mainstream presentation is offered. There are still plenty of “night soil and offal dock” stories, but as I have a relatively short amount of time to tell the story of Newtown Creek, a lot of the more… colourful… stuff gets trimmed out. Luckily, the Newtown Creek Alliance is producing a “spooky” Halloween tour this Saturday (October 27), and I get to go to town on this one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In addition to weaving the Blissville Banshee, Maspeth Gypsies, and witch panics into my speech- there are two other factors which make this tour special. First and foremost is the price, subsidized by grant money from the NYCEF fund of the Hudson River Foundation – which allows NCA to offer the trip at an amazing price of just $25. Secondly, the time at which we will be embarking is late in the afternoon, which should offer spectacular sunset lighting of the Creek for photographers and sensitives alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a two hour excursion, leaving from Manhattan’s South Sea Seaport on board a comfortable NY Water Taxi (which, yes, has bathroom facilities). NCA is encouraging the wearing of seasonal costuming to celebrate and acknowledge the Halloween holiday. Scheduled speakers include your humble narrator and NCA Executive Director Kate Zidar. Whatever there is, which cannot possibly exist, lurking in the Black Mayonnaise which underlies the cursed waters of that cataract of agony known as the Newtown Creek has refused to make an appearance sans ritual sacrifice- something NCA cannot have any involvement with due to the intricacies of its 501/3c non profit status. The thing in the megalith will be watching, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The question of what sort of costume I will be wearing is still up in the air. Attempts to borrow a death cloak have so far been unsuccessful, despite the fact that several people I know own such raiments. Click the banner just below this paragraph for ticketing information and fulfillment. Do you dare to enter this nightmare world of the Newtown Creek, or will you instead cling to the illusion of sanity which exists beyond its banks?
Also- Upcoming Newtown Creek tours and events:
for more information on the October 27th Newtown Creek Boat Tour, click here
for more information on the November 9th Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show, click here
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
The Newtown Pentacle 