Archive for the ‘Brooklyn’ Category
Veneralia
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Technically speaking, this post is day late and a dollar short, as the holiday of Veneralia was traditionally observed by the Romans on April 1. Given the prankster traditions of our modern culture that revolve around the date, however, it was decided to run an acknowledgement of the holiday today- if the story of Troy has taught us anything, it’s “Don’t mess around with the Goddess of Love”.
from wikipedia
Venus was offered official (state-sponsored) cult in certain festivals of the Roman calendar. Her sacred month was April (Latin Mensis Aprilis) which Roman etymologists understood to derive from aperire, “to open,” with reference to the springtime opening of trees and flowers.
Veneralia (April 1) was held in honour of Venus Verticordia (“Venus the Changer of Hearts”), and Fortuna Virilis (Virile or strong Good Fortune), whose cult was probably by far the older of the two. Venus Verticordia was invented in 220 BC, during the last tears of Rome’s Punic Wars, in response to advice from a Sibylline oracle, when a series of prodigies was taken to signify divine displeasure at sexual offenses among Romans of every category and class, including several men and three Vestal Virgins.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Veneration… the very root of the word comes from her name, this Roman deity named Venus. She wore many hats, and was worshipped in several aspects. The one which we at Newtown Pentacle HQ revere is the personification of Venus Cloacina, goddess of the main drain. Myrtle adorns the entranceway to that ceremonial room with ceramic tiles which we maintain, and rhyming prayers will be offered before a porcelain altar.
from wikipedia
In Roman mythology, Cloacina (Latin, cloaca: “sewer” or “drain”) was the goddess who presided over the Cloaca Maxima (“Great Drain”), the main trunk of the system of sewers in Rome. She was originally derived from Etruscan mythology. The Cloaca Maxima said to be begun by one of Rome’s Etruscan kings, Tarquinius Priscus, and finished by another, Tarquinius Superbus.
Titus Tatius, who reigned with Romulus, erected a statue to Cloacina as the spirit of the “Great Drain”. As well as controlling sewers, she was also a protector of sexual intercourse in marriage. Despite her Etruscan origins, she later became identified with Venus.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Towering above the lowest point of New York City in Greenpoint, at the bottom of a geologic soup bowl (as it were), is the greatest temple of this goddess. If fancy strikes, as you drive along the BQE or traverse the streets of our ancient neighborhoods, remember to offer the ancient prayer:
“O Cloacina, Goddess of this place,
Look on thy suppliants with a smiling face.
Soft, yet cohesive let their offerings flow,
Not rashly swift nor insolently slow.
– courtesy sewerhistory.org
ALSO:
Your humble narrator will be narrating humbly at this year’s Obscura Day event on April 28th, leading a walking tour of Dutch Kills. The tour is already a third booked up, and as I’m just announcing it, grab your tickets while you can.
“Found less than one mile from the East River, Dutch Kills is home to four movable (and one fixed span) bridges, including one of only two retractible bridges remaining in New York City. Dutch Kills is considered to be the central artery of industrial Long Island City and is ringed with enormous factory buildings, titan rail yards — it’s where the industrial revolution actually happened. Bring your camera, as the tour will be revealing an incredible landscape along this section of the troubled Newtown Creek Watershed.”
For tickets and full details, click here :
obscuraday.com/events/thirteen-steps-dutch-kills-newtown-creek-exploration
outward course
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Kimberly Poling was observed recently, as it headed west along the infamous Newtown Creek, and has sailed directly into Maritime Sunday at this- your Newtown Pentacle. The tug is owned by Poling and Cutler, and we recently examined one of their other tugs on this self same stretch of the Creek- the Crystal Cutler.
The name of the game in the shipping industry is to never transport an empty container. As such- after disgorging the petroleum cargo carried by its fuel barge to Newtown Creek, the Kimberly Poling took on another load for transport.
from marcon.com
Marcon International, Inc. is pleased to announce the sale of the US Flag Twin Screw Tug “Jaguar” from Mobro Marine, Inc. to P&C Kimberly Poling, LLC. “Jaguar” was built by Main Iron Works in 1994. She measures 105′ LOA x 34′ beam x 15′ depth. The vessel is powered by two EMD 12-645E2 main engines, producing 3000 total BHP at 900 RPM. Reintjes gears drive two 93″ x 91″ fixed pitch propellers in kort nozzles producing an estimated 40 tons bollard pull. The vessel is fitted with fully air-conditioned accommodations for 7 crew in 4 cabins. “Jaguar” will work for her new owners in the US Northeast. Marcon acted as sole broker in the transaction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Within the double walled steel tanks of the fuel barge, which is the Edwin A Poling by the way, can be found several thousand gallons of Diet Coca Cola, no doubt pumped in from the Coca Cola bottling plant on 58th street in Maspeth.
Carbonated beverages can be quite volatile when subjected to the rolling waves of the open harbor and as such precautions must be observed. The Captain of the Kimberly Poling must personally ensure that there are no “Mentos” brand mints onboard, for instance.
Founded in 1995, Poling Cutler began operations near the time the former Poling Transportation went out of business.
The Founders of the new company were Ed Poling, whose grandfather started the former Poling company, and Gary Cutler who spent years working in the financial world before getting involved in Marine Transportation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The “Dr. Pepper drama”, which played out over three days off the coast of Nassau Island during the winter of 1997- known as the “Bahamian Belch”- is still quite fresh in the mind of the maritime community. Accordingly, Coast Guard penalties for the improper transportation of and off loading of all soft drinks are quite severe.
The barge is most likely bound for Staten Island, which has been experiencing extreme shortages of the stuff since the spring of 2010.
Newtown Creek was designated a Significant Maritime and Industrial Area (SMIA) in the NYC Department of City Planning ‘s 1992 Comprehensive Waterfront Plan for its characteristic clusters of industrial businesses and water-dependent uses. In the 2010 update of this plan, Vision 2020, Newtown Creek maintains its place as New York City’s largest SMIA in terms of both land area and employment. After losing half its jobs from 1992 to 2008, the number of jobs in Newtown Creek SMIA grew by nearly 1,400 (totaling 15,000 jobs) from 2000 to 2008.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The carbonation of the cargo is causative rather than coincidental as to why the barge is riding so high in the water, as the frothy action of the pressurized bubbles in the beverage buoy it up. The Maritime Shipping Association sees this sector of the business expanding exponentially and demand for the diet drink doubling within the decade.
It is good to know, on this the 1st of April, that the thirst of Staten Islanders will be satiated.
from wikipedia
Diet Coke (also known as Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola light or Coke Light) is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first introduced in the United States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook the soft drink Tab in sales.
Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame after the sweetener became available in the United States in 1983; to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin. After Diet Rite cola advertised its 100 percent use of aspartame, and the manufacturer of NutraSweet (then, G.D. Searle & Company) warned that the NutraSweet trademark would not be made available to a blend of sweeteners, Coca-Cola switched the formula to 100 percent NutraSweet. Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin to extend shelf life.
aerial ocean
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a short one today, some of the interesting odds and ends observed during my travels over the last few weeks. The shot above is from 58th rd. in Maspeth, once known as the Maspeth Plank road and paved with crushed oyster shells. It led to Furman’s Island, a notorious spit of muddy land that was legendary in its time for the offensive industries located there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This curious collection of women’s shoes, singles not pairs, was spotted on Provost in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The mind boggles at where the mated shoes might have been dumped, but these are found on the street named for one of the “OG’s” – the Original Greenpointers. They were named Provoost rather than Provost, of course, but Dutch words seldom translate unscathed into english.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also in Greenpoint, this time nearby Manhattan Avenue. Manhattan is a double wide street because there was a street car or Trolley line that ran down it, which broke off from the East River to Calvary line which plied Greenpoint Avenue. The Manhattan Avenue line went over the Vernon Avenue Bridge and connected with Long Island City. The street art or graffiti depicted in this shot is signed “Mara” and a humble narrator is glad that some of the conclusions I’ve drawn about Newtown Creek are seemingly being noticed by others.
skillfully wafted
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in the Newtown Pentacle posting “Approaching Locomotive“, a recent opportunity to visit the gargantuan Waste Management facility on Varick Street in Brooklyn (whose back yard abuts the English Kills tributary of the fabled Newtown Creek) materialized. your humble narrator has long desired to witness the place, so I jumped at the chance.
As a note- I’m a member of Newtown Creek Alliance, and so is one of the subjects of this posting. Said admission is offered in the name of avoiding charges of bias, nepotism, or cronyism.
from wikipedia
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company in North America. Founded in 1894, the company is headquartered the First City Tower in Houston, Texas.
The company’s network includes 367 collection operations, 355 transfer stations, 273 active landfill disposal sites, 16 waste-to-energy plants, 134 recycling plants, 111 beneficial-use landfill gas projects and six independent power production plants. Waste Management offers environmental services to nearly 20 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. With 21,000 collection and transfer vehicles, the company has the largest trucking fleet in the waste industry. Together with its competitor Republic Services, Inc, the two handle more than half of all garbage collection in the United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Accompanying a class of high school students from “The Green School” on Graham Avenue in Williamsburg, we arrived at the Titan depot early in the afternoon. Early for the diurnal, of course, but late in the day for the Waste Management folks who get more accomplished before sunrise than most do by sunset.
The Green School is a 9th-12th grade learning community that develops science, math, literacy, and social studies skills in the context of New York City’s many environments. Through rigorous interdisciplinary curricula and hands-on experiential projects, students will engage with their environment, participate meaningfully in community life, and prepare for their futures.
While focusing on “green” careers, the school’s primary theme is sustainability, a concept and a practice that incorporates and recognizes the interconnectedness of the environment, the economy, society, and culture and promotes practices with the future in mind. The curricula focus on giving students scientific, historical, and contextual knowledge to make meaningful connections between their lives and the broader world, and the math and literacy skills they need to participate in that world. Students are able to demonstrate mastery of academic work in portfolios, examinations, and reflections by applying it to the world around them, explaining the geometry in the arc of an elevated train, deducing air quality using the scientific method, or designing and carrying out learning experiences for local elementary students. Students participate in community service projects, internships and apprenticeships, and do independent projects based on their interests each year.
The mission of The Green School lends itself to create a school environment open to the diverse needs of ELL, special education, gifted and struggling students. The Green School is committed to provide all students an education and the required skills that are transferable from the classroom to their collegiate and/or professional pursuits.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The two fellows at either end of the shot above are Newtown Creek Alliance’s Michael Heimbinder and Marc Ottaviani, 11th grade English Language Arts teacher. Michael, in addition to his NCA work, is involved in several other projects- one of which is habitatmap.org.
from habitatmap.org
Michael Heimbinder, Founder & Executive Director
Michael Heimbinder is a writer, researcher, community organizer and information designer. Over the years he has collaborated with a wide range of environmental and human rights organizations including the Newtown Creek Alliance, the United Nations Equator Initiative, the Ghana Wildlife Society and Food First. He is also a Fellow at the Oakland Institute and a technical advisor to the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods where he consults on solid waste management issues in New York City. Michael is a graduate of Colorado College and received his M.A. in International Affairs from the New School for Social Research.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The program which the kids are taking part in, funded by the NYCEF fund of the Hudson River Conservancy, is built around the habitatmap concept, and is described thusly:
“School to develop and teach a ten week course that instructs 11th grade students on maps-based research methods focusing on two facilities adjacent to Newtown Creek: the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Waste Management’s Varick Avenue Transfer Station. The selected facilities are the starting point from which the students are examining water and waste systems by geographically tracing the material flows and institutional networks that connect these facilities to the larger world. The students’ findings will be documented using HabitatMap’s community mapping platform and integrated into a maps-based research methods toolkit. The toolkit will be used by high schools, both in New York and nationally, to conduct investigations of water and waste systems in their own communities using examples from Newtown Creek.
By developing coursework that combines technology, classroom learning, and field research the curriculum is specifically designed to meet the Green School’s mission, which aims to prepare students for their future studies and employment “through rigorous interdisciplinary curricula and hands-on experiential projects that encourage students to engage with their environment and participate meaningfully in community life.”
also from habitatmap.org
Mission
HabitatMap is a non-profit environmental health justice organization whose goal is to raise awareness about the impact the environment has on human health. Our online mapping and social networking platform is designed to maximize the impact of community voices on city planning and strengthen ties between organizations and activists working to build greener, greater cities. Utilizing our shared advocacy platform participants can:
- Alert the public to environmental health hazards
- Hold polluters accountable for their environmental impacts
- Highlight urban infrastructures that promote healthy living
- Identify future opportunities for sustainable urban development
- Promote policies that enhance equitable access to urban resources
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As such class trips have begun since the dawn of time, we were brought to a room where one of the Waste Management superintendents and staff described the process, and procedural habits, of the transfer station. A transfer station, for those of you unused to such terminology, is a concentrating point for the garbage collected by the DSNY and others for sorting and containerizing. The white collection trucks carry their cargo here, where it is loaded onto train cars for eventual disposition into (usually out of state) landfills.
from wikipedia
A transfer station is a building or processing site for the temporary deposition of waste. Transfer stations are often used as places where local waste collection vehicles will deposit their waste cargo prior to loading into larger vehicles. These larger vehicles will transport the waste to the end point of disposal in an incinerator, landfill, or hazardous waste facility, or for recycling
In the future, transfer stations could be equipped with material recovery facilities and with localized mechanical biological treatment systems to remove recyclable items from the waste stream.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When the DSNY trucks arrive at the facility, they are weighed on enormous vehicle scales like the ones in the shot above. When exiting the facility, they are weighed a second time, and the differential is recorded as the tonnage of waste which was delivered. My understanding is that in the contract Waste Management enjoys with the City of New York, the fees paid for the handling of this putrescent lahar are assessed on a “per ton” basis.
from gothamgazette.com
Other parts of the city’s solid waste plan have moved forward. Twenty-year contracts have been either negotiated or are in effect with Waste Management of New York to export trash from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. The sanitation department is currently negotiating with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a long-term contract to take the vast majority of Manhattan’s refuse to a waste-to-energy plant in New Jersey.
At the time of the solid waste management plan’s approval, the administration argued long-term contracts would save the city money, and it would get the city’s trash off of dirty diesel trucks. Almost 90 percent of city trash, the mayor promised, would be sent by rail or barge instead.
According to the Department of Sanitation, the cost of exporting the city’s trash has increased per ton from $61.30 in 2000 to $92.80 in 2010 — a 20 percent increase over the rate of inflation. As of April, 33 percent of the city’s trash has been unloaded from trucks and put on rail cars — an increase from 14 percent in 2006, according to the solid waste plan.
None of the city’s waste is currently exported by barge, according to the Department of Sanitation, because those transfer stations have not been completed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We were informed that our arrival in the afternoon was fortuitous as Waste Management’s schedule is precisely administered to conclude sorting and containerization by a certain time of day which allows them purchase to clean and disinfect their mill. The representatives explained that they are regularly visited by inspection officers and are contractually obligated to several “best practice” regulations.
from habitatmap.org
In 2006 Waste Management NY 215 Varick handled 652,706 tons of material; this sum represents 5.3% of all waste exported through transfer stations in New York City.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Late in the night and early morning, fleets of collection trucks arrive here, are weighed, and “tip” or discharge their cargo. Enormous machinery, clawed derricks and jotun sized earth moving equipment, flies into action. This can be an enormously dangerous place to work, were routine safety procedures not strictly observed. Even so, extreme caution was urged as we moved into the relatively empty transfer station.
from nyc.gov
Each week, in Fiscal Year 2010, the Department assigned approximately 4,941 trucks to collect 49,922 tons of curbside residential refuse and scheduled 460 E- Z Pack and Roll-on/Roll-off containerized trucks to collect an additional 8,000 tons. The amount of refuse generated by the 8.2 million residents of New York City is subject to seasonal variations. Each month, the Department allocates weekly truck and tonnage targets to each of its 59 districts to better manage our productivity. These targets are closely monitored to ensure that productivity improvement goals are met. District Superintendents constantly evaluate routes and tonnage in their districts to achieve these targets.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The extant mound of trash in these shots was huge, but as mentioned by the Waste Management people, represented only a small fraction of what they handle daily. In fact, they were quite nearly finished processing the daily waste of most of Brooklyn when we arrived. They also explained that the relative lack of odor was due to state of the art equipment maintained at the site which accomplished odor control and elimination via technological means.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For scale, this stitched panorama image is included. That’s Mr. Heimbinder in the foreground, and he’s around six feet tall. The trash pile was roughly thirty to forty feet high, and covered a fairly large parcel of floorspace. Any estimate I could offer would be wrong, as your humble narrator is notorious for overestimation of such matters. Somewhere between a regulation basketball court and a regulation football field would be my best guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Waste Management crew were waiting for us to exit the facility before they got back to work, and as schedules must be maintained- we were escorted along. Like a lot of the people you meet in the garbage industry, they were really nice and seemingly “regular joes” who took their jobs seriously. A few of the Waste Management and DSNY personnel who were on site also talked to the kids, assuring them that these were “good jobs” with great pay and a full package of benefits.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator knows quite a few people employed in this industry, at both public agencies and private carting firms. None of them regret their choices, career wise, but for the early start time which is common at such jobs. Most of the folks I know who are engaged in this trade leave home before the sun comes up, arriving at work by 5 A.M. or thereabouts. Often, a change of clothes is kept in the trunk, as their work clothes can become quite soiled as the day goes on. After a shower, you’d never know what they do for a living.
warm and fragrant
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An appointment in Greenpoint carried me across the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge last Tuesday, and as my habit is to be early to meetings, some time was available for photography. It was an unusual and foggy day, and the mists were creating an enormous depth of field atmospherically. Always a visual pleasure, the GPA bridge offers views of the former Tidewater pumping station on the Queens bank as well as the tank farms of Lukoil and Metro fuel on the Brooklyn bank- which are pictured above.
That’s when I noticed something disturbing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We are lucky that we live in the age we do, when an oil slick moving down the languorous Newtown Creek is a remarkable sight. Once upon a time, such visualizations were commonly extant and regularly observed. Luckily, due to regulation and improved industrial practices, such events happen far less frequently than they once did.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The standard protocol to follow when you observe an oil slick on the Newtown Creek, or anywhere in New York Harbor, is to first document it by taking a picture using your cell phone or digital camera. Make a note of your location and the time. Next, call 311 to alert city authorities, followed by a call to the State DEC spill hotline- 1 (800) 457-7362.
They take these matters quite seriously.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Take note of whether the tide is coming in or going out, as this will help authorities to pinpoint the source of the contaminants. On this day, the tide was ebbing and the oil slick was flowing toward the East River along the tepid current. It should be mentioned that the obvious petroleum industry presence found alongside the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge is maintained by fairly responsible parties in modernity, and the shot above is not meant to indite or should be viewed as indicative of being responsible for the event depicted in this post.
The slick was coming from the other direction, flowing east to west and traveling beneath the bridge toward them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Later that afternoon, after having accomplished my intended goals in Greenpoint, and returning home via the Pulaski Bridge to Queens- a new feature on the lower Creek was noticed. A temporary or floating dock installed nearby the Vernon Avenue Street End, and one of two “work boats” was traveling eastward from it and moving under the Pulaski.
It moved too fast for me to ready the camera, but it bore the screed “spill response boat” upon it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Everybody’s friends at Riverkeeper, whom I informed of my observations upon returning home, made inquiries with DEC officials about the nature and extent of this possible spill event. DEC sent back word that the slick was no spill, rather it was likely a result of sediment sampling efforts being carried out by the Federal EPA as part of the ongoing discovery phase of the Superfund process. It seems that while dredging up small quantities of the so called “Black Mayonnaise” which lines the bed of the creek for study, some effluent might have been released into the waterway.
The Newtown Pentacle 