Archive for the ‘Degnon Terminal’ Category
Magic Lantern Show in Ridgewood
Your humble narrator will be narrating humbly on Friday, February 24th at 7:30 P.M. for the “Ridgewood Democratic Club, 60-70 Putnam Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385” as the “Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show” is presented to their esteemed group. The club hosts a public meeting, with guests and neighbors welcome, and say that refreshments will be served.
The “Magic Lantern Show” is actually a slideshow, packed with informative text and graphics, wherein we approach and explore the entire Newtown Creek. Every tributary, bridge, and significant spot are examined and illustrated with photography. This virtual tour will be augmented by personal observation and recollection by yours truly, with a question and answer period following.
For those of you who might have seen it last year, the presentation has been streamlined, augmented with new views, and updated with some of the emerging stories about Newtown Creek which have been exclusively reported on at this- your Newtown Pentacle.
For more information, please contact me here.
broad roofs
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On of the many corporate giants which distinguished Long Island City (at the start of the last century) was known as Waldes Koh-I-Noor. Located at the corner of Anable Avenue and Creek Street (which is the modern day 27th street and Austell Pl.), the firm was a manufacturer of dress fasteners (snaps, zippers and the like) and was known to produce all sorts of metallic devices- including war munitions, apparently.
from google books
Henry Waldes New York has leased the factory of the Klndel Bed Co Anable Avenue and Creek Street Long Island City NY comprising a four story reinforced concrete structure for the establishment of a new plant for the manufacture of small metal specialties The lease is for a term of years and aggregates $350,000
– photo courtesy google books, from: Queens Borough, New York City, 1910-1920: The Borough of Homes and Industry
A large employer, the building they were housed in is actually a complex of structures which had a rail spar leading to it. Not to be confused with the mechanical pencil manufacturers, or the legendary diamond which the company named itself after, this was an international company which had to end its operations in Europe because of the Nazi witch hunt for members of the Jewish faith.
from google books
STATEMENT OF WALDES & CO INC LONG ISLAND CITY NY The undersigned is the largest manufacturer of snap fasteners in the world and since 1918 have been established in the United States our plant being located at Long Island City NY. The original factory is located at Prague Czechoslovakia which employs about 4,000 men while our American plant now employs from 150 to 200 men Both these factories are equipped with up to date machinery and each one produces the same finely finished metal snap fasteners These fasteners are made either bright finish or enameled Our system of manufacturing and the articles themselves are our own inventions protected by patents by nearly every country.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The structure survives, and like many of the gargantuan factories which distinguish the Long Island City landscape, it has been subdivided amongst several smaller tenants in modernity. Part of the building is used an NYPD impounded property facility, another section is used by a doggy day care company.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From what I’ve been able to discern, the company remained in Waldes family tender for most of the 20th century, and seems to have been dissolved sometime in the latter third. There are literally hundreds of extant patents which were established by both the family and its enormous staff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
References in historic records describe a late in the game shift to tool and die manufacture, no doubt to exploit this catalogue of patents. The Sears catalog business carried several of their milliners supplies, and I’m told that they innovated the all plastic zippers which came into vogue during the second world war and beyond, largely due to metals shortages.
from nytimes.com
Harry K. Waldes, chairman of the board of Waldes Kohinoor Inc. in Long Island City, Queens, died Tuesday in North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, L.I., after suffering a stroke. He was 73 years old and a resident of Great Neck, L.I.
Mr. Waldes became executive vice president of the concern, which manufactures fastening devices and tools, in 1950.
He was named board chairman in 1961.
– photo courtesy google books, from: Queens Borough, New York City, 1910-1920: The Borough of Homes and Industry
Local realtors found it a devilish proposition, selling the large structure well after the golden age of American manufacturing had passed, and it was Pinnacle Realty who came up with the notion of subdividing the structure and leasing it piecemeal. Pinnacle is still a familiar name in LIC realty circles today.
from pinnaclereny.com
As the exclusive agent for the 100 year old Waldes Kohinoor Company located in Long Island City; Gary came up with the concept that the parts are worth more than the whole. Early in the marketing campaign Gary focused on selling the 3 buildings totaling 200,000 sq. ft. plus 50,000 sq.ft. of land to a single developer. He was disappointed with the offers being submitted by developers. However, if the property was sold off as 4 separate parcels millions of dollars in additional proceeds for ownership could be generated. The strategy worked extremely well and the Waldes Kohinoor ownership was very satisfied with the results.
pest gulfs
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not too long ago, I was crossing an intersection in Long Island City, one which is overtly familiar, and I noticed something which has eluded my interests in the past. At Hunters Point Avenue (which is officially 47th avenue in this decadent age) and 27th street, the sewers bear an interesting screed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was recently a sizable road repair in this spot, perhaps in 2008 or 09, one which cut away the street surface. Observation revealed that the waters of Dutch Kills flow beneath a sort of concrete deck, which appears to be the foundations of the surface street, a structure which sits upon wooden piles.
It must have been around the time of this project that these grates showed up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Dump no waste, drains to waterways” is the motto embossed on the curb surface. What this means, to me at least, is that snowmelt and rain goes directly (and untreated) into the nearest open water- which would be the Dutch Kills tributary of the fabled Newtown Creek.
Just in case you think that this is not a big deal, this is an enormously well travelled intersection with a UPS depot on the opposite corner and one which provides a “short cut” for trucks employed by the Fresh Direct facility on Borden Avenue (amongst others, of course). That’s two very large fleets of trucks.
Trucks are notoriously “drippy” and their exhaust paints the pavement with diesel petroleum residue, all of which flows into the water.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another drop in the bucket, you might say, as far the Newtown Creek Watershed goes.
Even so, it’s odd that untreated wastewater is allowed to flow directly into this waterway, already a largely anaerobic place where no fish of similar size might survive long.
warnings and prophecies
2011’s Greatest Hits:
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In January of 2011, while walking along in knee deep snow, your humble narrator happened across this enigmatic and somehow familiar item sitting in a drift at the NYC S.E.M./Signals Street Light Yard of the DOT at 37th avenue near the Sunnyside and Astoria border. It looked familiar to me, but I didn’t recognize it for what it was until sharp eyed reader TJ Connick suggested that this might be the long missing Light Stanchion which once adorned the Queensboro Bridge’s Manhattan landing.
These two posts: “an odd impulse“, and “wisdom of crowds” discuss the discovery and identification in some detail.
Some good news about this iconic piece of Queens history will be forthcoming, but I’ve been asked to keep it quiet for the moment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In February of 2011, “Vapour Soaked” presented a startling concurrence of comparitive detail for the discerning viewer, when the shot above was presented in contrast with a 1920’s shot from The Newtown Creek industrial district of New York City By Merchants’ Association of New York. Industrial Bureau, 1921″, (courtesy Google Books).
Admittedly, not quite as earth shaking as January’s news, but cool nevertheless. I really like these “now and then” shots, expect more of the same to come your way in the future.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In March of 2011, “first, Calvary” discussed the epic (for me) quest to find a proverbial “needle in a haystack” within First Calvary Cemetery- the grave of its very first interment, an Irish woman named Esther Ennis who died in 1848. I have spent an enormous amount of time searching for this spot, where Dagger John Hughes first consecrated the soil of Newtown.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In April of 2011, the world lost one of its best people and my official “partner in crime”, Bernard Ente.
He was ill for awhile, but asked me to keep the severity of things quiet. He passed in the beginning of April, and one of the last requests he made of me (along with “taking care” of certain people) was to continue what he had started along the Newtown Creek and all around NY Harbor.
This was when I had to step forward, up my game, and attempt to fill a pair of gargantuan boots. Frankly, I’m not even half of who he was, but I’m trying. That’s when I officially stepped forward and began introducing myself as a representative of Newtown Creek Alliance, and joined the Working Harbor Committee– two organizations which Bernie was committed to. I’m still trying to wrap my head around his loss.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In May of 2011, while attempting to come to terms with my new roles in both organizations, it was decided that a fitting tribute to our fallen comrade would be the continuance of his annual “Newtown Creek Cruises” and the date of May 21 was set for the event. An incredible learning experience, the success of the voyage would not have been possible without the tutelage of WHC’s John Doswell and Meg Black, NCA’s Katie Schmid, or especially the aid of “Our Lady of the Pentacle” and the Newtown Pentacle’s stalwart far eastern correspondent: Armstrong.
Funny moments from during this period included the question “Whom do you call to get a drawbridge in NYC to open for you?”.
During this time, I also became involved with Forgotten-NY’s Kevin Walsh and Greater Astoria Historical Society’s Richard Melnick and their ambitious schedule of historical tours.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In June of 2011, the earliest Newtown Creek Chemical Factory which I’ve been able to find in the historical record, so far, was explored in the post “lined with sorrow“- describing “the Bushwick Chemical Works of M. Kalbfleisch & Sons”.
Additionally, my “Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show” was presented to a sold out and standing room only crowd at the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
This was also the beginning of a period which has persisted all year- in which my efforts of behalf of the various organizations and political causes which I’m advocating for had reduced my output to a mere 15 or fewer postings a month.
All attempts are underway to remedy this situation in 2012, and apologies are offered.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In July of 2011, another Newtown Creek boat tour was conducted, this time for the Metropolitan Water Alliance’s “City of Water Day”. The “Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show” was also performed at the Admiral’s House for a packed room.
Additionally, my so called “Grand Walk” was presented in six postings. This was an attempt to follow a 19th century journey from the Bloody Sixth Ward, Manhattan’s notorious Five Points District, to Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Once, this would have been a straightforward endeavor involving minimal connections of Trolley and Ferry, but today one just has to walk. These were certainly not terribly popular posts, but are noteworthy for the hidden and occluded horde of forgotten New York history which they carry.
From the last of these posts, titled “suitable apparatus“- “As the redolent cargo of my camera card revealed- this “Grand Walk”, a panic induced marathon which carried your humble narrator across the East River from St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan into Williamsburg and up Grand Street to Maspeth and the baroque intrigues of the Newtown Creek– wound down into it’s final steps on Laurel Hill Blvd.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In August of 2011, “the dark moor” presented intriguing aerial views of the Newtown Creek Watershed, and “sinister exultation” shared the incredible sight of an Amtrak train on fire at the Hunters Point Avenue station in Long Island City. “revel and chaff” explored the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in LIC’s Zone A, and an extraordinary small boat journey around Dutch Kills was detailed in: “ponderous and forbidding“, “ethereal character“, “pillars and niches“, and “another aperture“.
This was an incredible month.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In September of 2011, a posting called “uncommented masonry” offered this declaration:
” By 1915, there approximately 40,000 automotive trucks plying the streets of New York City.
What’s surprising is that 25% of them were electric.
Lords and ladies of Newtown, I present to you the last mortal remains of the General Electric Vehicle Company, 30-28 Starr Avenue, Long Island City– manufacturer of a substantial number of those electrical trucks.”
I’m particularly fond of this post, as this was a wholly forgotten moment of Newtown Creek and industrial history which I was able to reveal. Organically born, it was discovered in the course of other research, and I believed at the time that it was going to be the biggest story that I would present all year about Blissville.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In October of 2011, a trio of Newtown Creek Tours (two public and one for educators) were accomplished. The public tours were full to capacity, as were the Open House New York tours I conducted on the 15th and 16th of that Month. Also, the Metropolitan Water Alliance invited me to photograph their “Parade of Boats” on October 11th, and I got the shot below of the FDNY Fireboat 343.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In November of 2011, a visit to Lovecraft Country in Brooklyn was described in “frightful pull“, and “vague stones and symbols” came pretty close to answering certain mysteries associated with the sky flung Miller Building found at the foot of the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge in Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A December 2011 post titled “An Oil spill… in Queens” broke the news that petroleum products are seeping out of the bulkheads of Newtown Creek, this time along the Northern shoreline, which lies in the Queens neighborhood of Blissville.
Rest assured that your Newtown Pentacle is on top of the story of “the Blissville Oil Spill”, lords and ladies of Newtown, and will bring you breaking news as it develops in 2012.
metempsychoses and shudders
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Abjurations of fealty to self interest aside, your humble narrator is suffering some sort of delirium these days. Wandering thoughts and an inability to maintain focus plague my waking hours, and certain hallucinatory visions experienced during the nocturne haunt. Conversation has become difficult to follow or respond to, and paranoid imaginings or unheralded agitations at obviously minor issues color my days with fear, aggression, and anxiety. All I can see lying before me is devastation, hopelessness, and a slouching path leading to destruction.
I’m all ‘effed up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Were it possible that I could just be like the humans who infest this great hive, satisfied with loping along the streets whilst spouting colorful aphorisms, pronouncing vainglorious affirmations of personal worth. If only adorning myself with gaudy baubles or tailored garments, reflecting the height of current taste and fashion, could allow surcease from the diabolical internal dialogues which torment and disabuse. Such adolescent fury and desire is unacceptable in an adult, let alone one whose beard has gone white.
The waste meadows are where I belong, their devastating loneliness and abandonment mirror my own.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Apotheosis finds a home here, along the tributaries of the Newtown Creek. Artifice is struck down by the concretized reality of hubris, and the shape of the future can be discerned in studying the past. Notions such as this force me into a separate form of existence which is ruled by the dark emotions of fear, resentment, and anger. Such is my lot then, to exist as the broken, the barren, and at the dazed and disappointed edge of man’s world.
I must find contentment in my role as Outsider, it would seem.
The Newtown Pentacle 