Archive for the ‘Flushing’ Category
bodily dislodgement
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
October 21st, and I was continuing my exploration of a few spots in College Point and Whitestone which seemed promising. These were located during a session I spent with Google Maps’ street view feature. The 1961 Throgs Neck Bridge is what it depicts. The Google map said I was in a dog park, but it was actually just a parking lot alongside a parkway.
The hour was growing a bit late, and plans to meet Our Lady of the Pentacle back in Astoria were in the offing, so I packed up my troubles in the old kit bag. Yes, I did, indeed, “smile, smile, smile.”
For those of you under the age of 1,000, that’s a jokey reference to this song.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
October 22nd saw me in Flushing, at the Queens Botanical Garden.
There were pumpkins.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
October 25th and I was scheduled to spend a day with one of my closest friends driving around Southern Brooklyn, but it was very foggy when I left the house about 8:30 a.m. My ultimate meetup destination was in Park Slope, and there’s an obvious way to get there by car from Astoria, one which unfortunately involves sitting in a lot of Manhattan bound traffic on a certain expressway that connects Brooklyn and Queens.
I decided to go there via the less obvious but more interesting route, by driving to Ridgewood and then hanging a right and then a left or two in Bushwick and then proceeding through that central part of Brooklyn which nobody ever talks about these days. Along my way to the first right in Ridgewood, I crossed Newtown Creek and couldn’t resist a shot or two of the Grand Street Bridge all cloaked up in mist.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The new car has a moon roof. I don’t know what the actual difference between a sun roof and a moon roof is, but there you are. As I was driving along, whenever I got stuck at a light, I’d shove the camera up through the moon roof and turn the camera’s LED screen to a convenient angle so I could compose and record a quick shot.
That’s Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, all fogged up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I did the same thing with the camera and moon roof on my way home. The fog had cleared by the afternoon, and the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself had burst into view. I was driving down Flatbush Avenue, this time headed in the direction of the aforementioned expressway betwixt Brooklyn and Queens.
I’ve been doing this sort of shot a bunch the last couple of weeks, as I’ve been driving a lot since receiving the car. It’s an interesting perspective for me, since the position of the lens to the car’s roof as it stands relative to the ground – if it were “eye level” – would indicate that I’m about six inches taller than I actually am.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An errand got me off the expressway and into the Woodside and Jackson Heights zone, where I had to weave an automotive path through the various “improvements” to traffic flow offered by the City in recent years. While driving down Roosevelt Avenue, a splotch of pigeon scat landed on the hood of my car, and I decided that it would be good idea to close the moon roof.
Hey, they say that’s lucky, having a pigeon poop on you.
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narrower alleys
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot of the Power Plant in Yonkers, specifically its Hudson River moat, was gathered on the way back to My Pal Val’s Valmobile. She offered to drop me off somewhere convenient on her way back to Nassau County on Long Island, so I greedily lept at the idea of catching a ride at least part of the way back home.
She had opted for the Whitestone Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I cracked this one out through her windshield while we were on a highway, which is a lot easier said than done. I think it’s the Whitestone, but it could also be the Throgg’s Neck. I’m sure some nagging presence on one of my social media accounts will take the opportunity to hijack this post and use it to express how much more knowledgable they are than I about the bridges of the East River.
Soon, we touched down in Queens, and I was dropped off nearby the Whitestone Expressway’s exit and entrance ramps in Flushing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Well… don’t mind if I do, Flushing Bay.
I had a bit of a walk ahead of me to get to the 7 train. I could have easily made it to Main Street and the station there, but it was a pretty nice day and I wasn’t quite done with shooting yet so I scuttled off towards Citifield instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are multiple generations of politicians in Queens who should burn in hell for what they’ve done to or allowed to be done to our ancestral waterways.
Sigh… nothing matters, nobody cares, nothing matters, nobody cares, nothing matters, nobody cares.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the one above, I packed up the tripod kit and reverted back over to handheld shooting mode. I decided to walk over to the Citifield stop in order to catch the 7 line, which I’d take to Jackson Heights and transfer to one of the two underground lines that stop near HQ.
My “escape New Yorkmobile” is on order, and I’m expecting the dealership to be calling any day to let me know it’s time to come in and sign the loan agreement which will allow me to leave this dystopian shithole behind me at last. Saying that, I’m enjoying all the mass transit I can before becoming part of the problem.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I keep on telling myself that there’s plenty of super polluted waterways where I’m going. The good news is that I’ll be able to drive to them.
Tomorrow – something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
curious ears
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of personal business found a humble narrator at the zone in Queens where Flushing and College Point wash over each other again. There’s a Department of Motor Vehicles outpost here – which is fairly inaccessible by mass transit (well played DMV) – and I had some paperwork to deal with.
A couple of transfers on the subway and soon was a humble narrator scuttling down the street, heading for the greatest Kafkaesque bureaucracy ever created by anyone other than the crew who used to run the Soviet Union.
What? I’m not going to take pictures along the way?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s a concrete mixing factory and distribution center, based right along the waterfront at Flushing Bay. The street I was walking along leads to the on and off ramps of the Whitestone Expressway.
Not exactly pedestrian friendly, this area. And that’s coming from the Newtown Creek guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is not terribly familiar with this section of Queens. My expertise revolves around the industrial corridors surrounding Newtown Creek, which I refer to as “the study area.” I can speak pretty intelligently about the zone between Woodside Avenue/58th street and the East River (and a similar section of Brooklyn) from Newtown Creek to Bowery Bay, but Flushing and the College Point area are very much their own thing. Broad stroke stuff would be all I can offer and I’d refer you to the Queens Historical Society for a detailed POV on the subject.
It bears mentioning that I find the historical community in Queens increasingly toxic these days, and will actually recoil when I see any of them coming. A lot of this toxicity is due to infighting, and a lack of funding for the various groups interested in the subject. For the one or two of you who are reading this and thinking “is he talking about me?” – go fuck yourself. Show up, do the work, stop being an asshole.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having accomplished the filing and whatnot that I had come to the DMV to handle, it was decided to take a little walk on my way back to Astoria. My pathway to Flushing saw me depart the 7 train at its Main Street terminal stop, but I was a half hour walk away from the Mets/Citifield stop and it was a really nice early spring day, so…
Why not wave the camera around a bit? I didn’t go all fancy with these, and just cracked out shots of whatever happened to cross in front of me. I had a big “operation” happening a few days after this and didn’t want to go to nuts. This was March 4, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It really is a shame, the way that the Borough of Queens treats the waterfront in areas where it hasn’t gentrified yet. Zero access here, there’s illegal dumping everywhere, and garbage is floating around in the water. I get so annoyed at the government types about this sort of thing, who “yada yada” about environmental issues but do nothing to fix them until the luxury condos projects are announced.
New York City’s government is a lot like your loser sibling who proclaims “this next year I’m going to get my shit together” at Christmas dinner before calling their dealer to deliver “las drogas” to your parent’s house, and who then crashes your dad’s car and tells your Mom that everything they just did is her fault because she served the wrong cranberry sauce.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Something I tell people these days is “that there is no threshold moment in your life when you will declare your shit as being together.” There is only now, so just do it. Whatever it is, just do it. If you’re fucking up, then maybe today you can try to fuck up a little less. Do the laundry.
Pfah.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
somnolent stillness
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent occasion found a humble narrator somewhat east of the study area, specifically I was at the “angle” between College Point and Flushing, on a rainy day. The entirety of this exercise was typified by futility and frustration. On my way there, riding in a cab, I got stuck in a “frozen zone” on the Grand Central Parkway when the President of the United States arrived at LaGuardia. That turned my $25 cab ride into a $130 one. When I arrived, an hour late, at my appointment it turned out that I was missing several pieces of the documentation required to complete my business. This meant that I had paid $130 for nothing, and thereby I found myself walking towards Flushing’s Main Street and it’s 7 Line Subway station in a defeated manner. $132.75 down, now.
At least I was able to crack out a few shots along the way, but this was also one of the “sometimes” when it rains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s hard for me not to think “dystopian shit hole” these days.
Everything is broken. It’s not due to COVID either. The entire “system” is broken. I shouldn’t have to petition a member of Congress for help with local issues, and the fact that the City of New York is a-ok with what Flushing Bay looks like isn’t too cool either. Y’know what would improve things here? Luxury Condos… oh, don’t worry, they’ve already got plans drawn up for that.
Bah. It’s all so god damned depressing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve since located and or replaced the missing documents I needed, which were required for my official business, and have since completed what I came out here to do on a subsequent trip. The good news is that on that second trip I didn’t end up getting banged out on an exploded and bloated cab fare due to the arrival of an American President at LaGuardia Airport.
Before you ask – Department of Motor Vehicles. I stupidly allowed my driver’s license to expire about ten years ago. This hasn’t been a problem, at all, for me. Thing is, one constant regret during the COVID period has been a lack of personal transportation. Lesson learned. Documents are being sorted out as you’re reading this, and the problem will be solved shortly. As the song says – “On the road again.”
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
dampened brow
Terrifying.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, as mentioned in yesterday’s post, the plan for last night involved the Flushing Bay Promenade and a presentation by the NYC Parks Dept. about the World’s Fair Marina, which is a project I’m paying attention to for some reason. My plan and path was fairly simple, take the R line subway to Jackson Heights and transfer to the 7, which would take me to the Citifield Willets stop, and then I’d walk down Seaver Way (sigh), under Northern Blvd. and the Grand Central Parkway elevated ramps and north to the World’s Fair Promenade waterfront.
This is what passed for a pedestrian path, basically the paved shoulder of an Onramp for the Grand Central and a local road turnoff for one of the Park’s parking lots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Traffic was literally whizzing by no more than a few feet from that waist height guard rail you see. Standing behind a stout light post, while one cracked out a few shots, an attendant for the parking lot was sweeping something up on the other side of that iron fence, and the fellow informed me that the only way to access his side of the fence would be by walking around on to the local street’s exit shoulder. What?
What?
This is officially part of Flushing Meadow Corona Park I’m talking about getting to, a long block away from the Mets, and you have to walk on an unpaved and unshielded shoulder? What? Carcentric much?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Y’know, it takes a special and noteworthy kind of genius to design a human trap like this.
It’s also noteworthy that a guy who wanders around Newtown Creek’s industrial neighborhoods at night can be reduced to absolutely pooping his pants with terror while trying to access a NYC Park. What?
Just for reference’s sake, here’s what it looked like on the other side.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 