Archive for the ‘Greenpoint’ Category
Project Firebox 72
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Found nearby McCarren Park in benighted Greenpoint, this scarlet centurion has been reduced to life as a medium for neighborhood advertisements and is laden with missives. No matter the indignity, it stands its post, awaiting the moment.
The Poison Cauldron- Saturday, June 15, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets on sale soon.
Kill Van Kull- Saturday, June 22, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, June 29, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
slowly onward
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spotted recently in the wilds of Greenpoint, a Checker Cab. For those of you who came to NYC late in the game, these taxis were as iconic as the Empire State Building or Tugboats “back in the day.” There’s always a few Checkers in Greenpoint, repurposed as hotel limousines by the Box Hotel in DUPBO (Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp). This model appears clad in stickers and vehicle wrap that seems authentic, and the color is spot on. Only thing missing is the smell of vomit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It has been mentioned in the past that this “future” of ours, life lived in the 21st century, is kind of a let down for me. As a child, I was sold on lots of conceptual technologies (I will admit that we’ve gotten the pocket sized personal computer network consoles) which have never materialized. Moving sidewalks, domed cities, jet packs- that sort of stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Instead, we just seem to have a lot more cars zipping around, carrying people back and forth to a lot of unimaginatively shiny buildings, and a single orange can cost you as much as a dollar in Manhattan. Necessary evil, I suppose, these automobiles of ours. People to see, places to go and all that. One wonders, however…
Upcoming tours:
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron- Saturday, June 15, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets on sale soon.
Kill Van Kull- Saturday, June 22, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
deeds and aspect
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photos by Mitch Waxman
For this Maritime Sunday, check out the show (visible from the infinities of Brooklyn) which was playing out on the East River last Friday.
What you’re seeing are two Moran Tugs- The Doris Moran and the James Turecamo- towing a floating dry dock past midtown. The Caddell company’s gargantuan… dare I say cyclopean… equipment is an amazing maritime structure. A floating dry dock will submerge itself, whereupon a boat will be floated into position over it, and the structure will rise up and capture the vessel. The dry dock will fully resurface and lift the ship into the air, allowing repairs and maintenance to be performed.
– photos by Mitch Waxman
Here’s a shot of a tug undergoing repair on another one of Cadell’s drydocks at the Kill Van Kull.
Upcoming tours:
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron- Saturday, June 15, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets on sale soon.
Kill Van Kull- Saturday, June 22, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
sylvan bower
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Snarling guardians of the public good offer a fierce defense when they discern that a passerby is carrying that veritable thunderbolt of the gods, a weapon fiercer than any other, which is called a camera. The theft and imprisonment of valuable photons in digital form is surely the greatest menace faced not just by America… nay… but by the entire World itself.
The glint of recognition crosses their noble brows, followed by a surprised glance at the lens toting madman’s face. Surely the thing he’s carrying says “Canon” for a reason they think, and then they imagine what might happen should it be pointed at them. Irritation is doubled by the fact that I NEVER cross fence lines or do any of the crazy “Urban Explorer” derring do, or climb bridges the way my pal Dave Frieder used to.
I’m like a Vampire, I need to be invited in to do my work. I also don’t like when people clunk up my shots.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The guardians, like certain employees of this seemingly wholesome scrap metal operation on Provost Street in Greenpoint, grow incensed at the very mention of such devices. Confrontation of the animal invader with its dangerous weapon occurs, and wild interpretations of civil code are shouted at it.
Puzzled, an odd mendicant with a penchant for flowery prose and long wanderings about a certain Creek- with just such a weapon in hand- was forced to remove his headphones when confronted by one of these guardians recently. Interaction with the human hive is anathema.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Most of what I wanted to say to this fellow could probably be construed as a hate crime in California, but this is Greenpoint in Brooklyn- so I toned it down a bit- but, since he volunteered and all…
I sort of began an impromptu lecture on constitutional rights, the importance of the recycling industry in which he was gainfully employed, the fact that there are no laws in the United States forbidding photography except around certain Federal facilities (inside, but not outside, a secure Military or Intelligence base, airline security etc.), certain radical notions I have about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, and avoided questioning the parentage of his mother out of respect for the dear lady. He turned and walked away when I whipped out a pocket edition of the Bill of Rights which I keep in my camera bag.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman – Sunday, May 26,2013
Boat tour presented by the Working Harbor Committee,
Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
for a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
grovelling obeisance
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having arrived at the venerable Nature Walk amenity found in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant early one morning, it seemed that all of my worst fears about the troubled waterway had come true. Bathed in the cascading emanations of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, the face of a seeming cacodaemon grinned proudly from a paramount several yards over the pavement.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Baleful, the grinning countenance of the thing had been set atop one of the modernist lighting fixtures which adorn the spot. Upon gazing into its hollow and glowing eyes, the phrase “there can only be one” rudely entered my mind, and unwelcome remembrances of the 1986 Russell Mulcahy film “Highlander” began to flower therein.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
With the assistance of one of the stalwart groundsmen employed by the government to clean and polish the place, what turned out to be a mere Halloween mask formed of latex or rubber was removed and laid out for display and examination. Were it instead the once ubiquitous “Tor Johnson” latex mask produced by the Don Post company, depicting the former wrestler’s infamous role in director Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” one such as myself very well might have gone mad and run off to the Cripplebush.
Upcoming tours:
Parks and Petroleum- Sunday, May 12, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, May 25, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Hidden Harbor: Newtown Creek tour with Mitch Waxman – Sunday, May 26,2013
Boat tour presented by the Working Harbor Committee,
Limited seating available, order advance tickets now. Group rates available.
for a full listing and schedule of tours and events, click here
The Newtown Pentacle 