Archive for the ‘Greenpoint’ Category
dismounted and descended
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As much joy as it is possible, for one such as myself, to realize is attained via the delusion of solitude. Condemned as children to existential servitude in the concretized valleys of the vast human hive, New Yorkers are never truly alone. We are witnessed, watched, stalked, constrained, and regulated every second of the day. Legislated rules govern volume, appearance, and moral propriety.
Even the air we breathe and the water we drink are overseen, inspectors and officials have the right to compel that the front door of our homes open for their inspection and oversight.
Often has a humble narrator been accused, however, of being a kook and conspiracist- or simply a paranoid.
from youtube
X
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Jello Biafra warned us, all those years ago, of what was coming. We all carry tracking devices, which also make phone calls, and hie to rules laid down by those who have long sought to keep a restive population entertained with games and circuses. Even the sacrosanct right to rule over ones own immediate vicinity is vulnerable to the desires of suspicious magistrates, who may demand any who catch their notice to passively allow temporary detainment and inspection- the so called “stop and frisk” procedure.
This is merely the most benign of invasive inspections, of course, which expose the farce and tissue of lies which underlie the social contract.
from youtube
X
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Necessity has forced such programs” is the answer which would be offered by those who enforce them, followed by some catchy jingoism such as “Freedom isn’t Free” or “If you have nothing to hide, why would you care?” or something. The same entities and personages, of course, maintain armies of lawyers to ensure their own privacy. These creatures and organs, all granted existence under the ideations of “law”, never make an error – instead it’s “an unfortunate incident” or “an accident”.
Such paranoia and musing about the universe occupies a significant amount of my thought, as one scuttles about beneath the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, and across the concrete devastations of the Newtown Pentacle. Perhaps, somewhere, exists solace?
from youtube
Lincoln Restler
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A statement which I make constantly is that “abstention from political intrigue and partisanship is both necessary and prudent”. Nevertheless, one must call attention to one of the candidates vying for the office of “State Committeeman” in the 50th district.
Lincoln Restler is seeking reelection, and against difficult odds at that. I know this man, and hope that any of you within his district consider him as your choice for the office. The election will be held on Thursday the 13th of September.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in the past, staying abreast of the story of the Newtown Creek and the communities surrounding it have carried me to literally hundreds of public events and meetings over the last few years. A familiar face at these multitudinous gatherings, Mr. Restler is not your typical politician, and he has earned more than just my respect. I consider him to be worthy, upright, and exactly the sort of man whom you’d hope would enter public life. Whether it be his efforts at “saving the g train”, his advocacy for the residents of public housing, or just trying to bring a supermarket into Fort Greene- Lincoln is always on the side of the community and his style is never “politics as usual”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To be clear, this is the opinion of Mitch the private citizen, who cannot vote for the fellow I’m endorsing as I live in a different district, but my interest in the contest is sparked by… well let’s just say that one of the borders of this election district has a certain Creek running through it which is near to my heart.
I wish that we had “a Lincoln Restler” in Queens, and I’m sure his political opponents wish he was here too. Lincoln is a heck of a guy, hard working with a good heart, and if you live anywhere in North Brooklyn- Lincoln is always on your side.
A “real mensch” as my grandmother would have said.
Project Firebox 51
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spotted this one on Russell street in Greenpoint, a hard to find H.P. TEL Firebox, hidden in plain sight.
The last time I saw one of these models was in Bushwick way back in 2010. Check out the post here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Quoting from the post mentioned above:
It seems that when the fire system, pipe and pump wise, was first laid down in the early 20th century, technological infancy limited the number of streets that could be served by high pressure lines. Reserved for high rises, factories, and high density tenement blocks- the high pressure water common today was only available in certain areas. However, should the need arise, a fire chief carried a key that would access one of these “H.P. TEL” fireboxes which would send a command back to the firehouse to throw open the valves that would pressurize the lines flowing through its district.
The TEL stands for telegraph, apparently, and the whole scheme ceased to be necessary sometime in the 1950′s.
a poison cauldron
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long have I been reluctant to bring people to this place.
For several months now, your humble narrator has been narrating in a not so humble fashion while leading boat and walking tours of the Newtown Creek watershed.
Literally hundreds of people have attended either the “Thirteen Steps around Dutch Kills“, “Insalubrious Valley“, or “Newtown Creek Boat Tour” events this year- and one question has been asked by all- “What about the Greenpoint Oil Spill?”.
Next week- a group of enthusiasts will be assembling, under the auspices of Atlas Obscura, to explore the lamentable “Poison Cauldron” of the Newtown Creek.
There are still tickets available, should you care to witness the place prior to its forthcoming demolition.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down Under the Kosciuszko Bridge Onramp, or DUKBO, is the name I’ve assigned to this lunar landscape of industrial mills and waste transfer stations which lines the Brooklyn side of the Creek. This year is functionally the last time you will be able to witness this place, as the Kosciuszko Bridge replacement project will be kicking into high gear in the spring of 2013.
For the urban explorer and photographer crowd, this is a wonderland of shattered streets and rusted infrastructure which will soon be eradicated from all but living memory.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tour will tell the story of Standard Oil at its start and cross over the Greenpoint Oil Spill’s heart, revealing that lost world of industrial aspiration and 20th century dissolution which lies less than a mile from the geographic and population centers of New York City.
In the past, I’ve described the area as “Mordor” at this, your Newtown Pentacle, and the Tolkien analogy is apt. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume, the water is hopelessly tainted with bizarre combinations and millions of gallons of petroleum and industrial chemicals, the soil is impregnated with heavy metals, asbestos, and truly- who can guess all there is that might be buried down there?
An odd concentration of food distribution, waste transfer and garbage handling facilities, and energy industry plants make the area remarkable, and everywhere you look will be a “colour“- a bizarrely iridescent sheen which resembles no wholesome nor familiar earthly color but is instead like something from out of space- coating every bit of broken masonry and the sweat slicked skin of laborer and passerby alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Standard offer copy follows:
Meetup at the corner of Kingsland and Norman Avenues in Greenpoint at 11 on Saturday, August 25th.
We will be exploring the petroleum and waste transfer districts of the Newtown Creek watershed in North Brooklyn. Heavily industrialized, the area we will be walking through is the heart of the Greenpoint Oil Spill and home to scores of waste transfer stations and other heavy industries. We will be heading for the thrice damned Kosciuszko Bridge, which is scheduled for a demolition and replacement project which will be starting in 2013. Photographers, in particular, will find this an interesting walk through a little known and quite obscure section of New York City.
Be prepared: We’ll be encountering broken pavement, sometimes heavy truck traffic, and experiencing a virtual urban desert as we move through the concrete devastations of North Brooklyn. Dress and pack appropriately for hiking, closed toe shoes are highly recommended- as are a hat or parasol to shield you from the sun.
Bathroom opportunities will be found only at the start of the walk, which will be around three hours long and cover approximately three miles of ground. Drivers, it would be wise to leave your cars in the vicinity of McGolrick Park in Greenpoint.
Click here for tickets, and as always- a limited number of walk ups will be welcomed- but for safety reasons we need to limit the group to a manageable size. Contact me at this email if you desire further details.
slow decadence
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I seem to walk past this structure at least once a week, have done so for several years now, and until recently was completely ignorant about one of the largest employers of 20th century Greenpoint. The Leviton family built this commercial empire by the sweat of their brows- stories of part time employees encountering old Isidor working on the factory floor are rampant in Greenpoint, verging on Pop culture amongst garden spotters of a certain age.
from wikipedia
Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. is a manufacturer of electrical wiring devices, data center connectivity apparatus and lighting energy management systems. The company was founded in 1906 by Evser and his son Isidor Leviton. They began by manufacturing brass mantle tips for the natural gas lighting infrastructure in Manhattan. They sold their mantle tips on a pushcart on the Bowery on the Lower East side of Manhattan. Isidor Leviton designed a screw in lampholder for Thomas Edison’s Electric Lamp in 1910 and within ten years the lampholders were being used in every apartment in New York. In 1936 Leviton built a two square block 4 story factory and warehouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which still stands today. Leviton products include over 25,000 devices and systems, used in homes and businesses.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another bit of reputation that the family gathered unto itself was a certain liberalism regarding class, religion, and creed in their hiring practices- eschewing the segregation and selective hiring practiced by other corporations- particularly those in the electronics sector. The father of a close friend once told me that, in the years following the second world war, he was denied an opportunity to use his ivy league engineering degree because of a last name that sounded “too Italian”. Not an issue at Leviton, I am told.
from heresgreenpoint.com
By 1910 Leviton was designing and manufacturing pull-chain lamp holders for Thomas Edison’s newly developed light bulb, and in 1922 the company was moved to Greenpoint to better facilitate its rapid ascention. The massive factory took up two city blocks between Newel and Jewel Streets and produced over 600 electrical items, from fuses to socket covers to outlets and switches. Leviton would remain in Greenpoint until 1975, when the company again relocated, this time to Little Neck, NY.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newspaper reports describe the company as resistant to unionization, and even Eleanor Roosevelt found herself standing in solidarity with a picket line on Greenpoint Avenue in the 1940’s. In August of 1940, a large group of laborers “went out”, despite Leviton paying “benefits”- a rare and coveted perk of employment in that era. “Benefits” are what health insurance and a retirement plan were once known as, and were not an automatic or legislated requirement before the 1970’s- for those of you reading this under the age of 30, understand that these “insurance benefits” were something won by the labor movement of the early 20th century.
This was the scene of a long and contentious labor strike in 1940,
as detailed in this preview of the George Ruffini book– “Harry Van Arsdale, Jr: Labor’s Champion”, courtesy google books.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Today, the structure is called the “Greenpoint Industrial Center” and seems to host a series of industrial, artisanal, and warehousing operations who make use of its cavernous interior spaces. The Leviton company left Greenpoint in the 1970’s, migrating to literal greener pastures in eastern Queens and ultimately Melville, Long Island.
from nationmaster.com
The Leviton Manufacturing Company was founded in New York by Isidor Leviton, at the dawn of the electrical era in 1906. Originally engaged in the fabrication of mantle tips for gas lighting, the Company soon afterwards in 1910, converted to production of a single electrical product — a pull-chain lampholder (designed for Edison’s new light bulbs).
- 1922: Leviton relocated to Greenpoint, Brooklyn after acquiring the TECCO plant, and now offered 568 products.
- 1929: Acquires Meteor Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of wiring devices.
- 1932: Leviton devices are used in the Empire State Building.
- 1937: Acquires American Insulated Wire and becomes the industry leader in wire, cable and cord products.
- 1939: Leviton devices featured at World’s Fair.
- 1950: Purchases the Deal Electric Company.
- 1953: Acquires Hale Brothers Companies, now known as Leviton Canada.
- 1960: Leviton is among the first manufactures to institute an employee pension plan.
- 1961: Leviton devices are installed in the White House.
- 1965: Harold Leviton becomes President and CEO.
- 1972: Introduces the first GFCI, the first touch dimmer, and a selection of home automation powerline carrier components.
- 1973: Introduces Decora® designer-style devices.
- 1975: Moves corporate headquarters to current location in Little Neck, NY.
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August 5th, 2012- Newtown Creek Alliance Walking Tour- The Insalubrious Valley- This Sunday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman will be leading a walk through the industrial heartlands of New York City, exploring the insalubrious valley of the Newtown Creek.
The currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens, and the place where the Industrial Revolution actually happened, provides a dramatic and picturesque setting for this exploration. We’ll be visiting two movable bridges, the still standing remains of an early 19th century highway, and a forgotten tributary of the larger waterway. As we walk along the Newtown Creek and explore the “wrong side of the tracks” – you’ll hear tales of the early chemical industry, “Dead Animal and Night Soil Wharfs”, colonial era heretics and witches and the coming of the railroad. The tour concludes at the famed Clinton Diner in Maspeth- where scenes from the Martin Scorcese movie “Goodfellas” were shot.
Lunch at Clinton Diner is included with the ticket.
Details/special instructions.
Meetup at the corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. on August 5, 2012. The L train serves a station at Bushwick Avenue and Grand Street, and the Q54 and Q59 bus lines stop nearby as well. Check MTA.info as ongoing weekend construction often causes delays and interruptions. Drivers, it would be wise to leave your vehicle in the vicinity of the Clinton Diner in Maspeth, Queens or near the start of the walk at Grand St. and Morgan Avenue (you can pick up the bus to Brooklyn nearby the Clinton Diner).
Be prepared: We’ll be encountering broken pavement, sometimes heavy truck traffic as we move through a virtual urban desert. Dress and pack appropriately for hiking, closed-toe shoes are highly recommended.
Clinton Diner Menu:
- Cheese burger deluxe
- Grilled chicken over garden salad
- Turkey BLT triple decker sandwich with fries
- Spaghetti with tomato sauce or butter
- Greek salad medium
- Greek Salad wrap with French fries
- Can of soda or 16oz bottle of Poland Spring
for August 5th tickets, click here for the Newtown Creek Alliance ticketing page
The Newtown Pentacle 