Archive for the ‘kosciuszko bridge’ Category
ultimate effect
The nighted Newtown Creek, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As detailed in several posts this week, one decided to take advantage of the creepy atmospheric effects of the temperature inversion last Thursday – which produced copious mist and fog – and a journey on foot from Astoria to Newtown Creek began at four in the morning. My eventual destination was the historic Maspeth Avenue Plank Road, from whose vantage I planned on capturing a series of “night into day” shots.
The images in today’s post are what I expended the effort for.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking into Brooklyn, that’s the Empire Transit Mix company’s bulkheads. They were just getting to work, as it was just about 5:30 in the morning. Industrial types get started early. Twilight would begin at 6:04 so there was little time for me to fool around, and one started clicking away.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking eastwards towards Grand Street and Newtown Creek’s intersection with another of its tributaries – English Kills. As a note, these shots are quite a bit brighter than what the human eye could see, but that’s actually what I was “going for.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking across the Turning Basin of Newtown Creek towards the National Grid Liquified Natural Gas facility found at Greenpoint’s historic border with Bushwick.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A wide shot of the tuning basin, with the Kosciusko Bridge at right.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Zoomed in on the bridge, that dark hill is Calvary Cemetery and you can just make out the skyline of Long Island City rising behind it in the mists. What might seem like a developing error – the halation present around the bridge and crane – was actually visually present. The fog and mist were being lit up by work lights.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The remnants of the Plank Road itself, which last spanned the Newtown Creek when Ulysses S. Grant was President in 1875. When the whole superfund thing is over, I’m going to market mud and water from the waterway in the same manner as the folks who do the stuff from the Red Sea – claiming the benefits of its preservative qualities.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
consistently toward
It has been one heck of a couple of weeks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One tends to become a bit overwhelmed at times, and the last couple of weeks are an exemplar of this truism. Accordingly, posts at this – your Newtown Pentacle – have been a bit… light on the hidden facts and occluded history and all the other stuff I’m normally obsessed with bringing you. A particular series of recent imbroglios surrounding my beloved Newtown Creek have occupied a bit of the brain space. Pictured above is the Kosciuszko Bridge spanning the troubled waterway.
Recent meetings and presentations offered by the various powers that be in the Superfund story have been generating a tremendous amount of debate amongst the activist community on the Creek – which is actually a great thing. It is only through hand wringing and intellectual conflict that a community can find the correct path towards the future by finding the “middle way.” There is a corporate side, a governmental side, and a community side to the story of rectifying Newtown Creek’s environmental issues. All have valid interests, and all must be acknowledged as we proceed through the superfund process.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor, the sort of thing one occupies himself with when the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself dips below the horizon offered by the shield wall of Manhattan, is presented in the “table shot” above. The photographic exercise was less about the technical aspects of the shot than it was about color purity and reproduction. The pencils were part of my old kit from back when I was drawing comics, and representative of the sort of palette which was often employed in the manufacture of my four color fantasies. This was a one light source one camera flash shot, for you curious shutterbugs out there.
The big flaw in the image is the color pollution notable in the orange brown shadows falling on the white substrate at the bottom of the shot, something which I’d retouch away if it was a “commerical” image rather than an exercise.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Around two in the morning one recent night, the sound of an angry toddler screaming drifted through my windows from the sidewalk below. Turns out that this kid wanted to go for a midnight walk and his VERY patient Dad was trying to explain to him why that was a bad idea. This fellow deserved the “Dad of the Year” award, imho. The kid kept on trying for the street, and Poppa kept on pulling him back in a kind manner, patiently explaining that playing in the streets was a bad idea.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lastly, the 5 train entering the bunker found at 59th street in Manhattan. For the last year or so, my normal habit of just getting on some Manhattan bound local train and lazily “sitting out” the trip has been avoided. I’ve been trying to use the system in a somewhat more intelligent way, which involves a lot of transfers. Don’t want you to think I’ve become a transit nerd… but I’m becoming a transit nerd.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
October 3rd, 2015
Calvary Cemetery Walking Tour
with Atlas Obscura, click here for details and tickets
opprobrious language
Progress on the Kosciuszko Bridge Project, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Those Open House NY tours from last week? My practice of handing the mike off to other speakers on the return part of the trip so that I can gather a few shots? Yup. Pictured above is the construction site of the NYC DOT and their contractors – principally Skanska – from the turning basin of that fabled cautionary tale of a waterway known simply as the Newtown Creek? Yup.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bridge project will eventually run NYS taxpayers around a billion somolians, with the first half of the epic undertaking priced at $550 million. The first phase of the project includes the extensive remodeling of local streets in both Greenpoint and West Maspeth/Sunnyside, the construction of the first (eastern) half of the new bridge, and the demolition of the 1939 Robert Moses model. The second phase will see the erection of the western section of the new bridge, which will be of the cable stay type, and during the entire project – traffic flow of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway has to be maintained.
Framed by the 1939 model in the shot above is Manhattan’s 432 Park Avenue, a residential tower taller than the Empire State Building, whose top floor penthouses have composite valuations close to $300 million bucks. The most desirable of these apartments was recently sold to a Saudi billionaire for an astounding $95 million.
When narrating on the mike, I erroneously said that the penthouses were valued at the same number as phase one of the new Kosciuszko Bridge, but mathematics has never been my strong suit. Also, if I’ve got a hundred bucks in my pocket, I feel rich so there you go. Besides, what’s $200 million to a Saudi Billionaire, anyway?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the Brooklyn side of the bridge project, on “used to be Cherry Street,” the support columns for the new bridge are rising steadily. The walking tour which I’ll be conducting on Sunday for Newtown Creek Alliance, which I’ve labeled as “The Poison Cauldron” used to walk right through this area, but given the amount of yuck which the project is kicking up into the air… well… we’re going to get close enough to the project to get a good view of it but not close enough to be in harms way.
The dusk shots in today’s post were gathered during the 5-7 boat tour, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also from the Open House NY excursions, this time on the trip that went from 7-9, when post sunset darkness and dramatic lighting from the job site provided for somewhat more dramatic shots of the project. The new bridge will be noticeably lower than the current model, incidentally.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Progress is moving a bit slower on the Queens side, but is still on schedule. This shot looks north, at the shallow valley formed by Berlin and Laurel Hills that the 1939 bridge was built into. A lost tributary of Newtown Creek was in this area, called Wolfs Creek, which spilled down from the ridge that Sunnyside (or Long Island City Heights as it was once known) was built into.
If you want to come along this weekend and check out the Poison Cauldron, which discusses the oil industry in Brooklyn as well as many other topics of interest along the Newtown Creek, click the link below. It’s a Newtown Creek Alliance tour, and since NCA is a non profit, your tickets will be a tax deductible item and you say that you helped with our efforts to “reveal, restore, and revitalize” Newtown Creek.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
September 13th, 2015
Poison Cauldron Walking Tour
with Newtown Creek Alliance, click here for details and tickets
September 20th, 2015
Glittering Realms Walking Tour
with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for details and tickets
gleam and grin
Checking in on that little bit of construction occurring down in DUKBO.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Kosciuszko Bridge replacement project is in full swing these days, and there’s a small army of optic orange clad construction workers at work in that shallow valley between Laurel and Berlin Hills which has always provided a border betwixt LIC’s Blissville and West Maspeth’s Berlin neighborhoods. The old blue gray mare was built by the “House of Moses” back in 1939 as the “New Meeker Avenue Bridge,” carries the Brooklyn Queens Expressway over Newtown Creek, and is considered as being dangerously deficient from the structural integrity and the traffic engineering points of view – so the NYS DOT is overseeing the implementation of its replacement.
Nobody else seems to be paying any mind to this mega project, but a humble narrator is not at all like anybody else.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots are all from the Queens side of the project, which will see the new bridge rise nearly one city block to the east of the 1939 model’s footprint. One has begun to refer to the street it will adjoin as “used to be 43rd street.” The shot above was captured on Laurel Hill Blvd., and depicts one of the many elevated piers which will carry the BQE towards its intersection with the Long Island Expressway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Closer to “used to be 43rd street” you’ll notice that the NYS DOT engineers have had the orange clad fellows jamming big bits of steel deep into Queens. The substrate which the bridge(s) sit upon is the elluvial flood plain of Newtown Creek – which is basically a giant agglutination of mud and aggregate. The piles need to be sunk down around one hundred and eight feet to meet bedrock, with the anchoring mechanisms for the piers going far deeper – from 160-180 feet depending on location.
Who can guess all there is, that might be buried down there?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An unoccluded view of the metal bits, which are marked off with gauge measurement indications. This is the corner of “used to be 43rd street” and 54th avenue, for the curious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Same corner, but looking to the south rather than the antipode displayed in the former shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Skanska crews working on the site, who are the aforementioned “fellows dressed in orange,” have a disturbing habit of leaving their fences open – given the fact that the BQE continues to run along the span offered by the 1939 model Kosciuszko Bridge.
No big “whup” of course, as this section of the highway has never really been “secure” in any real manner and has been a target for graffiti and illegal dumping enthusiasts for multiple generations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The project continues along Laurel Hill Blvd. and includes the Kosciuszko Bridge approaches. The Meeker Avenue side of the approaches, which roll through Greenpoint and Williamsburg, have been receiving quite a bit of attention from the fellows in orange in recent months. The work on the Queens side is just getting started, in comparison.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Phase One of the project will see the eastern half of the new bridge erected, followed by the dismantling of the 1939 era Kosciuszko Bridge. Traffic on the BQE will be rerouted onto the new span, and the construction on Phase Two will see the western section of the new bridge erected – whereupon traffic patterns on the BQE will be given their new and permanent form – with the eastern “Phase One” section carrying the South to North (Brooklyn to Queens) flow and the western “Phase Two” section allowing North to South (Queens to Brooklyn) traffic.
The good news is that Phase Two will include a pedestrian and bicycle path, which will overlook my beloved Newtown Creek.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
September 3rd, 2015
Newtown Creek Boat Tour
with Open House NY, click here for details and tickets.
September 20th, 2015
Glittering Realms Walking Tour
with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for details and tickets
green banks
Checking on the scene in DUKBO, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, one attended an excursion with the NYC DEP, the EPA CSTAG committee, and whole lot of other alphabetical agency types. This was a part of the Superfund process, and I was along in my capacity with Newtown Creek Alliance and the Newtown Creek Community Advisory Group. This post won’t discuss the various bits of pedantry and maneuvering between the various entities onboard, and is instead a progress report centered the Kosciuszko Bridge construction and replacement project underway at my beloved Newtown Creek.
From the landward side, it’s difficult to see what progress has been made here, but as with all points of view around the Newtown Creek – all is revealed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Skanska is the principal on the project, and they are drumming right along.
As you can see, on “used to be Cherry Street” over in Greenpoint, steel frames for the concrete legs of the new bridge have risen. My understanding is that the foundations for the bridge footings were laid back during the winter, and that despite the freezing conditions, work was well underway by the time things began to warm up in April.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The new Kosciuszko Bridge is going to be significantly lower in height than the current span, but will incorporate several design features to alleviate the congestion which has been found at the intersection of Long Island Expressway and Brooklyn Queens Expressway for generations. The project is playing out in several phases, with the first one being the construction of the new bridge and rerouting of its 2.1 miles of approach roads and the demolition of the 1939 era bridge.
When all that’s done, they start on the easterly half of the new Kosciuszko Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The new Kosciuszko Bridge is going to be of the “cable stay” type, which will make it a novelty in NYC. Most exciting for me is the promise of a pedestrian walkway on the western side of the span, which should make for some interesting visuals – “I should only live so long enough to see it finished” is what my Gradmother would have said.
Personally, I’m going to refer to it as “climbing K2.”
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
June 7th, 2015
13 Steps Around Dutch Kills Walking Tour
with Newtown Creek Alliance, click here for details and tickets.
June 11th, 2015
MADE IN BROOKLYN Hidden Harbor Boat Tour
with Working Harbor Committee, click here for details and tickets.
June 13th, 2015
The Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek Walking Tour
with Atlas Obscura, click here for details and tickets.
June 20th, 2015
Kill Van Kull Walking Tour
with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for details and tickets.
The Newtown Pentacle 