Archive for the ‘Citi Building Megalith’ Category
impious catacombs
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Journeying to the Shining City is not an activity which one such as myself enjoys. Traveling locomotively through these mouldering catacombs of concrete and steel while using the so called Subway is inherently unsettling, but being delivered to one of the deeply situated stations such as the 59th and Lex stop is utterly disturbing.
That horrors which lurk and twist and squirm through and within the subterranean deeps of the schist of Manhattan are merely rumors, of course, the stuff of diseased fancy and Hollywood epic. It does not pay dividends to ponder ones fate, should the lights go out when one is… down there… with… them.
from wikipedia
Rats primarily find food and shelter at human places and therefore interact with humans in various ways. More often than not, rats are found in corner stores in New York. In particular, the city’s rats adapt to practices and habits among New Yorkers for disposing of food waste. Curbside overnight disposal from residences, stores, subway and restaurants, as well as littering, contribute to the sustenance of the city’s rats.
Rats have shown the ability to adapt to efforts to control them, and rat infestations have increased as a result of budget reductions, more wasteful disposal of food, etc. Rats in New York have been known to overrun restaurants after hours, crawl up sewer pipes and enter apartments through toilets. They have also attacked homeless people, eaten cadavers in the city morgue, and bitten infants to get food off their faces. In 2003, a fire station in Queens was condemned and demolished after rats had taken over the building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Singular needs drew me into the gray monotonies of Manhattan’s vertical valleys. Hyper capitalist heaven, the area adjoining “Rockefeller Center” is long familiar to me. During my post collegiate years, when a night shift at a certain large investment bank supplied me with working capital, my employment was enacted within one of the “international” style office buildings which seem small and atavist in modernity.
from wikipedia
Rats are known to burrow extensively, both in the wild and in captivity, if given access to a suitable substrate. Rats generally begin a new burrow adjacent to an object or structure, as this provides a sturdy “roof” for the section of the burrow nearest to the ground’s surface. Burrows usually develop to eventually include multiple levels of tunnels, as well as a secondary entrance. Older male rats will generally not burrow, while young males and females will burrow vigorously.
Burrows provide rats with shelter and food storage, as well as safe, thermoregulated nest sites. Rats use their burrows to escape from perceived threats in the surrounding environment; for example, rats will retreat to their burrows following a sudden, loud noise or while fleeing an intruder. Burrowing can therefore be described as a “pre-encounter defensive behavior”, as opposed to a “postencounter defensive behavior”, such as flight, freezing, or avoidance of a threatening stimulus.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While walking to my destination on the Upper West Side, a certain intuition- one of being watched from afar- was upon me. Normally given to flights of paranoid imaginings, the sensation was ignored. Of course, given the crowds of tourists and normal every day New Yorkers flowing about, you’re bound to be watched by someone- or something- in this part of town.
Still, a nagging suspicion persisted that the surveillance sensed was somehow familiar.
from wikipedia
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles (also spelled Geretrude, Geretrudis, Gertrud) (ca. 621 – March 17, 659) was a seventh century abbess who, with her mother Itta, founded the monastery of Nivelles in present-day Belgium. While never formally canonized, Pope Clement XII declared her universal feast day to be March 17 in 1677. She is the patron saint of travelers, gardeners and cats, and against rats and mental illness.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spinning about on my heels, the shocking revelation that even here- in the anonymous crowds of Midtown- one was in plain view of a shocking thing which cannot possibly exist which lurks in the cupola of the Sapphire Megalith of Long Island City. One turned north of Broadway, hoping to evade the burning and singular gaze of its triple lobed eye.
from wikipedia
Paranoia [ˌpærəˈnɔɪ.ə] (adjective: paranoid [ˈpærə.nɔɪd]) is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. (e.g. “Everyone is out to get me.”) Making false accusations and the general distrust of others also frequently accompany paranoia. For example, an incident most people would view as an accident or coincidence, a paranoid person might believe was intentional.
impersonal investigator
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Often does a certain conflict arise within me regarding Calvary Cemetery and the various tales unearthed there which are then presented at this, your Newtown Pentacle. On the one hand, vainglory states that by speaking about the departed, and telling some part of their story, the interred are in some way kept alive.
In other cases, and this is typified by a soul chilling email received around a year ago which had the subject line “why is my grandmother’s grave featured in your blog?,” offer credence to my fears that a certain line is often crossed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator subscribes to the bardic viewpoint which believes that a hero or villain is only dead when people stop talking about them, which is why Ghenghis Khan, Alexander Magnus, and Adolph Hitler are immortal.
There is another point of view, of course, which dictates that what happens at the cemetery stays at the cemetery. While researching the Early family, in whom my interest was sparked merely by the centuried integrity of their monument, this waters of this conflict bubbled forth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not much is out there about the Early’s, not an obituary nor a requiem or even a trail of legal bread crumbs. Specialists in Irish genealogy might be able to reveal more than I, but that’s not really the point. From a moral and ethical point of view, should the dead just be allowed to just keep their secrets?
Attempts have always been made, around NP HQ, to present historical necrologies in the best of all possible lights, as much out of respect for heirs and descendants as for the desire to not speak ill of the dead. One attempts to remain cold, clinical, and impersonal when constructing these narratives.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Conflicted, one nevertheless forges on in the attempt to create some sort of visual record of Calvary Cemetery, the great polyandrion of the Roman Catholics in New York City. All that can said of the Early clan is what is inscribed upon the stone- that it acknowledges the memory of the matron Ellen Mc Collough who died at 75 in December of 1893, a 21 year old woman named Rose who died in 1872, and finally the presence of the earthly remains of Mary Early who left the mortal coil in March of 1902.
The monument is a fine piece of carving, which has robustly weathered a century of exposure to the elements.
treasures offered
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lots to do next week, meetings and galas, all sorts of situations to feel socially awkward in are coming up. Smart and well positioned opinion will be available for the price of attendance, at Newtown Creek Alliance’s “Spotlight on Citizen Science” on Monday the 25th in Long Island City.
NCA’s February meeting will highlight the wide array of local citizen and student scientists exploring all angles of the creek. The meeting will be structured as a showcase, with quick presentations on each topic, and materials for you to peruse in person. Come mingle with your local citizen scientists.
NCA Spotlight on Citizen Science
February 25, 2013 at 6pm
LaGuardia Community College
E Building, Room E-242
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A different sort of gathering will be happening at The India House Club, when Working Harbor Committee hosts its annual Gala, and this year’s honoree is Lucy Ambrosino. A great party, the Gala gathers the movers and shakers of NY Harbor together, and proceeds from the event help fund the WHC’s education programs and summer boat tours.
That’s Tuesday the 26th.
from workingharbor.com
Lucy Ambrosino is being honored for her ardent commitment to the Port of New York and New Jersey and the working harbor which supports it. An effective and committed consensus builder, Lucy is a strong advocate and enthusiastic participant in all efforts to educate the public about the value of the working harbor.
The award will be presented by Andrew McGovern, President, New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots at 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday Evening – 26 February 2013
India House Club — Marine Room
One Hanover Square, New York City, NY 10004
6 o’clock — 8:30 o’clock – Business Attire
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A town hall meeting, with the NYS DOT and several local elected leaders, will discuss the upcoming Kosciuszko Bridge project. The meeting is being hosted by OUTRAGE, a community group concerned by the enormous footprint of truck based industry in North Brooklyn.
That’s Wednesday the 27th.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lastly, the unfortunate locale and long neglected and seldom considered municipality called Manhattan will be the setting for a “Long Term Control Plan: Citywide Modeling Workshop.”
Discussions of the recently experienced meteorological phenomena and concurrent flooding is necessitated and accordingly an understanding of the “New Normal” will be offered by the authorities. Ramifications will be explored, existential quandaries expounded upon and considered by representatives of the inestimable NYS DEC and the stalwart NYC DEP.
This one is Thursday the 28th, and I’m sure it will be a civil engineering and urban planning hootenanny.
from nyc.gov
LONG TERM CONTROL PLAN: CITYWIDE MODELING WORKSHOP
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at US Customs House, Auditorium, 1 Bowling Green from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is co-hosting a citywide workshop to present and review the modeling processes that will be used to test potential alternatives identified as part of the Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) Program with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). At the workshop, DEP and DEC staff will review the Watershed/Landside and Hydrodynamic/Water Quality models and the proposed baseline assumptions for evaluating the benefits of CSO control alternatives.
passages beneath
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Confession is offered, lords and ladies, that your humble narrator has been experimenting all over the neighborhood. Trick shooting, long exposure times, specialized equipment- the whole shameful arrangement has been employed in a vainglorious attempt to alleviate tedium. It has literally been months since I’ve had anything but ground under my feet, and I can’t even remember the last time I was on a boat by gum.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A desire to just go and ride the Staten Island Ferry, braving the cold and weather, forms in me. Too timid to actuate even such a mundane plan as this, instead retreat is made to the usual and familiar, so a scuttling across the frozen concrete and urban desolations go I. An attempt has been underway to utilize some of the older cameras which have accumulated on the shelf, as well as to grow practiced with some newer gear. I’ve also been try and “slow it down” a bit, process wise.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
During the summer, at whatever adventure I happen to be participating in, things pop up fast and furious- photo wise- and speed is essential for the successful capture of a quality image. A dolphin or giant snapping turtle isn’t going to just hold a pose while you fumble around with settings on your dslr after all. Problem is that the speed you develop becomes a habit, a shortcut to the shot. At the moment, I’ve actually got some time to experiment, and I plan on using it.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show presented by the Obscura Society NYC is back on at Observatory.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
inspiring and stupefying
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Longtime readers will no doubt recount stories of my endless complaining about the harsh climes of winter, its effulgent and preternatural darkness, and the limiting of photographic opportunities created during the 15-20 minutes of daylight we get during December and January here in a City which doth not sleep, but may forever lie dreaming. Saying that, when the light is good at this time of year, it is very good.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent trek across Western Queens, following the littoral edge of the borough, was cut short at the realization that sunset was approaching.
Your humble narrator is fully aware, more so than most, of what comes out only at night in Western Queens and made haste for Astoria so as to affix fresh wreaths of garlic, polished mirrors, and crucifixes to my doors and windows. Along the way, such sights presented themselves, that I grew distracted and began to lose track of the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I am legend, at least in my own mind, and there was little chance that one such as myself could endure long in the presence of that which sleeps by day and prefers instead the sodium lamp lit landscape. Better to batten down the hatches at base, lock down all port holes, and run silent during these long January nights of pregnant malignancy.
Also:
Remember that event in the fall which got cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy?
The “Up the Creek” Magic Lantern Show presented by the Obscura Society NYC is back on at Observatory.
Click here or the image below for more information and tickets.
The Newtown Pentacle 