Archive for the ‘Long Island Rail Road’ Category
Newtown Creek Boat Tour
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This coming Sunday -the 22nd of July, the Working Harbor Committee is producing and offering a boat tour of the Newtown Creek to any interested parties. A special emphasis on the waterway’s storied history and maritime legacy will be made.
I’m going to be doing the history part, speaking in my capacity as the Newtown Creek Alliance Historian, and am tasked with highlighting the various points of interest encountered along the route. Anticipated to be some three hours in length, this boat tour will be delving some three miles inland, proceeding to the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge crossing English Kills in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Maritime History of Newtown Creek is one largely forgotten in these decadent times, but even now an odd tugboat and barge might be spied making their way down the waterway on any given day. Property owners were considered to have been blessed by some of the finest industrial bulkheads in the world a mere century ago, yet many of the businesses based along the Creek today ignore this invaluable resource, allowing their waterfront property to decay and decline.
Nevertheless, a staggering amount of maritime traffic is still observed here, and towing companies such as Reinauer, K-Sea, DonJon, and Poling and Cutler are regular visitors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Vast operations will be witnessed by those onboard, many of which are involved in the scrap metal and recyclables trade. Responsible for an enormous amount of cross harbor shipping, companies such as SimsMetal are heavily reliant on the maritime trades for their economic success.
Not all that long ago, Newtown Creek carried a greater tonnage of cargo than the entire Mississippi River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An active and thriving industrial zone in the center of New York City, from the water one can truly grasp the sheer scale of Newtown Creek’s busy waterfront. Normally hidden by high fences and obscured by street facing structures, the intensity of the Newtown Creek is laid bare before the admiring gaze of first time visitor and veteran urban explorer alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A tributary of the estuarine East River, Newtown Creek extends some 3.8 miles from its junction with the more familiar waterway, and provides demarcation for the currently undefended border of much of Brooklyn and Queens. Named to the Federal Superfund list, the Creek suffers from a history of environmental degradation and municipal neglect.
An era of great change is upon the Newtown Creek, and this trip will be one of your last chances to see it in its current form.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We will see four moveable bridges, and this year will be your last chance to see the static Kosciuszko Bridge as the NYS DOT has indicated that construction on its replacement will begin as early as the Spring of 2013.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along it’s banks, great fortunes have risen.
Amongst others- Peter Cooper (BO Railroad, Canton Iron, and Cooper Union), Charles Pratt (Astral Oil, and Pratt University), and ultimately John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil)– all grew richer than the dreams of avarice in this place. Alongside them, the darkest mills of the industrial revolution- rendering plants, yeast distilleries, bone blackers, and acid factories provided tens of thousands of jobs to the immigrant populations of Brooklyn and Queens. Today- National Grid, BP, Amoco, ExxonMobil, and a host of other multinational companies still maintain an enormous investment in this valuable industrial canal.
There are still a few, and I mean “few” tickets left for this trip- get yours while you can.
Upcoming tour: Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek Exploration.
On July 22nd, Mitch shares his unique point of view and deep understanding of the past, present and future conditions of the Newtown Creek as the narrator and expedition leader for this years Hidden Harbor Tours: Newtown Creek exploration.
Our NY Water Taxi leaves from South Street Seaport at 11 a.m. (sharp) on a three hour tour of the Newtown Creek. From the East River we’ll move into the Newtown Creek where we’ll explore explore vast amounts of maritime infrastructure, see many movable bridges and discover the very heart of the Hidden Harbor.
Limited seating available, get your tickets today.
Tickets $50, trip leaves Pier 17 at South Street Seaport at 11a.m. sharp.
We will be traveling in a comfortable NY Water Taxi vessel with indoor and outdoor seating. There will be refreshments and snacks available for purchase at the bar.
virgin aether
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“It’s a meat grinder over there” is a phrase and analogous statement often used by modern pundits to describe a past or present war, firefight, or even a less than welcoming part of the Bronx.
Conjuring imagery of familiar butcher tools spewing out hamburger meat, the term means something else entirely to those versed in the lore of that infamous cataract known as the Newtown Creek.
To those who have stared too long at the blasted heaths of Blissville, “It’s a meat grinder over there” refers to a certain spot in DUGABO (Down Under the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge Onramp), the mention of which engenders the sudden display of wan and pale complexions upon the faces of long time area residents merely at the mention of its cursed and shunned name.
Van Iderstine.
from 1875’s “Report of the Department of Health of the City of Brooklyn, N.Y.“, courtesy google books
FAT RENDERING.
In this process animal fat, obtained from the slaughter-houses and butcher-shops, is exposed to sufficient heat to liquefy it The resulting tallow is removed to settling-vats, and finally [tacked in suitable casks to harden. Up to within the past lew years the methods in use were of the most primitive description, the fatty materia) being placed in open kettles and heat applied at the bottom. As during the heating of the mass very offensive odors are given off, consisting of sulphureted and phosphureted hydrogen and ammoniacal gases, repeated complaints were caused, and it became necessary to adopt some method of correcting the evil.
The most improved methods dispose of the noxious goses by combustion or condensation. The latter is the one adopted by the factories in this district, and consists of the following process. The fatty material is placed in a steam-tight tank (Lockwood & Everett’s), capable of holding about ten thousand pounds; the tank is double, being, in fact, a smaller tank within a larger. The fat is contained in the inner compartment, while the outer is used for holding the steam. On applying the steam heat, pressure is originated in the mass, and the offensive gases thereby forced through a condensing-pipe into Newtown creek below low-water mark. The tallow at a certain stage is passed by its proper pipe to a large open vat, from which it is dipped into casks. The residue, known as “scrap,” is subsequently removed through a trap in the bottom of the tank, and being pressed is sold for fertilizing purposes.
By this method all offense appears to be prevented, and the manufacture might be carried on without prejudice in a built-up portion of the city.
In this district there are three rendering factories of any importance, all situated on Newtown Creek, near Greenpoint avenue. The owners are F. A. Van Iderstine, S. Rosenbaeh and John Van Iderstine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Chicago’s Phillip Armour, whose industrial methodology was contemporaneously described as “using every part of the pig except the squeal”, set a standard for the industrial exploitation of animals. Inedible parts of farm or food livestock, spoiled meat or rancid chicken eggs, dead animals such as equines, canines, feral cats- even the collected blood from slaughterhouse killing floors was (and is) a valuable commodity.
Rendering companies receive this organic “raw material” from butcher shops, slaughterhouses, dog pounds, and veterinarians.
In the days of horse and Ox drawn carriages, thousands of dead pack animals found their way to the Van Iderstine mills, which seemed to specialize in larger mammals.
I haven’t been able to locate a primary source for this not locked up behind a paywall, yet, but they apparently handled Elephants.
from fire-police-ems.com
In the early days any animal which died on the streets of New York, such as horses that pulled wagons, circus animals, some as huge as elephants, that died when the circus came to town, were taken to the Van Iderstine Factory. There, they were put into a giant funnel set-up that had huge meat grinders at the bottom which ground up their bodies. These smaller more manageable pieces were brought to other buildings on the large factory premises where the fat was rendered to make soap and glue.
Van Iderstine trucks would also go to butchers all over the city to buy their waste fat and bones.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some detail will be presented and discussed in later postings of the subject, as the early Van Iderstine story is obscured behind distaste for their long presence in the community, and reviled on both sides of the Creek. An odd thing, considering they were a major employer and- in one corporate guise or another- the operation was in this spot for a little over a century. There’s a Green Asphalt company in the shot above, which is found in modernity at the extreme eastern side of the Van Iderstine property.
A fire in 1964, coupled with a rising tide of community activism, is said to have led to the company’s abandonment of the site and eventual move to Newark, New Jersey.
from wikipedia
The rendering industry is one of the oldest recycling industries, and made possible the development of a large food industry. The industry takes what would otherwise be waste materials and makes useful products such as fuels, soaps, rubber, plastics, etc. At the same time, rendering solves what would otherwise be a major disposal problem. As an example, the USA recycles more than 21 million metric tons annually of highly perishable and noxious organic matter. In 2004, the U.S. industry produced over 8 million metric tons of products, of which 1.6 million metric tons were exported.
Usually, materials used as raw materials in the rendering process are susceptible to spoilage. However, after rendering, the materials are much more resistant to spoiling. This is due to the application of heat either through cooking in the wet rendering process or the extraction of fluid in the dry rendering process. The fat obtained can be used as low-cost raw material in making grease, animal feed, soap, candles, biodiesel, and as a feed-stock for the chemical industry. Tallow, derived from beef waste, is an important raw material in the steel rolling industry providing the required lubrication when compressing steel sheets. The meat and the bones (which are in a dry, ground state) are converted to what is known as meat and bone meal. For many years meat and bone meal were fed to cattle. This practice is now prohibited in developed countries because it is believed to be the main route for the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad-cow disease, BSE), which is also fatal to human beings. Meat and bone meal from cattle is, however, fed to non-ruminant animals and meat and bone meal from non-ruminant animals is fed to cattle in the United States. This may not prove to be a solution to the problem due to the resistant nature of the infectious agent of BSE, a misfolded protein (prion). Therefore, even if cattle is fed to non-ruminant animals and vice-versa, it will not prevent BSE from occurring. The underlying cause is that the prion survives within the system of the animal that has been fed with meat and bone meal from different animals including cattle. These animals are then eventually rendered and fed to cattle, which also results in the development of the disease.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Effluents, miasma, all sorts of ugly “humours”, hung in the air around the Van Iderstine Mill. A complex of buildings, there would have been dozens of dark blue trucks waiting to tip their loads into the yard. Workers would have sorted fester from boil, fat from bone, and would have had to be quick with both saw and hook- along with possessing a startling ability to ignore a blasting and pestilential stink.
The LIRR tracks, of course, run right alongside the property and provided the factory with freight service. These tracks were also used by passenger trains heading east from Hunters Point.
One colorful description of experiencing Van Iderstine in a passenger train advanced that the writer’s first impression of the distant scene was that a series of smoky campfires had been lit at Van Iderstine, with long plumes of black smoke trailing into an evening sky.
When the train came nearer, he realized that the smoke was actually formed by billions of flies descending on the yard from the swampy wetlands found east of the spot, past Haberman and around Maspeth Creek.
from epa.gov
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the primary air pollutants emitted from rendering operations. The major constituents that have been qualitatively identified as potential emissions include organic sulfides, disulfides, C-4 to C-7 aldehydes, trimethylamine, C-4 amines, quinoline, dimethyl pyrazine, other pyrazines, and C-3 to C-6 organic acids. In addition, lesser amounts of C-4 to C-7 alcohols, ketones, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and aromatic compounds are potentially emitted. No quantitative emission data were presented. Historically, the VOCs are considered an odor nuisance in residential areas in close proximity to rendering plants, and emission controls are directed toward odor elimination. The odor detection threshold for many of these compounds is low; some as low as 1 part per billion (ppb). Of the specific constituents listed, only quinoline is classified as a hazardous air pollutant (HAP). In addition to emissions from rendering operations, VOCs may be emitted from the boilers used to generate steam for the operation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sensational hyperbole is what it seems to be.
Nearly every reference to Van Iderstine and the other renderers- or distilleries like Fleischman Yeast- involves a court case or ordinance condemning them. Rest assured that the horror stories, in particular the ones offered by the NY State Board of Health, are likely true. Reports from community members old enough to remember the operation are less than glowing. It’s just odd.
The Board of Health reports, then and now, are considered sworn testimony- but…
This was the golden age of Tammany Hall.
Entirely speculative, this, but: In the 1890’s, the Tammany boys were cooking up the consolidation of the City of Greater New York, and they very well might have needed a villain or two for their political narratives. I’m just getting started on this one, I’ll let you know what can be squirreled out on the subject.
After all- who can guess, all there is, that might be buried down there?
from 1894’s “Public Papers of Roswell P. Flower, Governor” courtesy google books
A continuous nuisance of a serious character is caused, (a) by Hildebrandt’s Works, located on Furman’s Island, just north of Wissel’s offal dock. This is a small wooden structure where blood and animal refuse matter are treated in an open kettle; (b) by the following rendering establishments: Preston’s Fertilizer and Rendering Works; Peter Van Iderstine, Jr.’s Fat Rendering Works; F. A. Van Iderstine’s Rendering Works; Fred. Heffners Fat Rendering Works.
These rendering establishments depend upon the water of the creek for water supply to furnish their condensers. The latter are used to condense the gases and vapors given off during the process of rendering. These gases and vapors, condensed and held in solution and in suspension in the water, are discharged into the creek with the discharge from said condensers. The creek water is utterly unfit for this purpose, and the creek itself is unfit to receive such discharge, which, under the conditions now existing thereat, is a source of nuisance that can only be abated by closing the rendering works named in this section, or by a radical change in the present method of disposing of the gases in question. The latter, under the circumstances, is not practicable.
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Click for details on Mitch Waxman’s
Upcoming walking and boat tours of Newtown Creek
July 8th, 2012- Atlas Obscura Walking Tour- The Insalubrious Valley
for July 8th tickets, click here for the Atlas Obscura ticketing page
July 22nd, 2012- Working Harbor Committee Newtown Creek Boat Tour
elaborately fashioned
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While moving through DUPBO (Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp) the other day, a passing train forced me to halt my ceaseless marching momentarily. Suffering from a malfunction, my headphones were not working, and the ultimate horror of being alone with my thoughts occurred. A brief interlude with your humble narrator has been described as exhausting, and that’s when the interviewee is feeling generous or is governed by polite behavioral norms. Long exposures to my uniquely abhorrent personality have been known to induce madness, encourage alcoholism, and destroy all hope for peace. An expectation of normalcy is usually abandoned by those unable to escape my presence shortly after first contact.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My family describes me as best taken in small doses, and does their best to disavow, deny, and distance themselves. Imagine what it must be like, between my ears, as one cannot escape from oneself. With the headphones roaring their cacophony, it is often possible for me to drown my endless narrative of self referential critique and worry, but without them the omnipresence of paranoid wonderings is impossible to evade. What you read in this blog is what I’m like all the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Poverty stricken of late, my plan to get every last millimeter of sole from my last pair of hiking boots backfired, causing an injury of some kind to my left foot. Not severe, discomfort is barely noticeable until several miles into a walk, but after a while it becomes uncomfortable. While standing in DUPBO, one wondered if it might be something truly horrible and I began to ponder if it might be foot cancer. This led me to begin thinking about whether or not there was any such thing as “foot cancer” (there is), which led me to begin wondering about all the other aches and pains which I experience and attempted to ascribe a hypochondriacal “worst case” scenario to each.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Constant thought is given to being struck by a truck, or car, or train of course. I also worry about things falling off of buildings- did you know that bricks sometimes just come loose and fall? Falling air conditioners, electrified utility lines, even sinkholes could randomly cross my path. There are feral dogs, packs of rats, hordes of flesh eating centipedes, and aggressive seagulls… One could fall in the creek head first and get stuck in the mud, be drawn into a wood chipper, or end up stuffing a fifty gallon drum after taking a photo of something I shouldn’t have. It is not fun thinking these thoughts, and impossible for me to turn them off. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of things happen in New York City, things which are admittedly “statistically unlikely” but happened nevertheless- decapitation, bloodcicles, and pineapple with ham on pizza. Oddly enough, I seldom worry about being struck by lightning- go figure.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is, of course, why I keep my headphones buried firmly in my ears and the volume turned way up, on these long walks around Queens and the Newtown Creek. It’s also why, as soon as budget allowed, a new pair of shoes were purchased, because you cannot run away from imagined dangers when your left foot hurts. The repair to the headphones has been accomplished as well, and as this shadow of what looks like a man strides forth, he no longer is forced to listen to a fear crazed maniac within his head. Still worried about foot cancer though… So many things can happen to you…
darkness and silence
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, a humble narrator has been spending some time and effort in pursuit of filling in a lack of nocturnal photographs in my library of Newtown Creek shots. While in the midst of this on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, just last week, I heard the bells and whistles signaling the approach of a NY & Atlantic freight train.
The thing kind of snuck up on me, as my headphones were actively pumping out a carefully selected playlist of mid-career Motörhead. Lemmy Kilmeister, you must understand, is far louder than any mere locomotive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These are the sort of “night shots” which I’m trying not to get. High ISO, selectively focused, and overly grainy- all of which was actually unavoidable. Simply put, if you’re “hand holding” the camera and it’s dark, one must open the lens up- losing deep focus- and increase the “ISO sensitivity” of the camera, which introduces grain. Ideally, you’ve got the thing on a tripod, which I didn’t.
My other camera was set up with specialized night gear, but there was no way to get it set it up in time when surprised by the sudden appearance of the train.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Out came my dslr, and with the help of a fortuitously placed hole in the fence of the GPA Bridge, the camera could be steadied and these shots were gained. This is probably not a terribly exciting tale to relate, but every photographer will understand my frustrations. Digital cameras are a technology still in infancy, and the form factor and capabilities of the things are still influenced by the shape and metaphor of older devices which used chemical emulsions (film) for recording.
One is reminded of 1960’s and 70’s televisions built into cabinetry it shared with “hi-fi” stereos, or clock radios. When will we forget the metaphor of a film camera and allow these devices to flower into their own?
approaching locomotive
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Morgan Avenue in the ancient section of industrial Brooklyn, not far from the legendary heart of darkness which is the English Kills tributary of the Newtown Creek, there may be observed a rail crossing. Part of the so called LIRR Bushwick Branch, recent opportunities have allowed me to fill in a missing piece of the great puzzle.
from wikipedia
The Bushwick Branch, also called the Bushwick Lead Track, is a freight railroad branch that runs from Bushwick, Brooklyn, to Fresh Pond Junction in Queens, New York, where it connects with the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is owned by the LIRR but operated under lease by the New York and Atlantic Railway, which took over LIRR freight operations in May 1997.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By no means should it be inferred that any special knowledge of the history of street grade rail in Brooklyn is possessed by your humble narrator, as this is still a subject under study around Newtown Pentacle HQ. If you were to look left (or south west) while on Morgan Avenue and traveling northward, this is what you’d see, way back here in the Cripplebush.
from wikipedia
East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, which lies between Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick. Much of this area has been and still is referred to as either Bushwick, Williamsburg, or Greenpoint with the term East Williamsburg falling out of use until the 1990s. East Williamsburg consists roughly of what was the 3rd District of the Village of Williamsburg and what is now called the East Williamsburg In-Place Industrial Park (EWIPIP), bounded by the neighborhoods of Northside and Southside Williamsburg to the west, Greenpoint to the north, Bushwick to the south and southeast, and both Maspeth and Ridgewood in Queens to the east.
Although the City of New York recognizes East Williamsburg as a neighborhood, there are no official boundaries to East Williamsburg since the City only officially delineates Community Districts and Boroughs, not neighborhoods.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking right, or north east, you’ll see what appears to be a locomotive right of way that terminates at a distant green wall. The Bushwick line has been explored by many others who are braver of heart than I, including Diego Cupolo and Forgotten-NY’s own Kevin Walsh. There’s a missing piece in their accounts (which to be fair, has been off limits to inspection by passerby for some time), however, which recent serendipity allows me to bring to you.
This is, after all, part of Newtown Creek.
from The Eastern District of Brooklyn By Eugene L. Armbruster, via google books
BEYOND THE NEWTOWN CREEK
In the olden times the lands on both sides of Newtown Creek were most intimately connected. County lines were unknown, the creeks were dividing lines between the several plantations, for the reason that lands near a creek were taken up in preference to others, and the creeks were used in place of roads to transport the produce of the farms to the river, and thus it was made possible to reach the fort on Manhattan Island.
The territory along the Newtown Creek, as far as “Old Calvary Cemetery” and along the East River to a point about where the river is now crossed by the Queensboro bridge and following the line of the bridge past the plaza, was known as Dutch Kills. On the other side of Old Calvary was a settlement of men from New England and, therefore, named English Kills. The Dutch Kills and the English Kills, as well as the rest of the out-plantations along the East River, were settlements politically independent of each other and subject only to the Director-General and Council at Manhattan Island, but became some time later parts of the town of Newtown.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An obsession of mine, let’s just name it a calling, is to photograph every possible corner of the Newtown Creek watershed.
Challenging, most of the shoreline is under lock and key, and many parts of it are under strict supervision by security personnel and police authorities. The spot these shots were gathered from is even hazy ground, and although I never stepped on the tracks and stayed to the extreme sides of the pathway, I was probably violating a “no trespassing” rule which I wear on my sleeve.
The presence of graffiti and a largish homeless camp I know to exist back here made me feel that any rule against taking a look around is lightly enforced by the gendarme and the proverbial dice would be thrown.
Speaking of dice, a locally famous accident occurred on the Bushwick line back in 2004.
from ntsb.gov
LIRR 160 traveled about 1.2 miles on the Bushwick Branch, passing over seven passive highway/railroad grade crossings. The event recorder indicated that the locomotive traveled the total distance of about 11,692 feet (2.2 miles) in 16 minutes 9 seconds and reached a maximum speed of about 31 mph.
During the runaway, LIRR 160 struck an automobile at one grade crossing and pushed it several hundred feet. The two occupants of this vehicle sustained serious injuries and required hospitalization. At another grade crossing, the locomotive struck two more automobiles, resulting in serious injuries to their drivers, who also required hospitalization. Two trucks were parked along the tracks near another grade crossing. The locomotive struck the trucks and pushed them about 800 feet westward beyond the crossing before it stopped. One of the trucks was carrying welding supplies, including acetylene and oxygen cylinders; the cylinders were damaged during the accident and caused a fire. The trucks were unoccupied; however, employees of the trucks’ owner had to jump away from the track to avoid injury.
As LIRR 160 collided with the automobiles and trucks, the struck vehicles were propelled in different directions and struck other vehicles. As a result, the accident damaged five other vehicles and a backhoe.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of graffiti, these puzzling bits of signage were observed on a well painted wall. Like the “God’s Gift to Pain” graffiti at the end of English Kills, however, they filled me with some nameless dread.
from wikipedia
The first recorded use of the A in a circle by anarchists was by the Federal Council of Spain of the International Workers Association. This was set up by Giuseppe Fanelli in 1868. It predates its adoption by anarchists as it was used as a symbol by others. According to George Woodcock, this symbol was not used by classical anarchists. In a series of photos of the Spanish Civil War taken by Gerda Taro a small A in a circle is visibly chalked on the helmet of a militiaman. There is no notation of the affiliation of the militiaman, but one can presume he is an Anarchist. The first documented use was by a small French group, Jeunesse Libertaire (“Libertarian Youth”) in 1964. Circolo Sacco e Vanzetti, youth group from Milan, adopted it and in 1968 it became popular throughout Italy. From there it spread rapidly around the world.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The icon in the tree part of this illustration is meant to be an “anarchy” symbol, but to me it looked like some multi lobed eye, if you know what I mean. Weird things go on around here, and this is no safe place, even while the radiant attentions of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself are shining down upon the poison shores of English Kills.
from wikipedia
The “three-lobed burning eye” is one of many manifestations of Nyarlathotep, a messenger of the Outer Gods, from fiction penned by H. P. Lovecraft. This particular manifestation is a huge bat-winged creature, with a burning tri-lobed eye. In Lovecraft’s story “Haunter of the Dark,” the character Robert Blake discovers a Shining Trapezohedron in a church steeple in Providence, RI, a place of worship for the Church of Starry Wisdom cult. Narrowly escaping an unseen horror released by the Trapezohedron, Blake realizes the horror can only travel in the dark. When a storm and power blackout envelop the city, he scribbles down his findings, concluding the story with his terrified record of what he can only glimpse of the approaching beast. “I see it– coming here– hell-wind– titan-blur– black wings– Yog-Sothoth save me– the three-lobed burning eye…”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of English Kills, this is the rail bridge which the tracks of the Bushwick Branch utilize to cross over it. In the background of the shot is one of the largest CSO outfalls in New York City and behind that is an access a ride parking depot and Johnson Avenue.
This is what it looks like from the water, incidentally, and long have I desired to see the New York and Atlantic crossing it from this perspective.
from habitatmap.org
- Combined Sewer Outfall – Newtown Creek 015
- Address Johnson Ave., Brooklyn, NY
- Neighborhood Newtown Creek
- Owner/Occupant NYC DEP
- Location Details Combined Sewer Overflow Outfall NC-015:
- discharges 344.4M gallons per year into English Kills
- Tier 2 outfall
- Ranked 20 out of over 400 in terms of volume
- located at Johnson Ave
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bridge, which I’ve always heard referred to as “The Montrose Avenue Rail Bridge” is found some 3.8 miles from the East River, and regains land on the eastern shore of English Kills. Notice the green gate visible in the shot above.
from bushwickbiennial.com
James Riker’s 1706 “Bushwicklands” were separated from the original het dorp site by the estuary wetlands that would evolve from a creek into fetid industrial transportation canals (from the Dutch kil, trans. “body of water”). As the old farms were surveyed and sold as city-block lots, area borderlands became an underbelly serving the 19th century constructions of the “English Kills Canals,” the “Town of Bushwick” to the south, and the westerly “Village of Williamsburgh.” Becoming an offal zone for breweries, slaughterhouses, & chemical manufacturing, glass, rope & bag factories, and coal, oil, & stone distribution: the flatland meadows and canal basins provided business opportunities for waves of 19th century Central European immigrants that was near, but away from, metropolitan domestic life down Bushwick Ave.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here is that same gate, from the perspective of the trackway. The property behind that gate is the Waste Management Varick Avenue site, which is pretty much off limits. The fabled garbage train begins its journey to the continent here, as the Varick Avenue facility handles much of the putrescent waste produced in Brooklyn.
from wikipedia
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company in North America. The company is headquartered in Suite 4000 at the First City Tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, in the United States.
The company’s network includes 367 collection operations, 355 transfer stations, 273 active landfill disposal sites, 16 waste-to-energy plants, 134 recycling plants, 111 beneficial-use landfill gas projects and 6 independent power production plants. Waste Management offers environmental services to nearly 20 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. With 21,000 collection and transfer vehicles, the company has the largest trucking fleet in the waste industry. Together with its competitor Republic Services, Inc, the two handle more than half of all garbage collection in the United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of Waste Management, the serendipity mentioned above involved your humble narrator joining with a group of students on a tour of the facility, and this is what the rail bridge looks like from the other side of the gate.
Welcome to the unknown country.
from dot.ny.gov
Waste Management has a substantial waste transfer operation located on English Kills upstream from the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge, incorporating all of the east side of the English Kills from Ten Eyck Street to the LIRR bridge near the head of the creek, an area of 24.7 acres. Currently, Waste Management uses the site to transfer commercial and residential refuse to trucks and rail for transport to landfills in New Jersey, as well as to store and maintain their trucks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another posting coming in the near future will discuss the interior workings of this place, but for now, here’s where the Bushwick branch tracks continue on their course. This is where the folks at Waste Management containerize and load up the “garbage train”.
from nytimes.com
For decades, as trash has made its way from transfer stations in Brooklyn to out-of-state landfills, it has been shuttled through the borough’s streets on ground-rattling, smoke-belching tractor trailers.
The result: irritated neighbors and polluted air.
On Wednesday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled a plan to replace those trucks with trains. The city will now transport tons of garbage out of Brooklyn via railroad, which will take thousands of trucks off the street.
Speaking at a trash transfer station in North Brooklyn — with a trash-filled train behind him — Mr. Bloomberg said that the change would eliminate about 13,000 truck trips a year, helping the city meet ambitious goals for cutting carbon emissions.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tracks continue northeast across the property, and towards Varick Avenue. They cross Varick at Grade, and continue on their winding course toward the Fresh Pond depot, crossing Flushing Avenue in Maspeth and meeting connections toward Long Island City not far from Rust Street. This Rust Street connection offers access to the tracks which follow Newtown Creek through West Maspeth, Berlin, Blissville, and terminate ultimately at Hunters Point. Once, they carried cargo all the way to the East River, where Gantry Docks loaded them onto float barges for delivery in Manhattan and beyond.
from prnewswire.com
While many people balk at taking out the trash, it’s a job that the New York & Atlantic Railway does gladly — hauling 1.7 million pounds of residential and municipal waste each day, destined to Dixie in sealed containers riding aboard extra-long flat cars.
Monday through Saturday, a NY&A train crew goes over to the Varick Avenue transfer station in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they couple up with 10-to-12 89-ft. flat cars loaded with up to 48 22-ft. long containers. Each has been stuffed with 18 tons of refuse, collected from homes and businesses in North Brooklyn.
The Varick Avenue facility was redesigned recently to accommodate rail shipments. It is owned and operated by Waste Management Inc. — one of the nation’s leading transporters and processors of municipal waste. NY&A began test movements in late January and handled its first regular shipment on February 16, 2009.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the view from inside the gates on the Varick side of the Waste Management property…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
And this is the reversed POV, shot through a gap in the fence on the sidewalk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The line continues on the other side of Varick, in the distance, you can see the Scott Avenue Footbridge.
This “trainsarefun.com” page offers detailed schematics and historic shots of the Bushwick line, which are certainly worth a moment of your time.
The Newtown Pentacle 