Archive for the ‘Manhattan’ Category
fellow student
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator is exhausted and forlorn, and cannot bear to present another posting of the post hurricane Sandy environment around the Newtown Creek. A desire for the purity of chromatic splendor, the chance to inhabit a Mondrian painting, possesses me. Let’s take a day off, and just enjoy some color, say I. It’s a day to do a little housekeeping, and let the edifice air out.
On the housekeeping note, I’ve set up a twitter feed for those of you who would rather receive the Pentacle in that manner. If Twitter is what floats your digital boat then “follow” me at @newtownpentacle.
Right now, its just your standard newtownpentacle postings filling in there, but over the course of time you’ll start seeing unique content disseminated which is a bit more “in the moment”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Twitter thing is something I should have set up a while ago, it was actually the storm that drove me to create an account, as it provided a neat conduit to news coming out of City Hall and the Governor’s mansion during Sandy. Additionally, although I haven’t been promoting it, I’ve got a Facebook page going as well- for those of you who have surrendered their right to online privacy and are comfortable with having a publicly traded company track you online- you can follow me at facebook.com/mwaxman1.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tour this weekend will be the final one for this year, although I’m currently striving to set up another schedule of boat and walking tours for 2013. As you’d imagine, the Magic Lantern show which I was going to do last night with Atlas Obscura is being rescheduled for sometime this winter, and I’m told that Observatory has conquered their flooding issues (they are nearby Gowanus). Count on a few fluffy postings for the next couple of days, as I need cartoons, comic book movies, and any form of escapist entertainment I can find to escape the tyranny of the real world.
Upcoming Newtown Creek tours and events:
Note: there are just 3 tickets left on this one, which is likely the last walking tour I’ll be conducting in 2012.
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
Post Sandy
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My little dog and I sheltered in place during Sandy, and from the sound of what was going on, I’m more than glad we did. Our little section of Astoria seems to have survived the night- power, internet etc. still up and running. Checking in on the web this morning, one discovered that surrounding neighborhoods weren’t quite so lucky.
Mr. Jimmy Van Bramer, our City Councilman, has been running around the district and updating everyone on the situation via facebook and twitter as well as his own site- http://jimmyvanbramer.com. There seems to be a high number of fallen trees in Sunnyside.
Kate Zidar, who heads up Newtown Creek Alliance, has also been very active on twitter. She has been posting shots of the severe flooding which affected Greenpoint as the Newtown Creek breached its bulkheads. https://twitter.com/newtownCreek
The North Brooklyn Boat Club posted shots of the flooding which affected their outfit, check them out at this facebook album.
Newtown Creek Alliance’s Laura Hoffman also posted shots of the aftermath in Greenpoint, at this facebook album.
Finally, the folks at gothamist posted an album this morning, depicting the flooding along the creek.
I’ll be going out tomorrow morning, doing a long walk around the Creek and seeing what I can see. If anyone has anything in particular that they think I should check out, email me here.
Haven’t heard too much from the harbor people yet, but word has reached me that both the John J Harvey and Tug Pegasus survived the night. I don’t think that it is too early to say that life has changed for all of us, and that it’s a good idea to take extra precautions regarding what washed out of the rivers and the Creek in particular.
gleaming image
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It should be mentioned that under normal circumstance, the narration recited on board one of the Newtown Creek boat tours which I’ve been a part of in the recent past has been “the straight story”. By that, I mean that the normal narrative which readers of this blog have grown used to is toned down a bit, and a more mainstream presentation is offered. There are still plenty of “night soil and offal dock” stories, but as I have a relatively short amount of time to tell the story of Newtown Creek, a lot of the more… colourful… stuff gets trimmed out. Luckily, the Newtown Creek Alliance is producing a “spooky” Halloween tour this Saturday (October 27), and I get to go to town on this one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In addition to weaving the Blissville Banshee, Maspeth Gypsies, and witch panics into my speech- there are two other factors which make this tour special. First and foremost is the price, subsidized by grant money from the NYCEF fund of the Hudson River Foundation – which allows NCA to offer the trip at an amazing price of just $25. Secondly, the time at which we will be embarking is late in the afternoon, which should offer spectacular sunset lighting of the Creek for photographers and sensitives alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a two hour excursion, leaving from Manhattan’s South Sea Seaport on board a comfortable NY Water Taxi (which, yes, has bathroom facilities). NCA is encouraging the wearing of seasonal costuming to celebrate and acknowledge the Halloween holiday. Scheduled speakers include your humble narrator and NCA Executive Director Kate Zidar. Whatever there is, which cannot possibly exist, lurking in the Black Mayonnaise which underlies the cursed waters of that cataract of agony known as the Newtown Creek has refused to make an appearance sans ritual sacrifice- something NCA cannot have any involvement with due to the intricacies of its 501/3c non profit status. The thing in the megalith will be watching, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The question of what sort of costume I will be wearing is still up in the air. Attempts to borrow a death cloak have so far been unsuccessful, despite the fact that several people I know own such raiments. Click the banner just below this paragraph for ticketing information and fulfillment. Do you dare to enter this nightmare world of the Newtown Creek, or will you instead cling to the illusion of sanity which exists beyond its banks?
Also- Upcoming Newtown Creek tours and events:
for more information on the October 27th Newtown Creek Boat Tour, click here
for more information on the November 9th Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show, click here
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
raised place
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Marie J. Turecamo, a Moran tug, getting all iconic on the East River. This tug has been discussed in earlier posts at this, your Newtown Pentacle, specifically the posting “Circumnavigation 1” from which the following is quoted:
…along came the Marie J. Turecamo tugboat- a 2,250 HP twin screw tug operated by Moran Towing. It was originally built as the Traveller in 1968, by Tangier Marine Transport which operated out of the Main Iron Works facility in Houma, LA.
from morantug.com
Moran is a leading provider of marine towing and transportation services, a 150-year-old corporation that was founded as a small towing company in New York Harbor and grew to preeminence in the industry. The cornerstone of our success has been a long-standing reputation for safe, efficient service, achieved through a combination of first-rate people and outstanding vessels and equipment.
Over the course of its history Moran has steadily expanded and diversified, and today offers a versatile range of services stemming from its core capabilities in ship docking, contract towing, LNG activities and marine transportation. Our tug fleet serves the most ports of any operator in the eastern United States, and services LNG terminals along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and the West Coast of Mexico. The Moran barge fleet serves the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waters of the U.S. eastern seaboard, and the Gulf of Mexico. We also provide worldwide marine transportation services, including operations in the Caribbean and periodic voyages to South America and overseas waters.
Another appearance of the tug, wherein it played a similar iconic role and chewed a different bit of harbor scenery was in the posting “curious customs“.
Also- Upcoming tours…
for an expanded description of the October 20th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
for more information on the October 27th Newtown Creek Boat Tour, click here
for more information on the November 9th Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show, click here
for an expanded description of the November 11th Newtown Creek tour, please click here
effective radius
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A lesser sabbat on the great wheel of the year, at 10:49 this morning, New York City will pass through the fall equinox. Today, the day and night will oppose each other equally, and from now until March, darkness will rule as relative to light. Summer ends, and the harvest time is visited upon all that walk beneath the ever fainter emanations of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before long will we all be sitting before tables of bounty, gazing upon roasted meats and other oven baked fare. Just the other night, a filthy black raincoat was removed from its summer hook, and a humble narrator again filled it. Chill is the night, which grows ever longer. Soon shall we all feast, and learn new ways to laugh and revel and enjoy ourselves, as we give our so called “thanks”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nepenthe is found in this season, as we slouch roughly toward Samhain and the Yule, as it’s the time of tales told. Stories of goblins and werecats, ghosts and ghasts, and the hidden world of the occultist will soon be readily revealed. On the wheel of the year, this is the start of the spooky time- when farmers fields become the property of crows and ravens, and odd occurrences abound- during the endless nights.
The Newtown Pentacle 