Archive for the ‘Maspeth’ Category
breezed aperture
Wandering, ever wandering, and warnings.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself in Maspeth and scuttling past Mount Zion Cemetery recently, on the Maurice Avenue side. As is my habit, vast self recrimination and a certain series of guilty remembrances was underway. One likes to pull at scabs, feel the texture of the many scars which scribe, and generally feel rotten about every decision I’ve ever made. This thought process is actually something I schedule away for when I’m by myself on these long walks around the Newtown Pentacle, so as to keep others from having to experience who – and what – I really am.
One was musing about footprints while walking past the great burial ground. There’s the environmentalist and hiker etho about “leaving behind nothing but footprints,” the historian’s one about “tracking the footprints of giants,” and the Brooklyn one about “sticking my boot up yo ass.” The latter is what I’m focused on at the moment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Being Creative” doesn’t necessarily mean wanting to draw a picture in my current world view. When I use that statement these days, I’m mainly thinking about Dharma. You can either create or destroy in this world we commonly hold, and the choice you make between those two poles reflects whom you aspire to be. Struggling to be “creative” against my darker urges to “crush, kill, and cause anyone I disagree with to perish in fire” is sort of what one has been aspiring to in the last decade.
Saying that, one grows weary of having to contantly reaffirm that I am exactly who I claim to be and not the shadow agent of some moneyed cabal. I have no agenda, no goal, no desire. All I want is for environmental conditions to not suck as hard as they do, and for the City to stop dumping raw sewage into the water. I also want to remind people that places like Mount Zion have a long and storied past, and that few remember the Maspeth Gypsies or the Native Americans who once called this place home as institutional memory is in short supply amongst modern people.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is enough to breed paranoia, and the next person who accuses me of being a shill for some malign corporate or governmental entity is going to receive the full Brooklyn footprint mentioned above, and I wear a size 11 shoe. This line of thought, however, is what one struggles against. It’s “not creative,” rather it’s destructive.
Nothing is achieved by destruction save the feeling of superiority over others. It gets nothing done, and the divisive process of internecine warfare amongst like minded individuals actually results in those aforementioned malign corporate or governmental entities winning the day as the field has been cleared of opponents. We agree on more than we disagree about, let’s fix the things we agree on and then argue the rest when the work is done.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Green and growing places are good. Concrete and highways are bad. Can we agree on that?
Thoughts like these are what one prefers to think about, rather than planning the destruction of enemies and anticipating the lamentations of their women and children. Don’t mess with a humble narrator, accusers, because a great wheel will roll right the hell over you and crush you down into the poison loam of Queens.
You don’t want to make me angry, as you won’t like me when I’m angry.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
October 3rd, 2015
Calvary Cemetery Walking Tour
with Atlas Obscura, click here for details and tickets
idly digging
Another odd occult altar encountered, this one in Maspeth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Involuntarily marching about in Queensican DUKBO (Down under the Kosciuszko Bridge Onramp) recently, on my way over to East Williamsburg to conduct an iteration of the “Insalubrious Valley of the Newtown Creek” walking tour, an occult altar was encountered not far from the bridge. It was at the grade crossing of the Haberman rail siding, nearby the intersection of 49th street and 56th road in Maspeth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This area has been observed, in the past, hosting some odd activity. The very same spot is where the “3 Headless Chickens” described in this 2012 post were found.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ceramic plate was filled with what looked like corn meal or some other roughly ground grain. The liquor bottle was white rum, and there was a considerable amount of the stuff in the bottle. The fact that it hasn’t been scooped up and consumed is noteworthy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The eight arranged dark shapes seemed to be yams or sweet potatoes. There was some sort of shape impressed into the “corn meal” which reminds me of some skinny or tiny person’s naked butt, or possibly those tablets which Moses brandished about.
Entirely likely that there’s a missing piece to this altar which was swept aside by rail traffic passing over it, imho.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
July 12th, 2015
Glittering Realms Walking Tour
with Newtown Creek Alliance, click here for details and tickets.
just pretending
From Maspeth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Flushing Avenue dead ends at the LIRR tracks found in Maspeth proper, and a highway bisects the street – running beneath it in a deep trench. That’s where I spotted this well lit packer truck one evening. I hit this one with the whole bag of photoshop hammers, btw.
As mentioned last week, I’m taking a bit of a break and there will be single shots from my archives offered all week at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
May 30, 2015 –
The Skillman Corridor with Atlas Obscura
with Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, click here for details and tickets.
May 31, 2015 – SOLD OUT
Newtown Creek Boat Tour
with Working Harbor Committee and Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, click here for tickets.
June 11th, 2015
MADE IN BROOKLYN Hidden Harbor Boat Tour
with Working Harbor Committee, click here for details and tickets.
June 20th, 2015
Kill Van Kull Walking Tour
with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for details and tickets.
soft and rubbery
DUGSBO, Down Under the Grand Street Bridge, in todays post
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, on Saturday I had to do a tour of my beloved creek and found myself crossing into infinite Brooklyn via the venerable Grand Street Bridge. Running a bit late, I nevertheless found myself cracking out a few shots of the Newtown Creek scenery as the sky was uncharacteristically free of pesky avians. Life forms of any kind are best avoided, by one such as myself. Suddenly, the ancient bridge began to shudder, and one spun on his veritable heels to ascertain the source of the vibrations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Well, there’s something you don’t see every day, thought I. That’s an MTA Bus Company heavy duty tow truck “wrecker” pulling what appears to be a somewhat destructed double decker bus painted with primer gray.
As a note, one has always favored the British spelling for the name of that most decidedly neutral color – which is “Grey.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An amiable pilot was behind the wheel of the gray bus, who offered a gestural greeting as the wrecker towed him across that centuried span which joins Brooklyn’s Bushwick East Williamsburg with Queensican Maspeth. My guess is that they were heading for the titan Grand Street depot found on the Queens side of the currently undefended border between the two boroughs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the shuddering emanations of the powerful diesel engine found within the wrecker dissipated as it entered Queens, and the Grand Street Bridge ceased its incessant uluations. This allowed me the time to capture an extra one thousandth of a second slice of reality, way out here in DUGSBO.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
May 16, 2015 –
13 Steps Around Dutch Kills with Atlas Obscura
with Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, click here for details and tickets.
May 31, 2015 –
Newtown Creek Boat Tour
with Working Harbor Committee and Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, click here for tickets.
hither come
Get on the boat, for #superfun with the Working Harbor Committee.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On May 31, I’ll be narrating on a boat tour of Newtown Creek for the Working Harbor Committee. WHC is offering a special $30 ticket price, discounted to $25 for seniors. It’s a two hour tour which will leave from Pier 11 in Manhattan at 11 a.m. I’m anticipating having a couple of other guest speakers onboard, but that’s still firming up.
For tix to WHC’s morning tour with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman, on Newtown Creek. For group rates, or questions – contact Working Harbor Committee at workingharbor@aol.com
– 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. 19th century Property owners were considered to have been blessed by some of the finest industrial bulkheads in the world, yet many of the businesses based along the Creek today ignore this invaluable resource, allowing their waterfront property to decay and decline.
Along these bulkheads, great fortunes have risen.
Amongst others- Peter Cooper (BO Railroad, Canton Iron, and Cooper Union), Charles Pratt (Astral Oil, Standard 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 at the very center of New York City.
– 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. This is also the the birthplace of Mobil Oil, and was the home base in NYC for the Standard Oil Company.
Not all that long ago, Newtown Creek carried a greater tonnage of cargo than the entire Mississippi River.
– 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 in 2010, the Creek suffers from a centuries long 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 be exposed to it in its current form.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours –
May 3, 2015 –
DUBPO, Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp
with Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, a free tour offered as part of Janeswalk 2015, click here for tickets.
May 31, 2015 –
Newtown Creek Boat Tour
with Working Harbor Committee and Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman, click here for tickets.
The Newtown Pentacle 