Archive for the ‘newtown creek’ Category
nimbus over
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mentioned yesterday, the building pictured above sits on the site of the first large scale petroleum refinery in the United States. It later became known as the Standard Oil Queens County Oil Works, but the original 1854 facility and its founder are described in this post from 2014.
Truth be told, on this particular evening, I wasn’t in “history” mode, instead I was focused in on taking pretty pictures of ugly things.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks north, across Newtown Creek and at Queens, along the line which the Brooklyn Queens Expressway travels along between LIC’s Blissville section on the left, and Maspeth’s “West Maspeth” section on the right.
The BQE is sited along what was formerly (1870-1898) the legal line between the municipality of Long Island City and Newtown’s Village of Maspeth. Maybe it was already the “Town of Maspeth” back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries… something I’m not sure of, speaking in a purely calendrical manner.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on the walkway of the Kosciuszcko Bridge, and once again setup with the tripod and all the other gear, I got busy.
You have never ending vibration problems up there, due to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway traffic running behind you.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You can really feel it when a heavy truck rolls by at speed up there, and mid span there’s a discernible flex when one shouts by. It’s not at all disconcerting, but it’s a factor if you’re doing a longish exposure up there as the vibration can transmit up the tripod and shake the camera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For some reason… ahem… the bridge’s fences offer apertures just big enough for me to slide my favorite lens through… ahem…
There’s a trick to shooting up here which revolves around making sure that neither the tripod legs nor the lens are making the slightest physical contact with the fence, as it transmits the traffic vibration.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Satisfied that I had actually made it worth getting up that morning by doing something useful and fun, I packed up the bag and headed back to HQ.
More tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
glistening with
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On March 30th, a Wednesday which also happened to be the anniversary of the Queensboro Bridge opening in 1909, a humble narrator scuttled over to the Koscisuzcko Bridge from Astoria hoping to encounter a nice sunset over the fabulous Newtown Creek.
High clouds equal a fifty/fifty chance of a light show at sunset, so I decided to throw the dice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had planned in a bit of buffer time for this effort, and I had a couple of hours to wander around and see what I could see.
Looking down from on high at the ragged coastline of the Borough of Queens, in the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More of that ragged coastline, pictured is the Queens landing of the former Penny Bridge. There also used to be a Long Island Railroad stop down there.
Heading south on the K-bridge, one crossed the line into Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a couple of large waste transfer stations down there, and the managers of the one pictured above never fail to hassle me when I’m taking pictures of them on the street. Ever since the walkway on the bridge has been open, I now make it a point of cracking put a few exposures.
Humps.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down under the Kosciuszko Bridge Onramp in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section, this burned out semi truck was noticed.
I thrive on other people’s misfortunes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the newish “Under the K bridge park” in Greenpoint, and looking towards Queens at the site of the first large scale petroleum refinery in the entire country over in Queens’ Blissville section, and across the fabulous Newtown Creek.
When the sky started getting colorful, I got ready to head back to a point of elevation on the walkway above.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
torture of
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s time for my weekly soliloquy about Newtown Creek’s Dutch Kills tributary in Long Island City, a collapsing bulkhead undermining a city street, and the municipal dysfunction which will continue until somebody gets hurt or dies.
Nothing matters, and nobody cares.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s hard not to be depressed about all of this. Especially given how much of our earnings are taxed away to support it. With sales tax, it’s something like thirty five to forty cents of every dollar earned by a New Yorker that goes into propping up an insane system of impotent agencies and authorities. They can’t do anything to fix the environs for budgetary reasons, but somehow multi decade long tax breaks to hand out to big real estate are always available.
What do you think “affordable housing” means? It means that the developer received significant multiple decades long tax suffrage in return for agreeing to cap prices on new units to “just” a few thousand dollars a month. It’s a con, a grift, a scam.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At least nobody has cut down my favorite tree. Yet.
A humble narrator is at the end of his rope, lords and ladies. Something just has to give. It’ll likely be the pavement and foundations of LIC’s 29th street, I would offer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One continued on his scuttle, visiting all the familiar places and waving a camera at them. There’s serious talk right now about delisting Dutch Kills and several other Newtown Creek tributaries as “federally designated navigational channels.” What that means is that the United States Army Corps of Engineers would no longer be involved in the maintenance or oversight of maritime industrial access to these head waters.
What that further means is that if any dredging or bulkhead maintenance issues come up in the future, it will be either private capital or NYS or NY City which do the deed and paid for it. In other words – the tribs will predictably silt up due to the combined sewer system and fill with human excrement. This will attract biting insects. The City will spray malathion indiscriminately due to their fears of mosquito borne diseases. Malathion is watered down nerve gas.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wandering off into the night, that’s me. Friendless, alone, the filthy black raincoat fluttering about in the sooty winds. Everything, and every effort, is ultimately useless and nothing matters at all…
Bah.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s time for me to leave this place, I think.
Retreat into the west, just like one of Tolkien’s elves.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
ivied antique
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, one set the camera up along the Brooklyn waterfront on a warm evening in late March and got busy with the clicking and the whirring.
Special attention was paid to the Brooklyn Bridge, and to the weird lighting which descended on the East River at dusk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It had been overcast and rain was threatening all day, but once the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself disappeared, the sky was dark but colored with electric blues. This only lasted a few minutes, but wow.
I had been out of sync with the ferry schedule all day, perpetually arriving at a dock just as a ferry was pulling away from it. Given that it was growing late, I intended on being on time for the boat that would be visiting this particular stop nearby Fulton Landing before heading north on the river towards Long Island City.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While waiting for the boat to arrive, I converted the operation away from its “landscape/tripod” configuration over to the “handheld/low light” one. I’ve described this in the past, it’s mainly swapping out certain lenses for other ones and safely tying off the tripod onto my knapsack.
The boat arrived, I flashed the ticket on my phone to the deckhand, and soon I was snugly ensconced on the NYC Ferry heading north.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
If you haven’t ridden the ferry at night… well, I don’t care, you should get out more and watch less television.
The real world is so much more interesting than fiction, if you ask me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last stop before Long Island City’s “LIC Landing” stop is 34th street in Manhattan, where you get to see the shot above.
What is it with all the people who move into the newly constructed condos along the East River who don’t seem to have drapes, curtains, or Venetian blinds? Conspicuously consume much, you oligarchic fucks?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of no drapes, I wonder if they don’t have carpets either (drum shot, please). As you might be able to discern right now, I’m just dripping with sarcasm and hatred at the moment. Something about edging towards a Civil War in a country that’s as armed to the teeth as we are just sets me off.
More tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
langorously under
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My long walk on March 14th continued along Newtown Creek, and I visited all of favorite places west of 48th street. Vainglorious thoughts cause me to refer to my circumlocutions of the Newtown Creek as a “patrol.” Irregular in schedule, it seems that about every six weeks or so, I walk the entire shoreline of the waterway, and have done so for nearly fifteen years now.
I really should have gotten into building model airplanes or something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dark and lonely is the way I like it. Sure, there are passing cars and trucks, but I’m the only pedestrian usually. It’s actually a bit surreal, truth be told. Moving about in the veritable geographic center of NYC, and more often than not – complete and utter solitude.
It’s been a panacea during the pandemic, I tell’s ya.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I grew up without siblings, so being alone is normal for me. Unfortunately, what’s going through my mind during these long walks is a non stop review of all of my failings. I really work myself over psychologically during these long walks. Why? Well, even if your Jewish mother is dead, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do to yourself what she used to do and rake yourself over the coals for every mistake you’ve ever made dating back to potty training.
A particular quirk of mine involves the way my memory works. I don’t remember anything good that I’ve done or said, instead the milestones in my psychological roadmap revolve around failure.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sleights or arguments – those stick around. Complimentary relationships or personal victories are soon forgotten. I’ve gotten better about this stuff as I’ve gotten older, but in my late 20’s and early 30’s it was crippling to exist behind these eyes and between the ears. On this particular walk, I was processing painful memories retained from when I was in Junior High School. Pedantic, huh?
For the curious – I remember being embarrassed, and hoping that nobody who has ever met me as an adult would find out about that time in 7th grade when I decided to wear a pair of “Tale Lord” jeans to school and was roundly mocked for months about it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, I was reminded by a cousin of the great esteem one used to espouse for the band “U2,” in my senior year of high school. Given that I barely listen to that outfit anymore, but still stand behind the statement that the albums “Boy” and “War” were pretty great, I grew embarrassed about that too. Working myself over about all of the stupid things I’ve said and thought over the years…
Part of this thought process revolves around the aging process. We are all different people at different times in our lives, and the trick is to accept that as the years stack up that you’ve evolved – hopefully. That trick eludes me as – since mentioned – my focus and lattice of memories are built on a foundation of professional and personal mistakes, and saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right time. My internal Jewish Mother will never let me forget about failures.
You’re supposed to succeed, what do you want, a medal? Mr. Big Shot, remember the time you shit your pants when you were at cousin Nancy’s first wedding in Washington when you were 4? Your father was so embarrassed he had indigestion for the entire Carter administration. What about the time you…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying all that, I positively feed upon all of this ennui. Wouldn’t do it to myself if it didn’t have some positive effect, right? Maybe it’s why I work so hard and so often. Why I strive to try and not be a Dick.
Tomorrow – something completely different, at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 