Archive for the ‘newtown creek’ Category
shaking fingers
Archive shot today, from Staten Island.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Funnily enough, I was out late last night in Maspeth and Blissville shooting, but couldn’t get the shots online in time for today’s post. That’s the Postcards memorial on Staten Island, nearby the Staten Island Ferry’s St. George landing. Back tomorrow with all the stuff I saw last night.
I’ve also got two tours coming up this week which I haven’t had the chance to properly promote – Thursday night is Infrastructure Creek with NYC H2O, and Saturday is the Soundview Ferry Tour with NY Adventure Club. Come with?
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.
pierced stone
Scuttling, always scuttling.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last week, after finishing up the Greenpoint walking tour I conducted for NYC H2O, a humble narrator shuffled along the old mortal coil in pursuance of getting back home. Along the way, NYC was doing its thing and showing off. She does that during the summer. These shots were gotten with a recent addition to my lens kit, a bargain basement Canon 24mm pancake lens that’s little more than a body cap with a tiny piece of autofocusing glass in it. The “itty bitty” nature of this particular lens allows me to give the camera a fairly good look through chain link fencing, even the tight meshed sort that you’ll find on the Pulaski Bridge.
DOT likes the fine mesh stuff. The “diamonds” created by the overlapping wires can’t be more than 3/4 of an inch on the fine mesh variant of chain link fence, which is a ruinous thing when you’re using more traditional glass with front elements in the neighborhood of 77-100mm in diameter. Bother.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m continually surprised at the pancake lens, as a note. It’s got few of the optical formula sorts of issues you’d expect to find in a “cheap” lens, and is f2.8 on the wide end which… as mentioned, is not what you’d expect to find on such an inexpensive device. In bright sunlight, the thing is tack sharp at f4 and above.
This isn’t meant to sound like a “sell” for the thing, I just really like it. Finally managed to get a shot of the Queens Midtown Tunnel, which I’ve been desirous of for awhile, with it – as seen above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All of these turbulent storms, and high atmospheric humidity, has really made for some incredible sunsets of late – don’t you think?
Got the shot above on Broadway in Astoria sometime last week, and I’m fond of it.
“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.
moss grown
When you hear the sound of three dogs barking…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A single night shot today, gathered at the Kosciuszcko Bridge job site a few months back. Two walking tours this week, accomplished with a broken toe attained on the first, so the second was a bit of limping tour but I didn’t let the group know about my situation until the very end up on the Pulaski Bridge. Pain and I are old friends, so we know how to coexist with one another.
Looking forward to a nice summer weekend, me, and I’ll be back Monday at this – your Newtown Pentacle – with a heartier meal for your hungry eyes.
“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.
dissecting room
This little piggie went to the urgent care?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Somehow, a humble narrator broke a toe last night while conducting a tour of Newtown Creek. No crack or pop was sensed, but upon returning to HQ, the sort of purplish red bruise one associates with a broken bone was present, and this morning the spreading hematoma flower on my left foot confirms it. Of course, that means that tonight’s walking tour will be very interesting indeed. Not too much you can do for a busted toe, I’d mention, you just use tape and splint it up to the one next to it.
Luckily, it’s a minor toe, and is basically the Delaware or Luxembourg of the foot. Sigh… I’m just falling apart these days, a delicate flower lost in the concrete devastations of Western Queens and North Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, one has always had the ability to psychologically isolate pain and “put it in my pocket” when it’s inconvenient, with the notable exception of dental issues. Can’t escape from tooth and mouth problems, they’re wired too closely to the brain. A life of disappointment, resentfulness, and emotional tumult coupled with an all too human physique which often lets me down has also caused one to actively cultivate “anhedonia” – a bodily and emotional numbness – as a defense mechanism.
Anhedonia keeps you even in an ever changing and often hazard rich world, I tell ya.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The good news is that the toe doesn’t hurt much at all. It just feels like I’ve got something stuck to it, due to the swelling. The bruise looks awful, but is pretty cool actually, as far as internal bleeding goes. Let’s see what happens to old Mitch today…
Maybe one of my ears will just fall right off, or a pinky finger will spontaneously combust. Take a guess. There’s still some spaces open for tonight’s Greenpoint Walking Limping Tour available, so for those of you who enjoy watching me suffer – a value add on the ticket price.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours and Events
Thursday, July 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Greenpoint Walking Tour w NYCH20
Explore Greenpoint’s post industrial landscape and waterfront with Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman.
Click here for ticketing and more information.
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.
mustered up
Sometimes, they come back.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself in Maspeth, just yesterday, whereupon discovery of a large industrial site’s demolition occurred. The site used to be a cardboard box factory (Star Corrugated Box Co. originally and then Cascades Containerboard), which had occupied this plot of land for several generations. The crews from Breeze Demolition were hard at work pulverizing the place, and coincidentally were replacing the plywood construction fencing surrounding it as I wandered by. It’s apparently a “big secret” as to who the new occupants of the land here will be.
I know the secret, and as loose lips sink ships…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
54-15, 55-15 and 56-19 Grand Avenue were acquired recently by a California based company called LBA Realty for $72 million. The deal involves a partnership with another realty company, RXR, to build a four story warehouse large enough for heavy trucks to drive up a ramp for loading and unloading. Statements from the developer indicate that this facility would be ideal for the “last mile” logistics of e-commerce companies. Hmmm.
Wonder what e-commerce company that might be?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This project represents a fairly frightening intensification of the truck traffic issues afflicting both Maspeth and East Williamsburg, I would mention.
I would also like to change the subject and mention the importance of large continental river systems to human civilizations. The Mississippi, Colorado, and Hudson Rivers come to mind here in North America, as does the Yang Tse and the Ganges in Asia. There’s the Nile in Africa, of course, and the Rhine in Europe.
I’m forgetting a big and important river, I think, one that runs through South America or maybe Seattle? What’s that one called again?
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours and Events
Thursday, July 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Greenpoint Walking Tour w NYCH20
Explore Greenpoint’s post industrial landscape and waterfront with Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman.
Click here for ticketing and more information.
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 