Archive for the ‘Photowalks’ Category
no dream
Another archive shot, today from Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Long Island Expressway squats and sags over Borden Avenue as it returns to ground nearby Greenpoint Avenue at the border of Blissville and Long Island City. My little break is turning out to be kind of productive, so look forward to some cool stuff in the near future. Also, I’ve got a couple of shots in an article at today’s NY Daily News- check it out.
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olden king
The end of an era happens today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a generation out there- and whether they be youngsters, immigrants, or migrants from other States or Cities- the only Mayor of New York City they’ve ever known is Michael Bloomberg. Like him or hate him, he’s been nothing other than a fact for the last eleven and a half years. Luckily, the likely and chosen successor has not made it through the electoral process to today’s plebiscite, and its time to figure out what we should do next. This is no partisan political post, btw, as I view the political class as little more than employees- which ever side of an imaginary ideological line they happen to stand on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Arrogant, unapproachable, stubborn, inflexible- all of these are words I’ve heard others use to describe him. Often, municipal employees will go pale and say “This is coming straight out of City Hall” when telling a community group that something they wanted is denied. All in all, it could have been worse. Say the words “Mayor Mark Green” and your blood will turn to ice. The little big man will likely be remembered fondly down the road, as his administration has more profoundly altered the municipal landscape than any Mayor since Lindsay or LaGuardia, and we will be reaping the rewards of the vast infrastructure investments made in the last 11 years for decades.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The likely next Mayor is comically tall, could probably palm a dinner plate, and inherits a raft of issues which even three terms could not solve for the current guy. I like the idea of fresh air blowing through the halls of power, but worry that Park Slope will be coming to City Hall with him. There are mid level officials in power there today who were hired during Giuliani’s first term, and its time for a change in management. Not because they’ve done a bad job- they haven’t- but because de facto corruption festers in long municipal tenancy.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
odd individual
Maritime Sunday crashes into port again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The winner of the 2013 Great North River Tugboat Race, McAllister towing’s Resolute was spied while guiding the Atlantic Conveyor Cargo ship from Port Elizabeth Newark to the open harbor along the Kill Van Kull. Resolute was running against the tide, and seemed to using all of her 3,000 horsepower to keep the larger vessel on course.
McAllister Towing is one of the oldest and largest marine towing and transportation companies in the United States. They operate a fleet of more than seventy tugboats and twelve barges along the East Coast from Portland, Maine to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A crew member from Resolute told me that the boat’s characteristic “beard” is referred to as “pudding.” It’s actually made of ropes, and is also referred to as a “beard,” although it is technically a “bow fender.” Most tugs these days use old truck tires for this function, which protects the hulls of both tower and towee at their point of contact. Check out this page at frayedknotarts.com for details on how pudding is made.
Built in 1975, by Jakobson Shipyard of Oyster Bay, New York (hull #454) as the Resolute for the Providence Steamboat Company of Providence, Rhode Island.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Project Firebox 95
An ongoing catalog of New York’s endangered Fireboxes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I remember when this model of Firebox was wheeled out, back during one of the Koch administrations. It was designed to alert the coppers as well as the smoke eaters to trouble. Seem to recall that it never worked quite as well as intended, and the fact that the “intercom” concept never became standardized seems to confirm that. Nevertheless, shine on #7336, you’re doing the lords work.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
size and cunning
Today’s Maritime Sunday visits the family Bouchard.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Evening Star emerging from the mists of the Kill Van Kull, as recently observed. Brand new and shiny, the tug was built in 2012 and sports a 4000 HP power plant.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 