Archive for the ‘Pickman’ Category
moist verdure
A life well lived is a series of dull events.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My annual pilgrimage to the MTA Holiday Nostalgia “Shoppers Special” Subway event carried me to Queens Plaza one recent Sunday. It’s a fun and wholesome thing to do.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I have more than just a few acquaintances and friends who also enact this yearly journey, wherein legacy subway cars are run on the M line in a circuit between Queens Plaza and 2nd avenue in Manhattan.
It’s always nice to see someone you know.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The weird thing, for me, is that it involves willingly heading down into the rat infested tunnels- an activity which normally fills me with a malign dread.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These are all retired subway cars, once typical, that represent various eras of design. At the time of their original deployment, each of these legacy units were state of the art.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The legacy cars performed well, although they are quite rickety in comparison to modern subways units. There was a brief interval wherein a door got stuck in the open position, but the MTA guys sorted that out in no time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An odd mix of folks were observed onboard. Some were ordinary commuters and customers of the M line, while many were hardcore rail fans. More than one photographer was spotted shooting models in period dress.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rail guys, they’re mostly guys, are the quiet ones on the train who watch every little detail and are listening to the machine. These cats can tell you the part number for individual screws on these trains, and you ignore their knowledge at your own peril. Foamers indeed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This show will be running every Sunday on the M line in December, operating between Manhattan’s 2nd Avenue and Queens Plaza. Check out the MTA Holiday Train page for schedule info.
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receptive ears
Cool cars in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself down by the former 5pointz in LIC, which had recently been reverse vandalized.
It’s a shame, really. 5ptz was the only thing in LIC that brought the punters and foreign tourists out from Manhattan, but LIC needs more mirror walls and luxury condos, so it had to go. This is the way of things, I guess, but it’s a crying shame and victory for the forces of blandness.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While visiting the lamentable location, this interesting car with its hilarious vanity plate was spotted. The vehicle was a variation of a classic muscle car, although its registration sticker called it a pickup.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sights such as this will no doubt be increasingly rare, as I saw the guy who got out of it heading towards the former 5ptz. Soon all one will see parked around here shall be Zip Cars, and tower dwellers unloading loads of big box store goods.
Luckily, vanilla ice cream can be obtained at Cosco in 50 gallon drums.
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linger strangely
The fedora district of Long Island City.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last week, one found himself wandering desperately through the Fedora District.
A term of my own invention, as it seems like the sort of spot built for and by fellows who routinely placed felt hats upon their heads when leaving the house. My sweaty desperation was brought on by certain bodily functions which were calling for, nay, demanding attention.
Simply put, I had to poop, drop a deuce, or extrude ex food.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the big problems experienced all over the megalopolis is a lack of publicly available rest rooms.
For some reason, the credentialed urban planners of the world do not acknowledge human biology in their calculations, nor require accessible bathrooms from the real estate people in exchange for their tax breaks and $1 land deals.
This is why people piss on their green infrastructure, there’s no where else to go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I should have stopped at the diner on Jackson to take care of business, but didn’t have the money or time to spend on a cup of joe or similar item as a ransom for relief. Urgency commanded one to double time it back to Astoria and the comforts of those porcelain fixtures which we keep confined in a tile room. I, for one, urge the incoming Mayor’s transition team to consider the fact that humans will need to crap and pee occasionally.
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uneasy voices
Quite the hullabaloo over in Astoria last Friday.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Rainy, last Friday evening, a sudden explosion of sirens and a characteristic strobing of red and white light announced that members of the Fire Department had arrived to pursue their occupation. I grew interested when Rescue 4 showed up, which I understand to be a sort of mobile command post and which I’ve only seen when the situation is truly serious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There were two crewed trucks, a hook and ladder unit and an engine unit. In addition, the Rescue 4 truck and this “Haz Tac” unit arrived on scene along with a couple of ambulances. The setting is Broadway in Astoria, by the way, between 43rd and 44th streets.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There were enough FDNY personnel down there to start a soccer team, but they all seemed to be milling about, rather than the rushing around and “crash bang” action which normally describes the pursuit of their occupation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
NYPD sent an ESU (Emergency Services Unit) truck as well as a highway patrol and several ordinary unit cars, and being the nosey sort, this motivated me to throw the filthy black raincoat on and find out what was going on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The municipal employees were tight lipped, as usual, but my network of local Croatians had already created a cogent narrative. The whole thing revolved around this van.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As transmitted to me by the Istrian witnesses, there was an accident. A typical fender bender with no injuries, the driver of the van nevertheless fled the scene and abandoned the vehicle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some unknown municipal threshold must have been achieved, in terms of ascertaining the threat posed by the vehicle, and the FDNY began to pack up and leave. NYPD got busy with traffic cones and redirecting traffic. One wonders, however, what triggered this massive response to an abandoned van.
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Project Firebox 99
An ongoing catalog of New York’s endangered Fireboxes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This 99th portrait of a Firebox depicts that which stands proudly upon Northern Blvd at the eastern extant of the Carridor in Queens. Great expectation has been expressed by certain readers of this, your Newtown Pentacle, that some Götterdämmerung of a Firebox posting will arrive for the 100th iteration, but that misses the point of these ubiquitous columns of street furniture and will surely leave one disappointed. This scarlet sentinel survived 12 years of Michael Bloomberg’s best attempts at firebox genocide, like its brothers, and that alone is worthy of comment.
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