Archive for the ‘Project Firebox’ Category
Project Firebox 39
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Buried to its waist in modernity, this scarred sentinel against the flames of dissolution adorns the driveway of the gargantuan waste transfer station on Varick Avenue in Brooklyn which is maintained by the Waste Management folks.
Project Firebox 38
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ignominy of metallic pallor disguises this guardian of the public good as it hangs in vigil amongst the myriad ecstasies of Blissville in Queens. Deep below the cement and soil of this ancient village surge the ground waters of the Newtown Creek, and in nearby Greenpoint titan industries form the energy and wastewater backbone of New York City. Never quiet, Greenpoint Avenue is its home and the hoary byway is ennobled by its long and thankless service.
Project Firebox 36
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This sun kissed scarlet sentinel of the public trust is stationed at Queens Plaza South, alongside the fabulous Queensboro bridge. In the storied past, this crimson crier witnessed less than savory activities, but that was the old Queens Plaza. Modernity has brought a certain solemnity to its days, yet it stands at the ready should the presence of certain men and women, who travel in big red trucks, be required.
Project Firebox 35
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A lost and disfunctional creature, this scarlet centurion is found on the corner of 58th and Laurel Hill Blvd. Above it rises that loquacious viaduct which carries the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The BQE, and Laurel Hill Blvd. below it, indicate that one is in the nether zone between Woodside and Maspeth- an angle between neighborhoods. Enormous cemetery walls are its nearest neighbors, as Laurel Hill bisects the gargantuan acreages of New Calvary Cemetery. All but forgotten, this noble guardian is mute, and knows terror thinking of the day that an emergency may come for which it cannot raise an alarm.
Project Firebox 34
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You don’t see many of this sort of Firebox anymore, which combined Police and Fire intercoms in a single unit. A humble narrator clearly remembers school assemblies (P.S. 208 on Avenue D) in which redoutable members of both services offered advice on how and when to appropriately use these fireboxes in terms of emergency.
One also recalls the “give a hoot, don’t pollute” stickers on garbage pails and being urged to turn off lights when leaving the room. Bellbottom corduroy pants also figure heavily into such memories.
The Newtown Pentacle 