Archive for the ‘Queens’ Category
native form
The native art form of Queens, NY.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Illegal dumping is more than just an artform here in Astoria, Queens. It’s more of a design competition, wherein participants attempt to out do each other in composition, theme, and or sourcing of materials. To wit, this tableau discovered on a Sunday morning (which is locally described as “the aftermath of Saturday Night”) along Broadway at its intersection with 43rd street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is fairly sure that municipal regulation forbids the disposal of a perfectly recyclable bicycle in this manner. Are you supposed to put the bike in a blue bag or a clear one? Also, shouldn’t this sort of trash get its own lane?
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
There are two Newtown Creek walking tours, and a Magic Lantern show, coming up.
Saturday, May 31st, Plank Road with Newtown Creek Alliance.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Saturday, June 7th, 13 Steps around Dutch Kills with Atlas Obscura.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Wednesday, June 11th, Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show with Brooklyn Brainery.
Click here for tickets and more info.
likewise thought
From Dutch Kills, the neighborhood.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Marching home one recent afternoon, a humble narrator was confronted with a scene that beggared description. A taxi pulled over to the side of the road, 39th avenue actually, and the driver jumped out and went into a bodega. He left his car door wide open, and the engine running. “Steal me” was the first thing that came to mind, but bear in mind that I grew up in Brooklyn, so I think “Steal Me” a lot.
Please, steal me, is what this scene says.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lucifer lays little Easter Eggs like this in front of me all the time. Temptation, temptation. I’m certain that I would be sitting in the back seat of an NYPD crusader shortly after jumping in the front seat of this cab, but… man alive… this is two blocks from Queens Plaza, and you leave your door not only open… but the engine running as well? The taxi should have been stolen just to teach the guy a lesson.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The driver eventually sauntered out of the bodega – emerging with a cup of coffee. The fellow resumed his station behind the wheel, and turned back into traffic. A humble narrator blurted out, using my best Brookleiner accent, “Hey, dis is New York City, Yo. Da fuck were’s you tinking?”.
He replied that since nothing happened, I was crazy, and inquired whether or not I needed a ride somewhere.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
There are two Newtown Creek walking tours, and a Magic Lantern show, coming up.
Saturday, May 31st, Plank Road with Newtown Creek Alliance.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Saturday, June 7th, 13 Steps around Dutch Kills with Atlas Obscura.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Wednesday, June 11th, Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show with Brooklyn Brainery.
Click here for tickets and more info.
elder worlds
From Woodside
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A hand painted seal, signifying the “Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States” organization, as observed in the Woodside section of Queens, NYC.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
There are two Newtown Creek walking tours, and a Magic Lantern show, coming up.
Saturday, May 31st, Plank Road with Newtown Creek Alliance.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Saturday, June 7th, 13 Steps around Dutch Kills with Atlas Obscura.
Click here for tickets and more info.
Wednesday, June 11th, Newtown Creek Magic Lantern Show with Brooklyn Brainery.
Click here for tickets and more info.
combats betwixt
Just like the good old days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lugging a dslr and its associated kit around can be quite a drag.
Camera body and lenses, and all the other crap I use, weigh something like ten pounds. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s all on one shoulder and after awhile, it feels like you’ve got an anchor suspended across your back. I used to exclusively carry a Canon G10 with a specialized sort of mini tripod that involves rare earth magnets, and just to mix things up, for the last couple of days I’ve left the dslr and camera bag at home and taken the G10 and its mount with me instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The G10 is a grand little camera, notable mainly for its lens. The tiny sensor captures a quite noisy image – these shots were captured at ISO 200’s digital equivalent. My 7D dslr would render ISO 1000 in a similar fashion, something you can chalk up to sensor size and processor chip power. Still, it’s quite liberating to be carrying something that isn’t much heavier than a book for a change, and the bulk of multiple lenses was not missed on recent walks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The singular virtue enjoyed when carrying this particular camera emanates from the fancy magnet tripod I’ve attached to it, which was originally designed to work as a mount for the sort of laser leveler which a carpenter or drywall installer might employ.
Multiple rare earth magnets provide a steady grip on any ferrous surface, allowing for a steady and unyielding mount for the image capture. At night, I’ll attach a wire release trigger to the device, which further minimizes camera shake and allows long exposure shots at ISO 100, the lowest and least noisy setting the thing is capable of.
Have a cool holiday weekend, lords and ladies, and take lots of pictures. I know I will.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
strange pursuits
Why be a jerk?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This morning, the first thing I saw was an older woman (late 50’s, I’d guess) disposing of some garbage by throwing it into the tree pit in front of my house.
As it would be an impossibility for one such as myself not to chide or comment on such an act, I offered “Hey, where do you live? I’ll come to your place and throw garbage in front of your house.” She smiled, and kept on walking, never once thinking that she should pick up her discarded shit and drop it into the litter basket on the corner which was within eye shot.
What the hell is wrong with people? How is this ok?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One attempts to live a life which will have minimal negative impact upon others. All of my efforts in recent years are bound around the idea of “What would Superman do” in any given situation, a moral rubric which serves me pretty well in ethical gray areas. If the Kent wouldn’t do it, why would you?
The human infestation hereabouts, however, doesn’t seem to subscribe to any other dictum than selfishness and wild abandon in the public space. All the while of course, as they leave a stream of litter behind them, they’ll tell you that Queens is going to hell in a a hand basket and that “things aren’t the way they used to be.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s not a law and order kind of thing, we’d all need a personal cop to keep us in line if it were. The depersonalizations of modern life, led by corporatists and sophist political operators, are where I ascribe blame. Somebody else’s problem is all of our problem in tight quarters like New York City. Where things have gone to hell in a hand basket is precisely between our ears, and I have no idea what Superman would do with that.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 