Archive for the ‘Queens’ Category
dangerous aggregation
Single shoes, everywhere.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently observed, a midden in Maspeth on a street called Rust.
Variegated, the pile bore evidence of disregard for both the sanitary disposal of litter on the part of the populace and the indifference of municipal authorities in Queens to the borough’s native art form- illegal dumping.
My interest in the phenomena of the single shoe was piqued when it was noticed that were in fact 4 different shoes in this pile, none of which matched.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Classy, these pumps were at the far right of the pile, which was well on its way to providing a subject to explore for the doctorate of some future archaeologist. An odd thing, the presence of a soda can redeemable for its deposit was present, despite the attentions of the armies of bottle collectors who patrol the streets of Queens during the nocturne.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A castaway doll, somehow menacing in aspect, was incorporated into the midden. I suspect that this was a Barbie doll when purchased, but one such as myself is unfamiliar with such injection molded toys for children.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A white and gold ladies shoe, sporting a prodigious heel and open toes, lay alongside a slightly more sensible choice for one walking about the industrial corridor which adjoins that cataract of squalid reputation which is known to modernity as the Newtown Creek.
Prior discussion of the single shoe phenomena can be inspected here, here, here, and here.
Want to see something cool? Upcoming Walking Tours
Modern Corridor– Saturday, July 13, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
any limit
Do you smell that?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Waiting for a train, and I mean a specific train of a certain line rather than just whatever might be headed toward Manhattan, entails acceptance of the fact that one must endure several pneumatic blasts of powderized rat droppings carried in the slipstream of more frequently serviced lines.
Mold, bacterial specie, and fumes generated by decaying electrical switches (as well as other more esoteric bits of equipment) are also incorporated in this refreshing torrent of miasma. Welcomed, as the static mass of air down under Broadway in Astoria (and in the subway system citywide) is a concatenation of horrors, an unmoving and highly humid jelly of stink and reprobate contamination which is at least set into a sort of motion by the action of piston leaving concrete cylinder which one might describe as a breeze.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The gentleman in the shot above noticed, as did I, certain queer movements down upon the tracks as some squamous army marched about in the fetid trickles of sewage running and pooling about in the intervals betwixt the train propelled clouds of pneumatically driven stink.
A plague of rats has tormented the neighborhood found between the Steinway and 46th street stops along Broadway for several months now, conditions accelerated and excaberated by the phenomena which is derogatorily referred to as “Bloomblight” by area wags. Named for the current Mayor, the term refers to a building lot which has been cleared of structures but has been left as an open pit while awaiting building development, in complete disregard for the safety and domestic tranquility of existing residents. Two such plots have lain open on Broadway, between the two stops, for quite awhile.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Puff after puff of vomitous stink and poisonous air follow these trains and bathe riders in contaminant particulates- and between these arrivals and departures- one is treated to a different sort of commute- that which is enacted by the nightbreed rodents.
One wonders if this vermin habitation and community, whose true size is seldom glimpsed or only ever hinted at, marches to and from Manhattan on a daily schedule as we do? Do they have some potentate there, as we do, to whom allegiance is expected? Are there rats who stay local, proclaiming the glories of their outer borough and quite subterranean lair, as we do? Do they brag about the quality and diversity of restaurant garbage in Queens?
Is there a rat 311 which they can call to complain of traps and poisons?
After all, lords and ladies, as above so below- and who can guess, all there is, that might be buried down there?
Want to see something cool? Upcoming Walking Tours
Modern Corridor– Saturday, July 13, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
forced economies
Today, we pass through a crossroad.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the things I find endlessly fascinating about Western Queens is the juxtapose between at least three different urban planning schemes and where they overlie each other. Of course, the term Urban Planning is seldom found prior to the 20th century, so modern bias interferes with understanding the why’s of where. Also, everything has been so extensively built and rebuilt over the years…
The oldest one wasn’t really planned, rather its where the colonials and farmers of Newtown laid down roads like Greenpoint Avenue or Thomson Avenue, which were literally means to an end- a way to move from point a to point b which took into account and diverted around natural features like hills and streams.
Overlaid on these atavist lanes is an industrial era grid, Skillman and Borden Avenues comes to mind. Hold overs from the locomotive city of the late 19th century- which favored long arcs and subtly graded streets wide enough to carry a street car or in some cases a full on steam locomotive.
Dross 20th century engineering was applied to the most modern layer, such as where Queens Blvd. originates at Thomson Avenue or where Greenpoint Avenue transmogrifies into Roosevelt Avenue at its intersection with Queens Blvd. The modern layer was designed to carry the automotive and mass transit city forward and which is pictured in the shot above. The latter two are definitively hostile to pedestrian activity, but the way.
each attempt
An abbreviated post today on underground difficulties.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has been oft mentioned in the past, a humble narrator is no fan of being on the Subway. A necessary evil for transiting to and tithing for the Shining City of Manhattan, I usually spend my time on the train doing my level best to avoid anyone else’s gaze and playing around with settings on my camera. It is surprisingly difficult to get an ok shot down there. The light is very odd, the environment is somewhat hostile- always a study in extremes, and the place is absolutely infested with humans.
walked abroad
Another industrial corridor, just another day in Queens.
-photo by Mitch Waxman
Clinging to queer ideations about the storied past, and to the ceramic bricks of the former Swingline factory on Skillman Avenue one fine and recent morning, your humble narrator began to accept the fact that he’s been working too hard. For the last several weeks, I’ve been up at sunrise, not going to bed until well after midnight, and the intervening hours have been more or less filled with various projects, deadlines, and curtailed wanderings. Additionally, chaos and argumentative situations have colored my perceptions.
-photo by Mitch Waxman
Unlike certain others, my “busy time” of the year is during the summer, with nearly every weekend bringing another walking tour to conduct. The usual schedule of meetings, along with institutional obligations along the Creek and the larger Harbor, have kept me busy in the evenings. Suffice to say that my game is a purely reactive one at the moment, as I stumble from place to place and show up “a day late and a dollar short.” This is a somewhat untenable situation, and an enormous backlog of tasks gets a bit longer every day.
-photo by Mitch Waxman
Accordingly, for the rest of this week, a series of short postings will follow this one. Its the holiday thing, I guess, and strong desires to fire up the BBQ and drink a beer rule the day. One would also enjoy just sitting in a dark room while staring at a blank wall for just a little bit. Time to regroup, regathering, refocus. It’ll be short posts through the holiday weekend, lords and ladies, as I try to take little break and catch up on what I should be doing instead.
