Archive for the ‘Queens’ Category
falsetto panic
A few more archive shots, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As one hasn’t had anything particularly interesting going on for the last couple of weeks, or at least “interesting” visually speaking, so a humble narrator finds himself a bit short on content for the moment. Luckily, a great deal of time was spent during the cold months of this and last year scuttling about Long Island City in the dark of night and making with the camera clicking.
I’ve always thought the accidental compositions left behind by the workers of NYC are incredible looking, the middens of waste left behind by industrial labor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above was gathered one night when I was photographing the neighborhood which the City and State intended for the habitation of Amazon’s HQ2 project. Those of us who live in Western Queens are not surprised or shocked by such sights. The dearest secret kept away from potential customers by the Real Estate crowd relates back to the tremulous state of the centuried municipal infrastructure underlying the shiny new tower apartment buildings.
“Writus Postus Interruptus” occurred right here, at about 12:15 a.m.
So, as I was sitting and writing the above drivel last night, a sudden screeching of breaks and THUMPF broke into my reverie at about 12:05 a.m.. Didn’t see it, but when I stuck my head out to see what happened, a bike rider had been struck by a pickup truck on my corner. The bike guy was laying in the street and screaming at the driver. Always a good citizen, a humble narrator initiated a 911 call.
By the time that the operator was about to dispatch help, the bike rider had recovered and was preparing to ride away. I reported this to the operator, who told me that “we can’t cancel a call once it’s started.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The consequence of me being a good samaritan involved then receiving multiple phone calls from various emergency services – first from onboard a fire truck, then about ten minutes later from an ambulance. About two hours later, my phone rings – at 1:48 a.m., and it’s the cops, whose response time to this was an hour and forty three minutes. Had to spend a good fifteen minutes on the phone with the officer explaining the above, and being a cop he made me go back into the story at different starting points to ascertain whether or not it was a made up story or it really happened.
Sheesh, try to do the right thing and next thing you know the cops have you up until two in the morning. My delicate equilibrium upset, didn’t get to bed until the wee hours, and I was so distracted by the encounter that I didn’t get today’s post done until just now.
Long story short, infrastructure of all kinds – including emergency response – is stretched paper thin here in Queens.
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Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
feebly leaped
A few archive shots today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Meetings, have to’s, places to be and toes to break – these things affect us all and no one more so than I. Accordingly, a few archive shots are on offer today whilst one awaits the Götterdämmerung thunderstorm on schedule for this afternoon.
Pictured above and below are Flushing Bay, as captured one very cold night back in January of this year. In all actuality, the shot above actually depicts the intersection of Flushing Bay with Flushing Creek, but why get all technical?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All of this rain has caused an absolutely horrible consequence for the inland waterways of NYC, or so I’m led to believe by my friends who participate in the Citizen Science water testing program who have spoken of off the chart levels of sewage bacteria in their samples. The metric which is generally accepted by those in the know is that the Combined Sewer System can begin releasing untreated waste water into the harbor due to a tenth of an inch of rain falling on the City. A quarter inch of rain translates into a billion gallons of water entering the system, and virtually guarantees that the overage will start flowing into area waterways. Pictured above, you can see a containment boom surrounding one of the outfall pipes that empties into Flushing Bay.
Prior to today’s storm, the City has received 6.85 inches of rain just in July of 2019. Using the quarter inch equals a billion gallons equation, the City has had to deal with an extra 27.4 billion gallons of storm water just in the last month, which is on top of the normal wastewater flow coming from homes and businesses.
Bubble bubble, toil and trouble, indeed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Way on the other side of Queens, nearby Queens Plaza in LIC, you’ll find the Queensboro Bridge and the elevated tracks of the 7 line. Neither one of these structures has a drainage system directly feeding into the sewer system, instead, multi story tall pipes carry storm water and whatever else might get washed off the tracks or roadway down to street level where the water is expected to find its way to a sewer grate.
They look pretty, at least.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
horrible yelps
You see things in Astoria, Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As predicate – two things; The first is that the Transportation Alternatives Bike Lane people never mention Unicycles in their agitprop for expanding the bike lane network. The second is that last Friday, an old friend was in town and I made it a point of getting to the local bar early to grab a choice outside table in the shade.
I wasn’t there five minutes before the fellow pictured above came rolling past.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I knew a guy in High School who rode a unicycle, but it was the smaller kind that circus clowns are known to frequent. The following series of shots are rare vertical format ones (rare for this publication, at least) as this specimen from Astoria put its rider’s center of gravity at least six to seven feet up from the pavement.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fellow was doing a bit of a dance as he rode the thing, throwing his arms about in a somewhat comical fashion to maintain balance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The best part of experiencing this was that he had a bluetooth speaker somewhere on his person, and he was loudly playing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album while riding.
Specifically speaking, it was the song “Thriller.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I look forward to the day when the bike people begin advocating for Unicycles. #carnage? Someday, my friends, someday.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Thrillercycle continued eastwards along Broadway in the direction of Woodside.
The first few people who had arrived at the bar for the gathering and I all looked at each other all quizzical like. Somebody asked “you saw that too, right”?
Yes, yes I did.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
moss grown
When you hear the sound of three dogs barking…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A single night shot today, gathered at the Kosciuszcko Bridge job site a few months back. Two walking tours this week, accomplished with a broken toe attained on the first, so the second was a bit of limping tour but I didn’t let the group know about my situation until the very end up on the Pulaski Bridge. Pain and I are old friends, so we know how to coexist with one another.
Looking forward to a nice summer weekend, me, and I’ll be back Monday at this – your Newtown Pentacle – with a heartier meal for your hungry eyes.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
dissecting room
This little piggie went to the urgent care?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Somehow, a humble narrator broke a toe last night while conducting a tour of Newtown Creek. No crack or pop was sensed, but upon returning to HQ, the sort of purplish red bruise one associates with a broken bone was present, and this morning the spreading hematoma flower on my left foot confirms it. Of course, that means that tonight’s walking tour will be very interesting indeed. Not too much you can do for a busted toe, I’d mention, you just use tape and splint it up to the one next to it.
Luckily, it’s a minor toe, and is basically the Delaware or Luxembourg of the foot. Sigh… I’m just falling apart these days, a delicate flower lost in the concrete devastations of Western Queens and North Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, one has always had the ability to psychologically isolate pain and “put it in my pocket” when it’s inconvenient, with the notable exception of dental issues. Can’t escape from tooth and mouth problems, they’re wired too closely to the brain. A life of disappointment, resentfulness, and emotional tumult coupled with an all too human physique which often lets me down has also caused one to actively cultivate “anhedonia” – a bodily and emotional numbness – as a defense mechanism.
Anhedonia keeps you even in an ever changing and often hazard rich world, I tell ya.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The good news is that the toe doesn’t hurt much at all. It just feels like I’ve got something stuck to it, due to the swelling. The bruise looks awful, but is pretty cool actually, as far as internal bleeding goes. Let’s see what happens to old Mitch today…
Maybe one of my ears will just fall right off, or a pinky finger will spontaneously combust. Take a guess. There’s still some spaces open for tonight’s Greenpoint Walking Limping Tour available, so for those of you who enjoy watching me suffer – a value add on the ticket price.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Tours and Events
Thursday, July 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Greenpoint Walking Tour w NYCH20
Explore Greenpoint’s post industrial landscape and waterfront with Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman.
Click here for ticketing and more information.
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 