Archive for the ‘Staten Island Ferry’ Category
undying roses
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the 16th of March, a humble narrator didn’t have much to do, so off to the ferries did I go. It was a beautiful day, and after boarding an NYC Ferry destined to dock at the Pier 11 Wall Street stop, one got busy with the camera.
I was thinking about absent friends, and the path which I used to inhabit with them along these waterways.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ghosts… Bernie Ente, and John Doswell, and John Skelson, and… suffice to say that there’s a reason why sentimental reminiscing is on the menu for me at the moment. Why I’m visiting all the familiar places.
Don’t worry, my health is fine, I’m just not ready to talk in this space about what’s coming down the line.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The East River corridor happened to be busy and well occupied with maritime industrial operations on this leg of my travels, around the greatest city that the world has ever seen.
Once I arrived at Manhattan’s Pier 11, a quick walk found me at the Whitehall Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry, which I then boarded. It has been a while since I went to… Staten Island…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the roughly 30 minute trip across the harbor, on the big orange boat, we were escorted by a United States Coast Guard SAFE boat crew armed with a high caliber machine gun mounted on the bow.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After debarking the big orange boat in the St. George section of… Staten Island… an hour or so was spent cataloguing passing maritime industrial traffic like the tug and barge combos pictured above and below.
This fits under the category of what I consider to be “good, wholesome fun.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My plan for returning to Queens involved an entirely different route than the one employed via the big orange boat.
More on that tomorrow.
“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.
spider like
Wednesday, yo.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Do you have a favorite Staten Island Ferry model? I do, and it’s the John F. Kennedy. It’s not the newest, or the largest, but it is the oldest model in the fleet of big orange boats and the last of its class still being used. This baby has been on duty since 1965. It’s the one with wooden benches and the large outdoor balconies. Such a cool boat.
Before you ask… again… it doesn’t matter how big the thing is. The difference between a ship and a boat is that a ship can launch a boat and a boat can’t launch a ship or a boat. Rowboats, emergency boats and inflatable duckies don’t count in this distinction.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the route back to Manhattan, a trip which is about thirty minutes long, the Reinauer Towing tug pictured above caught my eye. You’ll often spot articulated Tug and Barge combos “parked” off the coast of South Brooklyn. The fuel barge is riding pretty high up so it’s likely empty of product. The parked tugs are waiting for their turn at a pier which connects to a tank farm of refined petroleum products, with that pier likely found along the Kill Van Kull waterway separating Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey.
There are other distribution points, of course, but given the position the smart money is on Kill Van Kull.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After getting back onto Manhattan, one walked north a couple of blocks and boarded the Astoria bound NYC Ferry, which proceeded along the East River. A smaller tug with a different dance card was encountered along the way. Recyclable materials, of the sort which we citizens leave on the curb in clear or blue bags, were being barged south and the route carried them right under the Manhattan Bridge.
The horrific “Two Bridges” development, specifically the first of its 5 mirror faced luxury towers, was causing the afternoon sun to strobe down onto the water in a most uncomfortable fashion. Gauche.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 5th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
protean ideations
Tuesday, sis.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in yesterday’s installment, a pleasure seeking narrator found his way onto the Staten Island Ferry to slake his desire for fresh air, sunshine, and something interesting to photograph. Seldom does the big orange boat disappoint.
Upon my arrival on the southernmost extant of the municipal archipelago, the one named for a historic Dutch legislative body, a brief walk carried me down to the waterfront. One was able to observe “the show” offered by the working vessels of NYC’s maritime economy and actuate the camera’s shutter with wild abandon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tugs in today’s post are property fo the McAllister Towing operation.
The “colorway” or paint job which the various towing companies decorate their vessels with help to identify them at a distance, a necessity inherited from the days before wireless radio communications were possible or feasible. Today, each one of these tugs operating in NY Harbor are virtually small radio stations with onboard electronics packages that include multiple band radios and even transponders which report the GPS tracked position of them to the United States Coast Guard. That broadcast data is also reported by several public facing websites, which allow you to anticipate where and when a boat will be passing by.
I don’t do that, though. Serendipity is the sugar syrup of my days and nights.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After spending about an hour hanging around the …Staten Island… waterfront, I checked the time and realized that I’d want to reverse course and head back to Astoria sooner than later. Accordingly, one entered the Staten Island Ferry Terminal at St. George and boarded the big orange boat.
While the crew was preparing to debark the pier, a Staten Island bound ferry was coming in to dock. It was one of the gigantic and fairly modern Molinari class boats, specifically the Guy V. Molinari. The boat is named for the scion of modern day political bossdom and the founder of the First Family of Staten Island politics, former Borough President Guy Molinari.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 5th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
defied conjecture
Monday, bro.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A pleasant afternoon was achieved, again, when a humble narrator took to the water. One scuttled over to the NYC Ferry Dock here in Astoria, whereupon an uneventful and not too terribly photogenic journey southwards along the East River was accomplished. Upon arrival in Lower Manhattan, further perambulation carried one to the Staten Island Ferry terminal whereupon the giant orange boat was boarded. The southern terminus of the pentateuch archipelago of NYC was now in reach, and all told I was only out $2.75.
Along the way, the Vane Bros. Patuxent Tug was spotted towing a fuel barge on an extremely long line, as it passed by the Statue of Liberty.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The smarter gulls – obviously the ones from Brooklyn – land on the Staten Island ferry deck and hitch a ride, whilst the more athletic or less intelligent ones fly into and work the slipstream of the big orange boats as they ply betwixt Manhattan and… Staten Island…
Long practiced, this particular round trip excursion of mine is one of the few remaining activities that I actually enjoy. My preference is to stand on the stern of the ferry, as the bow end is typically crowded with tourists. No tourists right now, of course, but old habits die hard. Habit is also how I almost missed taking the third shot in today’s post. Also, technically, speaking the SI Ferries do have a bow and a stern, but their design sort of obfuscates that fact.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It seems that the ferry I was riding was one of the smaller/older ones which have huge bay windows on their central cabin decks. It also seems that, due to the pandemic, the ferry crews are running the service with these bay windows flung wide open to provide ventilation. What that meant for this wandering photographer was the shot above, depicting one of the massive Molinari class Staten Island Ferries sitting at dock and awaiting duty. You normally would have to struggle to find an unoccluded view of this particular wonder, so hooray for COVID.
See, you find the good in the bad. That’s called optimism, and it’s the NYC way.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 5th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
dread aperture
Kitty!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m continuing my little summer vacation this week, which actually hasn’t been much of a vacation – truth be told. A couple of projects have landed on my desk, which is good, as my landlord likes it when I pay my rent. Bad, however, as I really just wanted to go out and aimlessly wander around Queens and have some fun for once. There you are. Being busy is a problem you actually want to have.
Single images will be found here, refreshed daily, until Monday the 26th when I’ll resume my complaining and kvetching.
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 