Archive for the ‘Subway’ Category
evidently achieved
Ain’t Queens cool?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The views available from the IRT Flushing, or 7 Line subway, tracks along Queens Blvd. never fail to impress. The three shots in today’s post were captured at the 40th Lowery stop in Sunnyside one recent late afternoon/early evening. One was returning to the neighborhood from some adventure and I had decided that rather than transferring to R line in Jackson Heights, which comes quite a bit closer to HQ than the 7 does, I’d instead take the train to somewhere photogenic and then walk home instead. This is one of my little habits, and guilty pleasures.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve always loved the telephoto possibilities along the 7, as there aren’t all that many spots along the elevated lines where you can capture an entire train in one picture. In recent weeks, as mentioned in prior posts, a humble narrator has been beset by obligation and I haven’t had too many chances to say “cool” about the various sights which have rolled in front of the daily grind.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is fairly shattered – physically – today by yesterday’s Newtown Creekathon, which saw me guiding and narrating a walking tour of the entire Newtown Creek. It’s the shouting, ultimately, which exhausts. Couple that with the multiple miles crossed, and I found myself passing out on the couch in the early evening yesterday. At some point, one must’ve found his way into the bed, but a clear memory of moving from one set of cushions to the next doesn’t exist.
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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.
nightmare ghouls
A little bit of housekeeping.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
First off, I think I’ve conquered the fortress and can stop taking pictures of the Q104 bus on Astoria’s Broadway after the shot above. Nailed! Secondly, the profusion of advertising that’s appeared of late at Newtown Pentacle has absolutely nothing to do with me, rather it’s WordPress (which hosts and provides the tech underpinnings) which is both inserting and profiting off your attentions. It’s something that I’m going to have to deal with, but nothing profound is going to occur before June.
As I’ve mentioned, the week of June 6th will mark the tenth year of publication at Newtown Pentacle. I’m early planning a couple of things to celebrate, but then again I’m not really the celebration type. I’m more of the “tear your clothing and throw ash on your face type,” really.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For an interminable number of recent weeks, one has been involved with a series of “have to’s” that have taken me away from contemplation of the existential miseries, logical fallacies, and quirky historical commentary which I enjoy so much. It’s also really gotten in the way of the camera work. A lot of recent shots have been caught on the fly, as I move from one “have to” to another. Luckily, Queens is visually interesting and there’s always something to see that’s worth clicking the shutter over.
Now, if it ever stops raining…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This past weekend, I actually got to attend somebody else’s event and learn a thing or two. Luckily, that interval occurred in between sessions of rain, so one didn’t get soaked to the skin in the process. In the meantime, however…
I’ll be doing a book signing and slideshow tomorrow night in Greenpoint to support my new “In the Shadows at Newtown Creek” publication, and this weekend on Sunday the third annual Newtown Creekathon will be conducted. Come with? Links below.
“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.
Events!
Slideshow and book signing, April 23rd, 6-8 p.m.
Join Newtown Creek Alliance at 520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a slideshow, talk, and book signing and see what the incredible landscape of Newtown Creek looks like when the sun goes down with Mitch Waxman. The event is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP here. Light refreshments served.
The Third Annual, All Day, 100% Toxic, Newtown Creekathon. April 28th.
The Creekathon will start at Hunter’s Point South in LIC, and end at the Kingsland Wildflowers rooftop in Greenpoint. It will swing through the neighborhoods of LIC, Blissville, Maspeth, Ridgewood, East Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Greenpoint, visiting the numerous bridges that traverse the Creek. While we encourage folks to join us for the full adventure, attendees are welcome to join and depart as they wish. A full route map and logistics are forthcoming.This is an all day event. Your guides on this 12+ mile trek will be Mitch Waxman and Will Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance, and some of their amazing friends will likely show up along the way.
unmistakable replacement
Truth tellers of the Subway!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Occasion found me riding on the redoubtable IRT Flushing line recently, whereupon an older fellow noticed my camera and commented that I was an intelligence agent. I held my fingers up to my lips and made a shush sound, saying that the Russians were watching and asked him not to blow my cover. Once the train got under way, he took up position mid car and began a staggeringly well rehearsed speech about the Peoples Republic of China’s domestic security operations. What made this fellow stand out in my mind was – and I should mention that I’ve read a bit about how they handle dissent over there in the Middle Kingdom – was that he got a lot of it right. Names of the various agencies, location of reeducation centers and prisons… it’s scary when the paranoids are actually right about something.
He then began to opine that babies are traps set by female intelligence agents designed to snare unsuspecting males into child support servitude… but his info on the Chinese internal security system actually sounded fairly solid – and jibed with my admittedly limited knowledge of the subject. Maybe I’m destined to become one of those guys in my old age, the ones who carry a bunch of shopping bags and proclaim the truth of our times loudly to strangers on the 7 train.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given the headlines in recent years, it’s hard not to believe any claim – no matter how wild it is. We seem to have abandoned evidence and data based thinking as a culture these days. Not too long ago, I called up my buddy Kevin from Forgotten-NY to discuss a couple of things and during our chat I opined that if he told that “a flying jelly candy horse” was spotted over Bayside I’d have to believe it since anything seems possible at the moment. I suggest you hit YouTube at some point and search for “Flat Earth” if you want to see what I mean, as far as the abandonment of evidence and data based decision making.
Back in high school and college, as my friends and I would engage in long conversations trying to figure the world out, we’d always apply Occam’s Razor (the simplest explanation is usually true) to any crazy story we came across. My answer to 911 conspiracy theorists has always been to remind them of every other thing which the George W. Bush White House tried to pull off, and ask if there was any indication that the same people who brought you the Federal response to Hurricane Katrina and the 2003 invasion of Iraq had it in them to pull off an absolutely perfect “false flag” operation. I then remind them of the complexities involved in arranging for six people to meet up for lunch at a diner on a Saturday afternoon (there’s always a Vegan to account for, and someone named Sharon who’s always late).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I don’t encounter the same sort of crazy on the IND lines, downstairs as it were, in the subways. The E/R/M lines are plagued by women doing the “Gypsy baby” routine, those acrobatic dancer kids, and the freaking mariachis. They’re all just grifting or busking though, and trying to earn a living. The Chinese conspiracy guy on the 7 line was highly entertaining, to me at least, and made my $2.75 fare a gladly spent trifle.
Here are three of my paranoid wonderings;
The woman who calls herself Britney Spears currently performing in Las Vegas is a lookalike double. The real Britney Spears is being held prisoner by her managers in a Nevada mental asylum. #freebritney.
The plastic or metal tips on your shoelaces are called aglets. Their purpose is sinister. #thetruthwillcomeout
Given the relative scale of the Gummi Bear to the Gummi Worm, it’s obvious that the Gummi universe is actually based on the Dune universe, with the Bears being the Freemen and the Gummi Worm representing the sandworm Shai Halud. #thesleeperwillawaken
Repent!
“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.
recent letters
A day late, and a dollar short.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sorry for the single image today, a humble narrator’s scheduling got the best of him and that’s why you’ve got a shot of the 4 entering 59th/Lex instead of a proper post today. Back Monday with some of the interesting stuff I saw while riding the new Soundview Line of the NYC Ferry last week.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
resonant tones
Merry merry.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is taking this week and the first half of next off, so singular images will be greeting you through the week. Have a joylessly laconic Festivus, a Merry Christmas, and a Kwazy Kwanzaa.
Be back on the 27th to finish up the year at this. your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 