Archive for the ‘Subway’ Category
moving outrageously
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The great thing about Astoria is that even on a day when you’re staying in, Queens brings the show right to your front door. The shot above is from May 22nd, when a largish protest group was moving through the neighborhood demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause. Luckily for me, I was able to shoot them going by from the comfort of an outdoor porch. Here’s the whole set of shots.
Before any of you get started on debating the Israel/Palestine thing… just don’t. I got kicked out of Jewish Summer Camp when I was 11 for my particular set of opinions (yes, I’ve always been like this) on this subject. Suffice to say that there’s a largish number of very poor people who have been stuck between a military death machine and an organized crime family since 1949. Everyone involved is both entirely right and utterly wrong. There is no solution, only intermittent cessation between slaughters. The Romans couldn’t fix this problem with crucifixions. The Turks couldn’t with literal flaying. There is no justice, there is no peace, never will be. End of conversation, as far as I’m concerned.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Memorial Day shot from Blissville, depicting current Queens Borough President Donovan Richards “speechifying.” There’s a tiny triangle park right at the corner of Van Dam/Greenpoint/Review Ave. dedicated to the memory of Sgt. Daniel Kish. If memory serves, Blissville’s Kish died at the battle of Guadalcanal during WW2. For many years, this memorial was looked after by a nearby American Legion Post, but that organization seems to have aged out and become defunct. The memorial is in poor condition, and Hurricane Sandy claimed the flag pole that used to be here, so City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer just allocated a sizable amount of cash to the Blissville Civic Association to spruce the memorial up and erect a new flagpole there. Jimmy did an event here on some random Thursday to announce the funding, but I couldn’t make that one.
Since this is election season, of course, and Jimmy Van Bramer is running for Borough President against the incumbent Mr. Richards… Holy smokes has the Kish triangle become a political hotbed. At the event which the shot above was captured at, another BP candidate – Liz Crowley – also showed up, as did City Council candidates Brent O’Leary, Julia Forman, Amit Bagga, Emily Sharpe, and there were several others who showed up as well. Here’s the whole set of shots from May 31, 2021.
Man, the amount of effort it takes to get these people to Newtown Creek when it’s not an election cycle… The following week, two other candidates – Jonathan Bailey and Stephen Ragga – did another event here. General consensus is that if the election was just about who has the best hair – Bailey wins. Here’s a few shots from that one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last, I was on the R heading to Jackson Heights to make a connection with the 7 so I could hit LIC before the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself slid behind New Jersey when I spotted this little fare dodger sitting on some dude’s shoulder.
Fun times in the ancient villages of Western Queens, I tell’s ya.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
local manifestation
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Well, you just had to figure that as soon as I was able to ride the trains again, y’all would be seeing multiple posts of trains here, huh? It has been a fairly nightmarish couple of weeks for a humble narrator, watching the world roll by while he’s been stuck in multiple holocausts of zoom meetings. Last week got gobbled up preparing for a virtual lecture on Dutch Kills for the Queens Public Library, which is online at the Queens Memory Project in case you’ve missed the dulcet sounds of my voice, followed by social obligations. After that, I got sucked into community board stuff.
Additionally, a little side project of mine for the last few months has been walking candidates for office in LIC around Newtown Creek and detailing problems or opportunities which the successor to Jimmy Van Bramer in the 26th council district will find landing on their plates. You very well might want to defund the cops, candidate, but you’re also going to have to form an opinion about a Federal Superfund site where 17,500 blue collar jobs can be either saved, magnified, or thrown away – in your potential district.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, Community Board breaks for the summer as do several of the various obligatory meetings for Newtown Creek. I’m actually heading up to the Empire State Building observatory this evening to do some shooting. One desires perspective, and when putting together the presentation for the Queens Library mentioned above I came to realize that all of the “top down” shots I’ve got of Newtown Creek have the old Koscisuzcko Bridge in them. Have to maintain the image library, me.
Additionally, as far as summer stuff goes, Our Lady of the Pentacle turned me on to a couple of great offers by Amtrak for regional rail travel. Might just take advantage of that, and take the camera out for a few day trips to the lesser Cities of North America.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Snap back answers are a big part of the current problem when discussing anything these days. So’s virtue signaling. Why do you have to have an opinion about everything?
Are you a racist? Probably not, but you’re a lying fool if you don’t admit to harboring prejudices. Are you an idiot? Probably not, but if you don’t offer that there are things you are completely ignorant about you are similarly a lying fool. There’s being a fool, and then there’s being sinister and weaponizing all of this current cultural bullshit going on for short term political gain. I’ve already seen “me too” weaponized.
As an example of weaponized politics, a casual friend of mine who is running for office in Flushing just got booted off his community board because the old guard thereabouts decided they didn’t like him or his opposition to a real estate mega project. This fellow is obviously East Asian in ancestry, but the specifics of his ethnicity never came up in the decade or so that I’ve known him. We mainly talk about food and transit, truth be told. As it turns out, he’s Korean, which I discovered on social media. This ethnicity thing became an issue since the specifics of race are very important to the anti racist lefties (dichotomy much?) who think that not building luxury condos is racist, and this fellow’s enemies – on the left – are accusing him of taking money from Pyongyang and acting as a Communist sleeper agent for North Korea. Wow.
Great thing about riding the trains again is having time to ponder, and think.
“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.
clamoured forms
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Riding the trains again, that’s me. As stated previously, I never thought I’d come to a juncture in my life where I missed riding the subways but I guess that’s what a fairly unprecedented public health emergency teaches a guy. The shot above, of course, wasn’t captured within the system. Instead I was scuttling down Skillman Avenue on my way to do a thing. I’m also “doing things” again. Had my very first live and in person meeting in the last 16 months just last week. Everybody in the room was vaxxed, naturally.
A humble narrator finds himself in a weird place these days. As I’ve mentioned to several people in the last month or so, I no longer have any tolerance whatsoever for other people’s bullshit. Used to be that I’d make excuses for you, or try to explain the many reasons why you’re justified acting like a walking/talking asshole. No more. No second chances. Piss me off just a little bit these days and it doesn’t matter how long we’ve known each other – you’re done. If you’re somebody I didn’t like all that much to start with… woof.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I find that the angst and anxiety I was experiencing throughout the pandemic has transformed into red hot anger. What the hell is wrong with you people? Are you all really this stupid and selfish? Those are questions which have been soundly answered, and the answer is “yes.”
Accordingly, my inclination is to say “Ok, no more Mr. Nice Guy,” and to stop pretending that I’m a better person than I actually am. Patience is no longer a virtue I exhibit. If there isn’t a payoff for being decent, I’ll just go the other way and get mine. Fuck y’all. This is an inclination which I’m currently struggling with.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While I’m trying to figure out how to quell all of the anger and disappointment I’m carrying around with me, I’m also trying to find a way forward which doesn’t involve me screaming at people at the top of my lungs about minor sleights and annoyances. Just this morning, I had to instruct my bagel guy to stop talking and just listen to my bagel shepherding instructions with an “I’M TALKING NOW, JUST LISTEN.” I apologized afterwards, and tipped him well for the affront, but holy smokes am I currently a lit fuse waiting to go off. Sorry Jose, wasn’t your fault.
Best thing, I think, is to solitarily hit the streets with the camera and lose myself in a few audiobooks. It’s been a while since I listened to “The Dunwich Horror” so I’m going to start trying to calm myself with a bit of my old pal Howie Lovecraft.
“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.
boughed orchard
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another evening walk in Long Island City. Pictured above is a 1915 built structure which has been dubbed as “The Point LIC” by its current owner. For much of the 20th century it was called the “Paragon Oil” building, but when it was built and opened it was called “The Subway Building” and the uppermost floor was – in fact – Queens Borough Hall during the tenure of BP Maurice Connolly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Given that I’m able to take the trains again, I’ve been doing so.
One of the things I missed during the pandemic was the ease and low cost of getting around using mass transit. I found myself forced into paying through the nose for ride share services whenever I wasn’t able to simply walk somewhere. I was able to justify the risk of coming into contact with one stranger, but couldn’t rectify the possibility of sharing an atmosphere with dozens of strangers at Covid’s high water marks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yup, still working on this shot.
Getting close. I’m only going to be satisfied when I hit a crimson and orange sky behind the train, but that’s just a matter of right place/right time. If you’re moving through Queens Plaza at anytime between 8:15 and 8:45 and you notice a deconstructed pile of old man waving a camera about in the direction of the Silvercup sign, that’s probably going to be me. Don’t say hello, I’ll only disappoint you in person, and you might be horrified.
I have that effect on people.
“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.
deadly sweetness
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I really cannot believe how much I missed this sort of sight over the last year and a half. I also cannot believe my luck in not contracting COVID, as so many people I know did, before the vaccinations became available. Luckily, most of the people in my inner circle who did become infected with the bug recovered, but there’s also a few people I know who didn’t survive the experience or who are suffering from the “long Covid” suite of symptoms. Plague is no fun, huh?
That’s the Manhattan bound IRT Flushing line 7 train entering Queens Plaza’s lower level tracks. On this particular day, one was feeling a bit tired and sore from a long walk the day before, so I opted to “ride the trains” since I had nowhere else to be or go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Still working on it.
Did you know that the purpose of the different colors painted on the steel structures of the transit infrastructure around Queens Plaza and the Queensboro Bridge is to clearly indicate which structure is which? This way some badly informed construction worker doesn’t accidentally torch their way through a support column for one of the bridge’s vehicle ramps while they’re intending to perform maintenance on the elevated subway tracks instead. Queens trivia!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My “ride the trains” shot list involves getting on and off the train at various stops and cracking out a few exposures. The one above was gathered after I had left the system and was walking down Queens Boulevard on my way back to HQ in Astoria.
I can’t resist most shots with the Empire State Building in a dominant position. Add in a sunset and a 7 train? Pfah.
“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.
The Newtown Pentacle 