Archive for the ‘Sunnyside Yards’ Category
day programme
Unpleasantries abound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While wandering home from Greenpoint on Sunday, a day wherein the climate suddenly flipped from rainy spring to high summer, a humble narrator was enjoying the existential hell of living in NYC. There are many days when, upon waking up in the great human hive, one can’t believe how amazing the place is. Last Sunday wasn’t one of them. Instead, it was one of those days where the antics of the assembly of humans just grated upon the nervous system. The douchebags doing wheelies on dirt bikes, the assholes throwing fast food garbage out of their car windows, the cock barons who think that the proper way to use an automotive horn is to hold it down steadily for several minutes at a pop while stuck in traffic.
I really need to get out of here for a couple of weeks, go somewhere nice and take a vacation in a place that I know nothing about and where I don’t know anyone.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One has grown weary of constant existential crisis, the “eye of sauron” outrage machine casting its gaze about, and the daily grind of “have to.” This is life, of course, but it often seems as if I get a lot more “life” than most. I desperately need to take some pics of something different, as well. Some “walden pond” kind of crapola, I guess. Of course, I’ll hate that too. Mosquitoes, gnats, mud. Everything sucks.
For the sake of all that’s holy, please don’t hit me up today for something I have that you want but don’t want to pay for. It’s a bad day, generosity wise.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Have I become the “prisoner of Skillman Avenue,” or consigned to just aimlessly wander the streets forever? Am I some sort of flying dutchman with a camera?
Apologies for the inner narrative being offered today, but it’s been a lousy last couple of weeks. One is unhappy, which is predicate to one getting angry. Once anger has set in, so too does motivation manifest. Right now, everything is gray and hopeless. Once I return to being furious and rebellious, which will likely be by Thursday or Friday, this glum mood will pass. Once more, unto the breech, huh? Home sweet hell, indeed.
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cyclopean vaulting
Another, in a seemingly infinite number of, Tuesday has arrived.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yesterday I mentioned my distaste for Western style men’s Formal Wear, i.e. a suit and tie. One refers to this setup as “Ritual Garb,” and my problem with it is one of practicality and comfort versus the dubious esthetic appeal it offers for some. One normally favors utilitarian clothing, and I have a stated preference for military surplus items as they offer both a plethora of pockets which have button or velcro closures, and are constructed of fabrics chosen for their rugged and tear resistant nature. Given the life I lead, and the places which I constantly find myself carrying the camera to, it’s a considered decision and I frankly don’t care about “how it looks.” That filthy black raincoat of mine has gotten me through several scraps due to its ruggose construction.
Pants or shorts wise, I’ve generally got six pockets to work with. Cash, a couple of sheets of paper kitchen towels (which come in handy as both snot rags and as absorbent wipes), a lens cloth singularly used for my spectacles, and a leather man pocket tool. Six.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The sweatshirt is where I really pack in the pockets, with a whopping 28 of them. I’ve long favored the Scott E Vest sweatshirt when I’m on camera duty. It’s got an internal zippered pocket for my phone that leads to sewn in wire traps for the headphones, secure pockets for metrocard and wallet, a springy stretch thingamabob for my keys that’s anchored into another pocket. You wouldn’t believe the amount of crap I can carry in this thing. When you’re a photographer, there’s all sorts of little bits and bobs you find yourself shlepping around. Knowing they’re secure and won’t fall – say, into Newtown Creek – when I’m dancing about is a real time saver and one less thing that gets in the way while out shooting. During hot weather, one favors a guayabera, or cuban style, shirt. The Cubans seem to have an understanding of both the need for pockets and the atmospherics in hot and humid climes.
So, what, I’m giving fashion advice now? Not at all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over the last decade, one of the questions people have asked me over and over is how I do what I do. Camera equipment, lens kit, and operational technique has been offered over the years in a somewhat staccato fashion. The same care which goes into the curation of the photographic tool box is also applied to everything touching me. My “every day carry” or EDC involves nearly fifty individual items (inside camera bag, on my person, etc.) which all have the potential of failing on me or getting lost when I’m in the middle or nowhere or on a boat or something. If the camera itself gets screwed up, well… there you are. The only thing you can really prepare for is staying organized.
Saying that; I’ve got an extra set of shoelaces with me at all times, a plastic garbage bag or two for waterproofing my bag in case it starts raining, a flashlight, a set of allen keys, etc. All told, it’s about ten and half pounds of crap I have on me when I leave the house fully kitted up. This really isn’t that much, photography wise, and it’s taken me a while (and a bunch of cash) to whittle it down to that number. My current tripod alone took two entire pounds off my back, which is what has made it possible for me to do all the night stuff in the last year and change.
The shots in today’s post weren’t tripod shots, as you probably surmised by how grainy they are. Instead, they were handheld shots with the lens wide open at f1.8.
“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.
chorused anguish
All the familiar places…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s really best for me to be by myself as much of the time as I can manage it, these days. I like to swipe the “do not disturb” or sometimes even the “airplane mode” button on my phone and drop off the digital planet for awhile. It gives me private time to ponder about what really might be running around in the woods surrounding the Chernobyl plant over in Ukraine, worry about Fukushima’s radiotropic fungi, and think about whether or not we’re accidentally terraforming the planet into the ideal environment for some race of sleeping elder gods who last saw the sun before the oceans had formed. Along my notifications free path, I take photos.
That’s the Sunnyside Yards in Queens pictured above, specifically a section of the facility which the Long Island Railroad is currently rebuilding. I think it’s connected to “East Side Access,” this construction, and they’re building a series of tracks for rolling stock to “dwell” in between rush hours.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Quixotic, that’s how I describe the current obsession which the City and its Economic Development Corporation has with building a deck over the yards to house a multitude. According to officialdom, their negotiations with Trump’s AMTRAK are continuing apace. They’ve hired an architect to oversee the planning over this largely Federally owned railyard, one who has worked with the Kushner Companies on several projects so he’s got a relationship, and besides he’s got this whole Ayn Rand mentality so he’s fits right in with EDC. They haven’t talked about who the money to build the thing will be borrowed from yet. The Hudson Yards project was supposedly financed via the Israeli Bond Market, which is a great place for shady international financiers to cleanse their money and hide it from the prying eyes of both the global public and their own respective governments. If you’re a Chinese Army General shaving a few bucks off the budget, or involved with risky trade in South American powders, and you need a place to hide the cash…
But I digress. What do I know about such matters, I’m just some schmuck with a camera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the particular afternoon these shots were gathered, one of the few in recent weeks where drenching rain hasn’t been falling from the sky, a humble narrator’s phone was in “do not disturb” mode and absolutely zero “LOL’s” or notifications of unimportant facts were coming my way. I did have my headphones in, and was re listening to Mike Duncan’s “History of Rome” podcast. Duncan offers an overview of Roman History, and resists the urge to get overly granular about this and that, which is a feather in his cap. For granularity, I prefer Dan Carlin’s massive “Hardcore History” undertakings.
“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.
recalcitrant subject
Just like a venereal disease, the Sunnyside Yards deck keeps on coming back.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Have to hand it to the NYC EDC. Like a career boxer, despite taking a whupping in their last trip to the ring (Amazon), they have laced the gloves back up and they’re back with another project that nobody in Western Queens wants to see happen – decking over the Sunnyside Yards to facilitate the dreams of avarice enjoyed by their sponsors in the Real Estate Industrial Complex. As you may have noticed, Long Island City doesn’t exactly need “fuel” to spur economic development hereabouts, as “growth” is occurring so rapidly and uncontrollably at the moment that one might describe it as a rapidly mestastasizing cancer instead.
To this end, which would be the construction of a residential Death Star on Northern Blvd., the EDC has announced that the second of their Potemkin Village Dog and Pony Shows will occur on the 26th of March. It’s a public meeting, so come with?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the second soirée for EDC. The first one was last year at LaGuardia Comunity College. They arranged for a significant number of the trade union members to show up, which created an intimidating environment for the actual community to voice up against the idea. Also, they seemingly invited the cast of extras who have been out of work since the Sopranos went off the air. Who wasn’t in the room? The bankers and insurance brokers who will leverage the City’s debt associated with this project, which will be tens (if not hundreds) of billions of your tax dollars, nor the Real Estate Titans, or the construction mega companies who will construct the deck like AECOM, Granite, or Skanska (who will carry their profits out of state and off of American soil).
The people working for EDC aren’t bad people by any means, incidentally. I would just point out that their track record sucks. Do you see a Ferris Wheel rising over Staten Island? Spend much time at the Brookyn Army Terminal, do you? Do you think Battery Park City just rocks? If you were for Amazon or against it, you can blame EDC for that one too.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Remember, this deck of theirs will rise a minimum of five stories from the current street elevations surrounding it. The top of the deck will become “ground zero” for dozens of luxury residential towers that will host about fifty thousand apartments. No new hospitals, police, or FDNY facilities are part of this plan. Will they dangle a new park in front of you like some cheap trollop as an enticement? Will they promise you local jobs (how many people in Western Queens are qualified to build a deck over a rail yard)? Will you fall for the bait and switch? EDC anticipates that rent in the neighborhoods surrounding the project would go up, rather than down, as they bring the new inventory on board. How does that work? Economic development doesn’t obey the law of supply and demand?
Ask EDC how they plan on getting the construction materials to the job site. Ask them if they will force MTA to upgrade its transit lines. Ask them where these fifty thousand toilets will flush to. Ask them where they live, and where they’re from.
Send them back to Manhattan, and back to their drawing boards.
“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.
cyclopean portent
Single shot today, from LIC.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Running a bit behind schedule today, and you lords and ladies suffer for it as a single shot from the Thomson Avenue Viaduct greets you today. This cold snap has absolutely shut my operation down in the last week, I tell you, and I’m hurting for new shots to show you. The good news is that next week promises to be more climatologically agreeable, and my schedule is packed with things to do that take place in interesting places, so…
Back 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 