Uptown, or the Bluff?
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ignorance regarding the new habitat is admitted, but often feels suffocating. This is coming from the guy who used to conduct walking tours in NYC and would proudly stand on the county line delineating the currently undefended border of Queens and Brooklyn and say ‘welcome to…’
I have no idea where the lines are found which form the borders between Pittsburgh’s various zones and neighborhoods, nor which areas are war zones. More than once, I’ve described where I had been that day to some bartender or new neighbor that are local to Pittsburgh and they’ll say “you went where? Stay out of there, they’ll shoot you dead, that’s…”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told that over the years… at any rate, the area I was moving through in the case of today’s missive abuts Duquesne University, so I felt pretty ok about scuttling through – personal security wise. Duquesne is a Roman Catholic college which is perched on a particularly dramatic chunk of land that overlooks the Monongahela River, and is located a bit eastwards of the peninsular landform that ultimately becomes Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rough path I had laid out for myself the night before indicated that I’d need to cut across Duquesne’s campus to get where I was going. Luckily, the streets that flow through the campus are public ones and it was ok for me to do so. There’s a lot of ‘old’ buildings nearby Duquesne, clearly left overs of the mercantile and industrial eras. The building stock looks a lot like the sort of thing you’d encounter in Lower Manhattan on the west side of Canal Street.
Nature called, but unlike Manhattan, you don’t need to pee in the street like a dog in Pittsburgh. I stopped off at a restaurant and asked if I could use the bathroom. The kid at the counter looked at me like I was crazy and said ‘sure, it’s right there sir.’ On my way back out I dropped a few coins in the tips jar and said thanks.
Imagine that… you can find a bathroom when you need to.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ground began to angle upwards as I headed towards the campus’ street grid. I kept on thinking about how my old pal Kevin Walsh from Forgotten-NY would be in absolute heaven wandering about this area with its stock of centuried buildings.
I was heading straight up the hill towards the titular edge of the landform, however, and didn’t have time for the ‘used to be, once, long ago’ thought process. Back tomorrow with where I was going and what I saw when I got there, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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Moor, moor, moor
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Really, one of the great things about the process of producing this site is the constant learning process it requires. I had no idea that a Catholic Saint called ‘St. Benedict the Moor’ existed prior to having walked past a church dedicated to him in Pittsburgh. That’s where the learning process starts.
It seems that this particular saint is the patron saint of African Americans, dark skinned peoples of African descent globally, and the island of Sicily in particular. I’ve also recently learned that Rome is mid step through the process of beatifying a new Saint whose domain will be the internet, and whose ritual dress representation in iconography will involve wearing a track suit. Say what you want about the Catholics, but they do keep up with the times, somewhat. Can’t wait to see what they do with AI.
Me? I was on my way somewhere else, scuttling up and down the hills and valleys of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it turns out, the church pictured above is the center of St. Benedict the Moor Parish. It’s a short walk away from the Epiphany Church described yesterday, but unlike Epiphany – the door at St. Benedict the Moor wasn’t open so my Vampire rule demanded I keep scuttling. Regardless, I was on my way to somewhere else anyway.
One had taken the light rail into ‘town,’ and whereas I had a fairly loose plan as far as getting from “A to B,” plenty of time for serendipity to strike was planned in. The thing about Pittsburgh is that you have to have some sort of plan when you leave HQ. It ain’t like New York where you burn out five to ten miles of linear walking, secure in the knowledge that there’ll be a subway nearby to carry you back.
There’s a fairly extensive network of bus based transit here, but truth be told – in these first six months in Pittsburgh I haven’t ridden the bus yet. Yes, it’s been six months since I left NYC, as of this week.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s been something that I’ve wanted to do since my very first Amtrak trip out here back in 2021, and on this particular walkabout it was my stated goal to scratch that itch. It was one of those rare days in Pittsburgh when you get a clear blue sky, with perfect spring weather.
I had geared up in a light manner, leaving the tripod and other camera frammistats at home. I had three lenses with me, a couple of extra camera batteries, and I was wearing my Staten Island Pizza Rats baseball cap. It was in the middle 60’s, temperature wise. Sweatshirt weather is my favorite kind of weather.
More tomorrow.
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An Epiphany
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… you know how I always mention the ‘vampire rule’ which I religiously follow? The one about needing an invitation to do my thing? Well, under the prevailing interpretation of Vampire law in these United States, an open door is a literal invitation. Imagine the cacodaemonic joy that arose within a humble narrator’s breast upon noticing that the entryway door to the lovely church, pictured above, was propped open. It was everything I could do not to transmogrify into a cloud of bats and chaotically fly in there.
That’s the 1902 vintage Church of the Epiphany Catholic Church, designed by architect Edward Stotz, with interiors by John T. Comes. It’s a landmark! Really, I took a picture of the sign. I’ve seen several contradictory descriptions for the section of Pittsburgh I was walking through – Uptown, The Bluff, or The Hill District. Still quite new to this region, I don’t know where one neighborhood starts and another one ends. Perhaps I was at a locus point twixt the three.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One scuttled through the door, and then into the main chapel area. I didn’t linger, as the vampire way calls for one to get in for a quick snack, and then depart in surreptitious fashion. The lights within the building were not on, or perhaps they had dimmed because of my presence… who can say? The Church of the Epiphany’s website offers a detailed history of Epiphany Parish and the structure itself, naming the muralists and stained glass crafts people – check it out here. Really, really nice sacred space this.
As mentioned in the past, despite my Judaic upbringing and heritage, I’ve got a real appreciation for Roman Catholic architecture and iconography. Part of this is due to the fact that my Dad worked for the Archdiocese of New York, at the New York Foundling Hospital in Manhattan for over thirty years, and thereby I spent a bunch of time as a kid in proximity to the Sisters of Mercy and the Jesuits. As an adult, whenever I’ve had a chance to point my lens at a Catholic Church or cemetery I’ve taken it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in one of the corners, there was a display which was likely Easter related, but my initial reaction to it was “somebody must be a Star Wars fan.” “Look it that – they got Statues of three Jedi, but they’ve got the color wrong on the Baby Yoda one.” Right after thinking that, the filthy black raincoat was suddenly filled by a man shaped pyramid of rats. All of my constituent parts then scuttled back onto the street where a reassembly into the normal simulacra would be accomplished. Two particularly large rodents carried the camera, if you’re curious.
Note: I, of course, realize that those aren’t statues of Jedi Knights nor is the little one Baby Yoda. It should also go without saying that my experience of leaving the church building didn’t exactly play out like this, but it’s not far from what happened.
Back tomorrow.
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Odds and Ends
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few odds and ends photos which didn’t make it into the other posts this week are on offer today. The one above was captured at Fineview Overlook Park on the north side of Pittsburgh. This sort of image isn’t terribly exciting, but in terms of story telling you need ones like this. It’s an ‘establishing shot,’ used to create a sense of overall space. Whenever I’m at a point of elevation like the Fineview Overlook, I’ll crack out a dozen or so of these. The camera is up on the tripod and I’ll rotate the head 5 or 10 degrees in between shots. You never know when you’re going to need a photo with Allegheny General Hospital in the foreground and Downtown Pittsburgh in the background, after all.
Occasionally I’ll string a bunch of these sort of shots together into a panorama image, which I always struggle with as far as presentation. Oddly shaped, panorama images don’t always get along with ‘screens’ presentation terribly well.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In yesterday’s post, I was bitching about the pedestrian experience up on the surface streets above I-579 or ‘Crosstown Boulevard.’ This shot, and the one below, are part of a series which I’ve gotten on that road itself while stuck in some traffic jam which finds the Mobile Oppression Platform (the Toyota) at a complete stop and I stick the camera up through the moon roof. I don’t know why they call it a moon rather than sun roof, but that’s what they call it. If you look at the third shot in yesterday’s post, the one with highway traffic shooting out from under an overpass, this is the opposite point of view as it’s the same overpass.
For an infrastructure geek like me, Pittsburgh is the promised land. What’s truly amazing to me are that Panhandlers are regularly spotted here with ‘help me’ signage, walking along on the roadway’s very narrow shoulder. Traffic law here says 40 mph is the speed limit, but as I’ve mentioned a few times – the Pittsburghers drive FAST. 40 mph is treated as a starting point locally, and I’ve had people shoot past me at 80 in this stretch.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Massing shapes, that’s how I refer to structures like that ramp above. 579 interchanges with a far larger, faster, and busier route called I-576 nearby this spot. Getting the flow of traffic over hill and dale is no small feat in the sort of terrain offered by Pittsburgh with its river valleys and steep hills and bluffs. Ramps like that one are observed flying about in all directions.
There is signage posted at certain onramps forbidding entry to the road by non motorized vehicles. This confused me originally, because I couldn’t picture anyone on a bike or on foot wanting to be on the shoulder of a roadway with a 65 mph speed limit. I asked a guy at a bar one night about this, to which he simply replied “The Amish.”
Western Pennsylvania is fascinating. Come back next week for more, and please remember to like, subscribe, and share.
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Frogger
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A decidedly nice Spring afternoon drew me out for a walk in another section of Pittsburgh which I hadn’t been to yet on foot. This route found me leaving the car at home and taking the T Light Rail into town. I’ve mentioned my fascination with the arcs and massing shapes formed by the interstate highways which snake through Pittsburgh before, and wanted to get a closer look at them when I’m not moving at high speed while operating a vehicle.
This area is on the central peninsular section of Pittsburgh where ‘Downtown’ and most of the large office buildings are found, but it’s eastward of that. I had figured out a path that I wanted to walk which would culminate in seeing something I’ve been desirous of witnessing up close since my first solo Amtrak based trip here back in 2021.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s Interstate 579 or “Crosstown Boulevard” pictured above, looking towards Mount Washington, which the high speed road carries motorists and bicyclists or pedestrians to after crossing the Monongahela River via the Liberty Bridge.
This particular area has a controversial history, which includes Pittsburgh having made a colossal and costly mistake, one with serious racial undertones, and there seems to be quite a bit of new construction either fairly recently opened in this zone or is still underway. This section is all about ‘the car,’ and moving cars through it. The street grid crossing the highway is similarly all about ‘the car,’ and not the pedestrian. To analogize back to NYC, this is more or less what Robert Moses wanted to do to Manhattan’s 59th street back in the late 40’s.
I used to enjoy playing a video game called Frogger back in high school. It was the kind of game you played for a quarter, and the housing for the thing was a stand alone cabinet which was adorned with cigarette burns that – in my case – was found in a plywood shack set up on a patch of frozen mud on Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn at a mob owned news stand which also sold porn magazines, candy, and potato chips.
The point of the game was to guide your frog back and forth across a busy road without getting squished by traffic. I thought of Frogger a lot while walking along this path with its enormous and exposed intersections. There’s also a couple of spots where you cross the street at a highway off ramp. Scary pants.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Where I was heading would end up involving Duquesne University and a couple of interesting churches, but that’s next week’s series of posts. The good news I can report is that I managed to walk for a several hours across a corduroy terrain – up and down hills, in other words – and got there and back using mass transit. The other bit of good news is that I only had to check my phone once to double check I was heading in the right direction. I’m actually starting to learn my way around!
More tomorrow at this, your Newtown Pentacle. Also, please like and or share this post if you dig it, as that sort of thing really helps me out.
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The Newtown Pentacle 