the loved dead
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Sunday I fell in a hole…
Literally, a pothole on 49th street (which adjoins the hideous Maspeth Creek tributary of that answer to civilization known as the Newtown Creek) swallowed your humble narrator. Banged up a bit, an injury to the left knee punctured my skinvelope and the jury was out on whether or not a finger on the right hand might have been fractured. Of all the things that can go wrong or happen to you around the Newtown Creek, falling in a hole was absolutely the last thing I worried about.
Actually, I’ve worried a lot about falling into a hole at Calvary and Mt. Zion…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Monday my computer died.
The funeral montage for my newly deceased G5 plays unheralded in my mind. With me for quite a number of years, the Mac was a workhorse, and despite its steadily declining capabilities (it hadn’t been able to burn a DVD for years, and recently required replacement of several internal components) it never let me down. I remember the first time we went to the park together, the long nights working on freelance jobs… sigh. If you have a Windows based machine, you don’t understand this, but Mac owners develop a certain emotional bond with their gizmo and it is painful to part with it. Luckily, I salvaged the hard drive from it, and the soul of the beast was intact. So, off to the Apple store at 1AM, back home deeper in debt than ever. The good news is that the new Mac has been able to read everything, the “migration assistant” was able to transfer my files in a fairly seamless fashion, and I seem to be back in business.
Still, bad things are supposed to happen in threes, right?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Today, I’m living in fear of further possible torment and death.
Mental notes have been made to both back up the computer more often and to ensure sure footing before shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I saw a few interesting things on Sunday, which will be discussed in forthcoming postings of this- the winter session of your Newtown Pentacle.
Note:
The Newtown Creek Alliance meeting which was cancelled due to the recent ice storm on has been rescheduled for February 17th- here’s the details:
When: Thursday, February 17th, 6:30pm
Where: LaGuardia Community College, Building E, Room 501
The agenda as listed is:
At the meeting we will be discussing:
- The recent designation of Newtown Creek as a Superfund Site
- The Greenpoint Oil Spill Settlement Agreement between the NYS AG, Riverkeeper, and ExxonMobil
- The distribution of Newtown Creek Sewage Treatment Plant Environmental Benefit Funds
- DEP’s signage for the Newtown Creek Nature Walk
- The NYC Green Infrastructure Plan and its potential impact on Newtown Creek
- The status of Newtown Creek Alliance’s application to incorporate as a not-for-profit organization.
The “NYC Green infrastructure plan” section of the discussion promises to be VERY interesting. Come and meet some truly smart people, in Long Island City of all places.
nemesis bearing
– photo by Mitch Waxman
If only a tugboat was passing by…
The BW shot presented below was shot in 1921, and pictures the Phelps Dodge site which was still Nichols’ General Chemical at the time of the photo.
The color shot above was shot last Friday at Meeker Avenue in Greenpoint, standing on the concrete bulkhead of the long gone Penny Bridge.
– photo from The Newtown Creek industrial district of New York City By Merchants’ Association of New York. Industrial Bureau, 1921, courtesy Google Books
from queenslibrary.org
1901 On the plant grounds, General Chemical erected the tallest chimney in the United States to blow the smoke and gases from its furnace away from the neighborhood. For the past number of years neighbor surrounding the plant complained vociferously about the pollution from the factory. Only after a study found that nitric, muriatic, and sulphuric acids from the plant were destroying local cemeteries’ tombstones did the company try and alleviate the problem by building the chimney. This same year the company filed plans with the New York City’s Department of Buildings in Queens to build another 150 foot chimney, an ore breaker, a storage tank, a boiler house, and a stable.
1903 A fire, started in a building used to manufacture sulphite of copper, destroys this building and two others causing $250,000 worth of damage, to this date it was the most costly fire in Newtown.
1904 For $42,500 the company purchased from Alice H. Stebbins a major tract of land whose border was 200 feet on Locust Avenue (now 44th Street), 725 feet on River Avenue (47th Street if it extended to Newtown Creek), 825 feet on Clinton Avenue (now 56th Road), and 195 feet on Newtown Creek. That same year for $25,000 they purchased another tract from Alice H. Stebbins, Mary S. Dodge, Mary J. and William J. Schiefflin, and Eleanor J. Taft whose border was 828 feet on Clifton Avenue (46th Street if it extended to Newtown Creek), 200 feet on South Avenue (a street that was on the south side of the South Side Rail Road tracks), 755 feet on River Avenue (47th Street if it extended to Newtown Creek) and 195 feet on Newtown Creek.
1912 Another major fire occurred at the plant causing $100,000 worth of damage to a building 200 feet along Washington Avenue (now 43rd Street) and 200 feet along the Long Island Rail Road tracks.
1913 During this year the landscape of the neighborhood changed considerably with the removal of the streets, Washington, Clay, Hamilton, Fulton, Clifton, and River Avenues, on plant property between the railroad tracks and Newtown Creek. Also the railroad tracks were elevated and the remaining part of Washington Avenue was made a private road. This same year the company stated that they will be increasing their workforce from 1200 to 5000 people.1914 The plant received 150,000 tons of copper ore.
1916 The company received approval from the New York City Board of Estimates to build a boardwalk on the stretch of land on the north side of the railroad tracks, nicknamed “Death Avenue” for the many pedestrian fatalities involving trains.
1919 The company employees 1,750 people. Along with other companies along the creek they petition the city to close the streets that were not officially opened between the railroad tracks and Newtown Creek. The petition was denied by the city and the borough because it would eliminate miles of streets and cut off public access to the waterfront.
1920 Property is expanded when the company filled in some of Newtown Creek. That same year the company was expected to be tried for illegally building a freight shed on a portion of Creek Street (57th Avenue if it extended into the plant).
1920’s In exchange for stock in the company Phelps Dodge invested $3.5 million in Nichols Copper Company’s plant modernization projects. This increased the production of copper dramatically at the plant.
Frozen Calvary
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was the scene on Friday at Calvary Cemetery. A minimum of 3-4 feet of ice and snow was apparent, and although the hard working grounds crew had cleared the Boundary Road and created certain obvious pathways to recent interments, access to to vast tracts of the place was impossible.
Project Firebox 20
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are many places in and around Astoria where time and space fold in upon each other and you find yourself at the corner of an avenue and street which bear the same number. This scarlet paladin withstands and discharges its duty despite the frozen indignity heaped on and around it at the junction of 37th avenue and 37th street- just off Northern Blvd. Who can guess what odd sights it has witnessed at this tripartite angle between Dutch Kills and Astoria and Queens Plaza, and what strange attractors frequent such concurrent corners?
Happy Candlemas
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The wheel of the year turns and turns, and the foul weather being suffered by the Lords and Ladies of the Pentacle this day is actually a good thing- for it means that the hag Cailleach Bheur sleeps rather than gathering more firewood to outlast the winter. As is the case with several of these ancient calendrical milestones (November 1st for instance), February 2nd seems to be one of those special dates on which things just seem to happen.
Today, after all, is the anniversary of New Amsterdam gaining “municipal rights” from its degenerate Dutch masters in 1653– the day that a colony became incorporated as “The City” and the seedling megalopolis was established.
from wikipedia
Candlemas occurs 39 days after Christmas.
Traditionally the Western term “Candlemas” (or Candle Mass) referred to the practice whereby a priest on February 2 blessed beeswax candles for use throughout the year, some of which were distributed to the faithful for use in the home. In Poland the feast is called Święto Matki Bożej Gromnicznej (Święto, “Holiday” + Matka Boska, “Mother of God” + Gromnica, “Thunder”). This name refers to the candles that are blessed on this day and called gromnicy, since these candles are lit during (thunder) storms and placed in windows to ward off the storm.
Within the Roman Catholic Church, since the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, this feast has been referred to as the Feast of Presentation of the Lord, with references to candles and the purification of Mary de-emphasised in favor of the Prophecy of Simeon the Righteous. Pope John Paul II connected the feast day with the renewal of religious vows.
According to over eight centuries of tradition, the swaddling clothes that baby Jesus wore during the presentation at the Temple are kept in Dubrovnik Cathedral, Croatia.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Today is the day that the Germans finally threw in the towel at Stalingrad in 1943, the anniversary of the opening of Grand Central Terminal in 1913, and the day that Sid Vicious died in 1979.
It’s also Groundhog day, of course, which is the modern enactment of certain more… ancient rites.
from wikipedia
Imbolc (also Imbolg or Oimelc), or St Brigid’s Day (Scots Gaelic Là Fhèill Brìghde, Irish Lá Fhéile Bríde, the feast day of St. Brigid), is an Irish festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is celebrated on February 1 or 2 (or February 12, according to the Old Calendar), which falls halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere.
The festival was observed in Gaelic Ireland during the Middle Ages. Reference to Imbolc is made in Irish mythology, in the Tochmarc Emire of the Ulster Cycle. Imbolc was one of the four cross-quarter days referred to in Irish mythology, the others being Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. It has been suggested that it was originally a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brigid, who was later Christianised as St. Brigid.
In the 20th century, Imbolc was resurrected as a religious festival in Neopaganism, specifically in Wicca, Neo-druidry and Celtic reconstructionism.
