Posts Tagged ‘Archives’
Archives #024
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Things continue to improve for a humble narrator, who attended the first of many ‘physical therapy’ or ‘PT’ appointments yesterday. At one point, I actually stood up on both feet without any sort of brace on my busted ankle, although most of the appointment involved various stretches and exercises to get the thing working properly again. Needless to say, last night and this morning the limb is sort of angry.
These archives posts are reaching into Newtown Pentacle’s backups, and are pulling posts from this date in their respective years going back to 2009. This practice will continue until I’m back on both feet full time, and new photos and stories can be gathered.
November 7th in 2016 saw a series of photos of Astoria’s Halloween festivities presented, as captured from the old ‘local’ bar on the corner of 42nd and Broadway – the Times Square of Astoria – which I used to hang out at.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Man, I miss just being to do ‘stuff.’ It’s been fifty days since this rather crappy adventure began, but I prefer to think it in hours – as in its been 1,211 hours of constant and often overwhelming pain. There’s been no way to be ‘comfortable,’ so I’ve just had to compartmentalize the agonies. It’s an interesting part of the human brain which allows us to ignore deep wounds and fundamental problems just in the name of sleeping.
There’s always a crisis at MTA, isn’t there? This 2019 post admittedly rants a bit, but points out that they never seem to blame the management.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I’ve got friends who have been willing to endure my company, telephonically speaking. Our Lady has been caring for me, in ways I can never pay back. A humble narrator doesn’t enjoy feeling vulnerable, and especially doesn’t like having others observe such moments.
I was already packing stuff up back at HQ in November of 2022, when I was also trying to see and photograph everything one last time. I figured it might be a good thing to leave behind some instructions for the real estate people, on stealing more of the sky in Long Island City.
Two years later this sounds a lot like ‘City of Yes,’ don’t it?
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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.
Archives #020
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey, ever wonder what happened to all that Federal disaster money they pumped into the City after Sandy?
After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Queens Midtown Tunnel in New York City was inundated with an estimated 12 million gallons of water. The storm surge flooded the tunnel, requiring a significant pumping operation to remove the water before reopening.
In 2012, this November 1st post described what Hank the Elevator Guy and I saw when surveying the Queens side of Newtown Creek after Hurricane Sandy. As a note, I never saw the Blue Crow again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was lucky that friends with cars would occasionally give me a lift, but your humble narrator believes in mass transit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Speaking of mass transit, it’s not like NYC has an exclusive franchise.
This one from 2021 was part of a ‘72 hours in Pittsburgh’ Amtrak trip, and focuses in on one of the funicular railways I love so much.
“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.
Archives #018
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the hills that I stand on is that the NYC Subway system makes for an excellent photography workshop. Incredibly difficult conditions below – quite dark and very bright at the same time, with a large and reflective surfaced subject matter that’s moving at a pretty good speed through the frame… kind of difficult. I always had my camera out in NYC, instead of it riding around in a bag.
This 2014 post described the many precautions against ghostly and metaphysical invaders which HQ was being prepared with that year, in advance of Halloween’s ghostly assaults.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s ‘Saw Lady’ Natalia Paruz in the shot above, performing in a tomb at a cemetery in Brooklyn, in the shot above. I ‘dragged the shutter’ to get that ghostly quality while Natalia suffered the ecstasies of her melody.
In 2015, October 30th saw this post published, describing a nighttime visit to Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn with Atlas Obscura.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is nothing as surreal as being on a subway all by yourself. It ain’t right to occupy this sort of liminal space all alone.
This post from 2017 is a bit of an odd duck, and I seem to recall wanting to write a post in ‘full Lovecraft’ – for old times’ sake – about the experience.
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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.
Archives #016
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Jesus!
Also, it’s been just shy of six weeks since the broken ankle interrupted my preconceptions and existential plans, and I’m still spending most of my time either sitting in a wheelchair or hobbling about on crutches. Thereby, archive posts are being offered, which draw on the abundance from prior years, here at Newtown Pentacle, which has been updated on a mostly daily basis since 2009. The conceit at work in choice of presenting past work is that each of the postings featured in these archive trios is that they were published on this date, in their respective year.
Famously, when Newtown Pentacle was first launched, your humble narrator avoided colloquial or conversational styles of language and instead filtered everything through a deliberately archaic HP Lovecraft styling. This framing device is one I used to discuss First Calvary Cemetery in LIC, as in this 2010 post, and it was the search for Gilman.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The good news is that I’m meant to be visiting the surgeon this week, and if I’m lucky, and the healing process has proceeded along with expectations, your humble narrator’s prison door might get unlocked soon. Cross your fingers for me, lords and ladies. I really need to get out of the house.
On this date in 2018, this post was published, describing part of a car trip out to South Brooklyn with my Pal Val.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As stated in the past, this process of ‘looking back at the road I walked’ has been very interesting – psychologically speaking. First thing I can tell you is this: I’ve got a lot of dead friends. Saying that, I know a LOT of people, so… law of averages, but… the second observation is that I did not leave the confines of NYC for something like ten years in a row.
Wow… no wonder I’m all ‘effed up.
In 2021, this ‘visiting Pittsburgh’ post arrived in your inboxes.
“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.
Archives #015
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I miss walking, mainly. This broken ankle business is absolutely no fun at all. Today’s archive posts are plucked from previously published stuff, all of which was made public on this date in their respective years.
This October 25 post was published in 2013, and scuttles about in a section of LIC defined by Skillman Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I am not a huge fan of the showrunners at South Street Seaport, but I’ve got a lot of respect for the people who maintain and operate their small fleet of historic vessels.
Back in 2017, this post discussed a Working Harbor Committee get together onboard South Street Seaport’s Wavertree.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every single hole in the fence at Sunnyside Yards which you could fit a camera lens through was catalogued and regularly visited, pretty much for the entirety of the time I lived in Astoria. This was along my walking route back and forth to the creek, after all.
Talking about one of the apertures – which I called ‘hole reliable’ – at Sunnyside Yards is what this 2022 post discusses.
“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 