Posts Tagged ‘Astoria’
naturally prompted
The trains coming, hurry up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Perambulating across the blessed hills of almond eyed Astoria the other day, testing out my new lens (the Sigma 18-35 F 1.8 DS), a humble narrator suddenly perceived an ear splitting howl coming from on high. The elevated tracks on 31st street carry the N and Q service to and from Manhattan, offering Astoria’s huddled masses egress into the Shining City of Manhattan. One thing these tracks are not is quiet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself, along with our little dog Zuzu, live along the R line which is fairly cradled by the earth. Occasionally, happenstance or track work or just the urge to mix up my commute, I find myself on the elevated tracks. The views from up there can be stellar, but unfortunately the MTA has had to install sound blocking fences at the stations to calm the frayed nerves of those who live along 31st street. A busy commercial corridor, 31st street is also a primary approach to the Triborough Bridge and the Grand Central Parkway for traffic leaving Queens Plaza from the Queensboro Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Its a funny thing, as Astoria is one of the few places in the central core of NYC that still looks like New York. Greenpoint has this quality as well, but the prime directive these days seems to be to obliterate any of the uniquely “New Yawk” elements of the cityscape in favor of a bland homogeneity and a mirror glass frontage which is built to the edge of the property line. Often have I wondered if this is caused by having a Boston transplant serving as the Mayor, who has hired a staff of Midwesterners and Southerners to serve as planning executives.
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
express purpose
Scenes from a short walk across a long Borough.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a notion afoot, amongst the Real Estate crowd and the urban planners, that Western Queens is somehow “under utilized” and needs to become more urban. This ideation was obviously formed by those who sit in air conditioned Manhattan office buildings who have never actually visited Queens for any reason other than to go to the airport or have only driven through it on their way to the Hamptons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When all the transportation infrastructure was rammed through Queens in the first half of the 20th century, this was largely an agricultural area. That’s why it was so easy to site the bridges and elevated subways and tunnel out here in the first place. Large lots of land which were easily purchased from a single buyer is a developers dream. Once all the steel and cement was in place, however, Queens grew exponentially. No kid from Astoria or Woodside will tell you he or she grew up in “the country.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, someone asked me what I thought of the current notion of turning Western Queens into some sort of Silicon Valley style digital hub and business incubator.
The idea is compelling, given the massive floor space and stout construction which the former factory buildings that distinguish the area, but I asked “what will these companies be connecting to?”. Astoria in particular is a hodge podge of wires carelessly maintained, with electrical and data cables spanning the streets. The utility poles which these wires are hung on are notoriously and precipitously overloaded, causing the them to bend and bow.
Does this look like the infrastructure that will draw a google or apple data center to the neighborhood, or does it remind you of some third world shithole in which one or two favored companies were granted a permanent franchise?
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek – Saturday, August 24, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
company graveyard
Home, home on the range, where the deer and the photographers play.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Great excitement abounds in a humble narrator due to the recent purchase of a new lens. The equipment in question is the Sigma 18-35 F 1.8 DS, which is magical for both its sharpness and ability to drink in light. The shot above was captured at 3 in the morning, for instance, while it was raining. Normally, this is an easy shot to pull off when the camera is on a tripod and I can leave the shutter open for a second and a half or so, but this one was shot handheld.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been the happy owner of one particularly good lens, manufactured by Canon, which the vast majority of shots that have run here in the last couple of years have been captured with. Problem is that it is a “daytime” lens as its widest aperture is f4. For those unfamiliar with the nitty gritty of photography, the f stop represents the size of the hole which the lens can make for light traveling to the sensor. Wider the aperture is the more light you get, but that comes with an increase of “depth of field” which renders the plane of focus very narrow. I can focus on your eyes at a wide aperture, but the tip of your nose may be blurry, for instance. Not so with this new sigma.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Accordingly, I’ve been making it a point of shooting everything I come across in the name of testing the new unit out, which has also coincided with an August resolution to try and spend a lot more time in Astoria than has been the case in recent months. Friends, group affiliations, and work take me to Brooklyn on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this means that I spend a lot of my time there, and do a lot of my shooting there. My focal point has been, and will continue to be in Queens, which needs far more attention paid to it than North Brooklyn which can take care of itself just fine. I intend to live up to that statement in the coming months, and spend a lot more of my time here.
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
obstructing surface
Astoria, land that I love, stand beside her…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Generally speaking, your humble narrator is a misanthrope, avoiding the company of other people. When I say I’m a street photographer, I mean that I literally like taking pictures of unpopulated streets. People tend to clutter up my shots and are best avoided. Other people who describe themselves as “street photographer” focus in on the humans as they scurry about the hive and make trouble for themselves, whereas I’m a bit more interested in the hive itself. Still, in the name of breaking things up and “doing the opposite,” every now and then I wave the camera around at folks to see what I might get.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured above is the bland homogeneity of a street fair imposed on the vibrant diversity of Astoria the other day. These street fairs are traveling corporate circuses, selling foodstuffs which the Mayor would probably attempt to outlaw for the amount of fat and salt they distribute to the unsuspecting Astorians who so desperately need the dietary guidance of the oligarchs and elites of Manhattan. I remember when the current form of these events took shape back in the 1990’s- with the “as seen on TV” products, sunglass vendors, and mozzarepa stalls. It always seems to be the same players, who noisily sweep in and suppress sales for local shop owners for a day, all the while running gasoline powered generators to power refrigerators and lights. The worst are the DJ booths, with throbbing club music broadcast to a neighborhood which had its fill the night before.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fellow pictured above is one of our local “Crows,” a metal collector who scours the streets for anything shiny which might be salable to the scrap metal industry, and he opted for an al fresco lunch directly beneath my vantage. He’s a tragic and scorned figure in the neighborhood, part of a huge immigrant population of single men who arrived in Queens from foreign quarters looking for work, often witnessed lying prone on the sidewalk after a bout of drinking. Latino, the neighborhood refers to all of these characters as “the Mexicans,” although there is no guarantee that this is where he’s from. I could ask, of course, but that would get in the way of my general misanthropy.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Want to see something cool? Summer 2013 Walking Tours-
Glittering Realms– Saturday, August 3rd, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
signed contract
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To begin with, happy 4th of July.
Second, given that we are into our second decade of the “new normal” and all, I think we need to discuss some of these so called “holiday traditions” of ours. Sentimental attachment to the past is something by which we must not be ruled, after all, not in an America hating world which is as cruel and dangerous as this one. Our leaders instruct that all things should now be discussed and considered in the contextual framework of “newspeak” – whether it be the burning of coal for BBQ (climate change contributor), the ritual feasting (obesity epidemic), inebriation (drunk driving checkpoints), or the detonation of small explosives by the gentry (terrorist tendencies). Enjoy your freedom today, just not too much or too loudly, and within the guidelines set down by our ruling committees.
Also, if you see something, say something, and show me your identification papers.
The Newtown Pentacle 