Posts Tagged ‘Astoria’
came from without
You can tell from the way this song is, Astoria Queens rules.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The quotation above is from the Murphys Law song “A day in the life” which pretty much sums up life around these parts. Pictured above is the assortment of safety equipment which my upstairs neighbor Mario keeps at the ready for situations which might present trip hazards.
My landlord recently received notice from the City that his sidewalk concrete required replacement, and his crew of noise makers got busy demolishing the old pavement and replacing it with fresher stuff. Mario got busy with the cones and barriers after they left, in the hope that he could divert the footsteps of the neighbors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Spotted this fellow on 43rd street at the borders of Sunnside and Astoria recently. He was a delivery guy, and in the frames not presented above, was draining a can of “cerveza.” The presence of someone who was likely Mexican or Ecuadorian in front of a wall with the LIC skyline behind him made me think of Donald Trump for some reason. Something about luxury towers, and a wall.
As a note – like the villain from Harry Potter, if you stop saying Donald Trump’s name, he’ll lose his powers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The fellow pictured above was grifting on Astoria’s Broadway recently, claiming that he had tripped and gotten hurt on a sidewalk grate in front of one of the multitudes of “nail and pedi” shops hereabouts. Since the “nail and pedi” shops are part of the same Asian slave labor industry as the local massage parlors – rub and tugs, as they’re known – the grifter knew that the owners would pay him off in cash. The cops in the shot above realized this too, of course, and the kabuki show of Queens just continues.
Someday, a real rain will fall, but Astoria Queens does – indeed – rule.
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A Return to The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek,
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Brooklyn Waterfront: Past & Present Boat Tour,
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seize those
Boid!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is occasionally the case, a humble narrator needs to take a short break. This week, single images will greet you, as is the case with the one of a Pigeon above – which was encountered in Sunnyside last year.
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that many
Cats!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My pal Joey lives next door to a guy named Butchie here in Astoria, and Butchie is one of those cat feeding people. Joey’s yard, and that of every other neighbor within around 10 addresses of Butchie’s house, is infested with cats. Accordingly, the mice of Joey’s block do whatever they can to never go out and just stay inside.
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chelating agent
Astoria Queens is totally metal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the corner of 29th street and 31st avenue is the definitive expression of my ennui when folks argue with me about whether or not “Long Island City” includes Astoria. Most people you speak to, including – disturbingly – people from the NYC EDC, don’t recognize the various sections of Western Queens by their proper names unless you include the abbreviation of “LIC.” A lot of native Astorians will swear up and down that when you say “LIC” it doesn’t include Astoria. Long Island City, as a point of fact, included everything between the East River and Blissville, and everything between Newtown Creek and Bowery Bay. There’s a few exemptions, with borders that followed Woodside Avenue and so on, but it was – and is – bigger than you think.
Inaccuracy and historical ignorance plague discussion of Western Queens. It makes me point my face downwards, and stare at the concrete as I scuttle about.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s actually a lot you can notice while staring at the ground, in search of some sort of solace. Most of it will be broken glass, hereabouts. The neighbors like to smash things that are smashable for some reason.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the corner of Steinway and 31st, I noticed this display in front of a juice bar. Despite my somewhat epic hatred of people who patronize juice bars (Juiceries? Juiceromats?), this accumulated mat of alfalfa grass rectangles is actually kind of a great idea.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the sort of illegal dumping that I can get behind. Now sod off.
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uncertain factors
Wash out, man, wash out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You’ll recall that at the end of February, there was a Götterdämmerung of a rain storm, one which produced quite a bit of coastal flooding. I got a phone call the day after the storm that declared that the shoreline at Astoria Park had fallen victim to the event. This would be some storm, thought I, which could bring a wave of water up the 15-20 feet from Glass Beach at Hells Gate all the way up to Shore Road.
I had to go take a look.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From where Newtown Pentacle HQ is located, on Astoria’s Broaday in the 40’s, it’s only a small “schlep” to get to Astoria Park. In a car, it’ll take you around ten minutes, but only because of lights and traffic. It’s a 30 minute walk, or 45 if you lazily saunter.
Along the diagonal path, there’s a lot to see, and since Astoria rules… why not?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned above, Shore Road is elevated some 15-20 feet over the East River shoreline at Hells Gate. The rocky beach down there is littered with jetsam, it would be flotsam if it was still suspended in the water column, and the smaller particles of jetsam are mixed in with the gravel and small stones with little bits of river polished glass – hence “Glass Beach.”
Regardless, one reiterates – that would have to be one HELL of a storm to bring the water all the way up to Shore Road from Hells Gate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Observations were enacted, and there were two wash outs which had deposited a terrific amount of quite slippery mud onto both sidewalk and street. The trail of soil and vegetation led back uphill to Astoria Park itself, which actually jibed with what I thought to have been the case. It was the park that flooded during the heavy rains, and the river had not in fact risen. If the East River rose 20 feet, waves would be lapping away at Steinway Street’s intersection with Northern Blvd. and we’d be talking about the Sunnyside Yards lake.
Mayor de Blasio would, of course, call it the Sunnyside Yards lake and resort and announce his intentions to install waterfront affordable housing along Skillman Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Fairly obviously, the two mud and water flows emanated from the two Bridges over Astoria Park, which gathered the storm water and then fed it down their outfall pipes into and onto the soil in Astoria Park, which caused the “lahar” or slippery mud deposits which were observed on Shore Road.
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