Posts Tagged ‘Blissville’
moon men
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found his boots scraping along the concrete of Railroad Avenue, back in February. A long walk was underway, and the camera’s shutter was a-whirring.
Railroad Avenue was where my pathway led.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More evidence of the Queens Cobbler was observed. A probable serial killer who leaves behind single shoes to mark their efforts, I’ve been writing about the Cobbler for years. The Cobbler has even left personal messages for me in front of my own domicile.
Chilling, no?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just up the block from the Cobbler’s latest memento mori, yet another abandoned car was encountered. This one was electric, and tiny. Rumor has it that there’s a community of Homo Floresiensis who have recently moved into and taken up residence in Middle Village. Perhaps this was theirs? May I refer to Middle Village as the Shire now?
Really, the world I live in is so much more interesting than the real one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I walked up a somewhat private road, past the former Van Iderstine rendering plant, and back out onto Review Avenue.
One wasn’t quite done with Dutch Kills, and since the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself was exiting the sky’s vault – that was what I was waiting for to complete my task.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shots in today’s post date back to the 12th of February, incidentally. As mentioned in prior posts, the usual three image posts will be cast aside for a bit, in favor of six shot ones until I manage to get back into sync with the actual calendar.
Also, just in case you don’t scroll all the way down to the bottom – The Newtown Creekathon is happening on April 10th.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having looped back to Review Avenue, a humble narrator pointed his toes back in the direction that he started from – Dutch Kills.
Trucks, trucks, trucks. For some reason, I’m fascinated with trucks at the moment. Don’t know why, they just catch my eye.
The Newtown Creekathon returns!
On April 10th, the all day death march around Newtown Creek awakens from its pandemic slumber.
DOOM! DOOM! Fully narrated by Mitch Waxman and Will Elkins of Newtown Creek Alliance, this one starts in LIC at the East River, heads through Blissville, the happy place of Industrial Maspeth, dips a toe in Ridgewood and then plunges desperately into Brooklyn. East Williamsburgh and then Greenpoint are visited and a desperate trek to the East River in Brooklyn commences. DOOM! Click here for more information and to reserve a spot – but seriously – what’s wrong with you that you’re actually considering doing this? DOOM!
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“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.
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Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Intriguing are the bits of property which my Dad always referred to as “community driveways,” like the one in Astoria pictured above. The particular one above is interesting to me as it’s a dirt road. You don’t encounter much in the way of open soil here in Western Queens. A community driveway, for the uninitiated, is a pathway which leads to a “behind your house” parking spot and often a garage at the basement level. It’s an amenity!
Even the laconic Croats, and the other similarly reserved “Yugoslav” populations they coexist with here on Astoria’s southern edge, will get misty eyed when the subject of a private parking spot comes up.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wandering around in the cold night, a humble narrator found that the aphorism “All roads lead to Calvary” was quite true when he found himself standing at the gate. It’s been quite a while since my last visit to the great polyandrion of the Roman Catholics, but since this one was well after sunset – the gates were securely fastened, as is the habit of the cemetery management. Couldn’t resist cracking out an exposure through the gate, however.
When leaving HQ, one told Our Lady of the Pentacle that I’d be taking a long walk, but that I didn’t plan on leaving Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Not wanting to make a liar of myself, one walked onto the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge over Newtown Creek but didn’t cross the legal border into Brooklyn. Instead, I lingered mid span for an interval, and got lucky with what Queens wanted to show me. As a note, I sort of love the photo above, depicting a fuel truck traveling across the double bascule drawbridge.
More tomorrow.
“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.
nigh unendurable
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So yeah, I get a bit depressed occasionally. Part of being mentally healthy – most of the time – is realizing when you’ve got a psychic cold and acknowledging the fact. Americans don’t talk about this, we should. Regardless of all that, a humble narrator is back on duty and raring to go – the Newtown Pentacle, thereby, is back in session.
On the 4th of July, one scuttled over to Blissville in pursuance of climbing up the Kosciuszcko Bridge and shooting the fireworks with my beloved Newtown Creek in frame. Denied this happy juncture, one instead set up the camera alongside the fencelines of First Calvary cemetery and prepared to photograph the fireworks show from that location instead. Hence, the shot above was captured.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The pedestrian and bike path on the Kosciuszcko was closed, and guarded by a caper of those irrepressible scamps, whom you meet occasionally, that dress for work in NYPD uniforms. I didn’t even recognize the unit these particular assassins of joy were assigned to Blissville from (IUB or something) so talking my way onto the bridge wasn’t possible as they didn’t know me from a hole in the wall. If they were 108 pct., there’s a pretty good chance I could have charmed my way up there, but there you are. Everybody has a job to do, and this bunch of Cops were assigned the “deny Mitch his picture” duty.
There were – literally – about a thousand people along the fences of Review Avenue. This is the highest density of lookie loos I’ve ever seen arrayed along the Blissville/Long Island City border, about 2.1 miles back from the East River, btw.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s been a pretty crappy couple of weeks for me, actually. Climate has not been on my side, what with the extreme heat and all the rain. If you think the stuff I was publishing here was scary, be glad that you didn’t encounter me at the neighborhood bar I was drinking my troubles away at. A couple of “hard cases” here in Astoria had never encountered the unfiltered version of the “Mitch Waxman Experience.” Apparently, when I decide to drop the act and just be myself, it’s rather terrifying. Also, my back hurts, and that left foot of mine is still causing a lot of trouble. Couple that with being in a mood, and Oy… it’s so humid… it’s like a sauna out there.
As mentioned though, the psychic glacier has calved, and one has resumed pretending not to be murderously angry all the time. Everything is fantastic, all the time, again. I’m a mother flowering ray of sunshine, yo, in love with a great city on the edge of a dark and cruel ocean. Hey… did you know that concrete is radioactive?
“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.
moving outrageously
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The great thing about Astoria is that even on a day when you’re staying in, Queens brings the show right to your front door. The shot above is from May 22nd, when a largish protest group was moving through the neighborhood demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause. Luckily for me, I was able to shoot them going by from the comfort of an outdoor porch. Here’s the whole set of shots.
Before any of you get started on debating the Israel/Palestine thing… just don’t. I got kicked out of Jewish Summer Camp when I was 11 for my particular set of opinions (yes, I’ve always been like this) on this subject. Suffice to say that there’s a largish number of very poor people who have been stuck between a military death machine and an organized crime family since 1949. Everyone involved is both entirely right and utterly wrong. There is no solution, only intermittent cessation between slaughters. The Romans couldn’t fix this problem with crucifixions. The Turks couldn’t with literal flaying. There is no justice, there is no peace, never will be. End of conversation, as far as I’m concerned.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Memorial Day shot from Blissville, depicting current Queens Borough President Donovan Richards “speechifying.” There’s a tiny triangle park right at the corner of Van Dam/Greenpoint/Review Ave. dedicated to the memory of Sgt. Daniel Kish. If memory serves, Blissville’s Kish died at the battle of Guadalcanal during WW2. For many years, this memorial was looked after by a nearby American Legion Post, but that organization seems to have aged out and become defunct. The memorial is in poor condition, and Hurricane Sandy claimed the flag pole that used to be here, so City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer just allocated a sizable amount of cash to the Blissville Civic Association to spruce the memorial up and erect a new flagpole there. Jimmy did an event here on some random Thursday to announce the funding, but I couldn’t make that one.
Since this is election season, of course, and Jimmy Van Bramer is running for Borough President against the incumbent Mr. Richards… Holy smokes has the Kish triangle become a political hotbed. At the event which the shot above was captured at, another BP candidate – Liz Crowley – also showed up, as did City Council candidates Brent O’Leary, Julia Forman, Amit Bagga, Emily Sharpe, and there were several others who showed up as well. Here’s the whole set of shots from May 31, 2021.
Man, the amount of effort it takes to get these people to Newtown Creek when it’s not an election cycle… The following week, two other candidates – Jonathan Bailey and Stephen Ragga – did another event here. General consensus is that if the election was just about who has the best hair – Bailey wins. Here’s a few shots from that one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last, I was on the R heading to Jackson Heights to make a connection with the 7 so I could hit LIC before the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself slid behind New Jersey when I spotted this little fare dodger sitting on some dude’s shoulder.
Fun times in the ancient villages of Western Queens, I tell’s ya.
“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.
horrible familiarity
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The only times I’m actually happy are when I’m operating the camera. Accordingly, one found himself lingering about on the Koscisuzcko Bridge recently awaiting the occlusion of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself behind the Manhattan shield wall. I had the whole kit and kaboodle with me for a change, and figured to make good use of the tripod I had been laboriously carrying around.
Funny thing about the new camera is that I really don’t need the tripod that often anymore and only carry it with me when a specific shot that requires it is in mind, such as the first image in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having accomplished my goal of “getting a nice sunset shot of the creek” after hanging around on the Kosciuszcko Bridge for awhile, I broke down the tripod setup and got back to normal handheld shooting. There’s a couple of other shooters I see up there periodically, an older guy who carries a Nikon and a young woman who favors the Sony system. My guess is that they’re both Greenpoint people. I’ve tried to chat about camera stuff briefly with the old guy, but there’s a language barrier we keep running into. The woman always has headphones on, which is a “tell” saying “I don’t want to chat.” Read the room, huh?
At any rate, gear safely stored for carrying, I pointed my toes towards Queens and began scuttling back towards home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Naturally – thereby – after I had packed everything up and affixed a non zoom lens to the camera, the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge opened up about 3/4 of a mile to the west. Sigh.
More tomorrow at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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 