Posts Tagged ‘Blissville’
darkness and silence
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, a humble narrator has been spending some time and effort in pursuit of filling in a lack of nocturnal photographs in my library of Newtown Creek shots. While in the midst of this on the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, just last week, I heard the bells and whistles signaling the approach of a NY & Atlantic freight train.
The thing kind of snuck up on me, as my headphones were actively pumping out a carefully selected playlist of mid-career Motörhead. Lemmy Kilmeister, you must understand, is far louder than any mere locomotive.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These are the sort of “night shots” which I’m trying not to get. High ISO, selectively focused, and overly grainy- all of which was actually unavoidable. Simply put, if you’re “hand holding” the camera and it’s dark, one must open the lens up- losing deep focus- and increase the “ISO sensitivity” of the camera, which introduces grain. Ideally, you’ve got the thing on a tripod, which I didn’t.
My other camera was set up with specialized night gear, but there was no way to get it set it up in time when surprised by the sudden appearance of the train.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Out came my dslr, and with the help of a fortuitously placed hole in the fence of the GPA Bridge, the camera could be steadied and these shots were gained. This is probably not a terribly exciting tale to relate, but every photographer will understand my frustrations. Digital cameras are a technology still in infancy, and the form factor and capabilities of the things are still influenced by the shape and metaphor of older devices which used chemical emulsions (film) for recording.
One is reminded of 1960’s and 70’s televisions built into cabinetry it shared with “hi-fi” stereos, or clock radios. When will we forget the metaphor of a film camera and allow these devices to flower into their own?
Project Firebox 38
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ignominy of metallic pallor disguises this guardian of the public good as it hangs in vigil amongst the myriad ecstasies of Blissville in Queens. Deep below the cement and soil of this ancient village surge the ground waters of the Newtown Creek, and in nearby Greenpoint titan industries form the energy and wastewater backbone of New York City. Never quiet, Greenpoint Avenue is its home and the hoary byway is ennobled by its long and thankless service.
warm and fragrant
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An appointment in Greenpoint carried me across the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge last Tuesday, and as my habit is to be early to meetings, some time was available for photography. It was an unusual and foggy day, and the mists were creating an enormous depth of field atmospherically. Always a visual pleasure, the GPA bridge offers views of the former Tidewater pumping station on the Queens bank as well as the tank farms of Lukoil and Metro fuel on the Brooklyn bank- which are pictured above.
That’s when I noticed something disturbing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We are lucky that we live in the age we do, when an oil slick moving down the languorous Newtown Creek is a remarkable sight. Once upon a time, such visualizations were commonly extant and regularly observed. Luckily, due to regulation and improved industrial practices, such events happen far less frequently than they once did.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The standard protocol to follow when you observe an oil slick on the Newtown Creek, or anywhere in New York Harbor, is to first document it by taking a picture using your cell phone or digital camera. Make a note of your location and the time. Next, call 311 to alert city authorities, followed by a call to the State DEC spill hotline- 1 (800) 457-7362.
They take these matters quite seriously.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Take note of whether the tide is coming in or going out, as this will help authorities to pinpoint the source of the contaminants. On this day, the tide was ebbing and the oil slick was flowing toward the East River along the tepid current. It should be mentioned that the obvious petroleum industry presence found alongside the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge is maintained by fairly responsible parties in modernity, and the shot above is not meant to indite or should be viewed as indicative of being responsible for the event depicted in this post.
The slick was coming from the other direction, flowing east to west and traveling beneath the bridge toward them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Later that afternoon, after having accomplished my intended goals in Greenpoint, and returning home via the Pulaski Bridge to Queens- a new feature on the lower Creek was noticed. A temporary or floating dock installed nearby the Vernon Avenue Street End, and one of two “work boats” was traveling eastward from it and moving under the Pulaski.
It moved too fast for me to ready the camera, but it bore the screed “spill response boat” upon it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Everybody’s friends at Riverkeeper, whom I informed of my observations upon returning home, made inquiries with DEC officials about the nature and extent of this possible spill event. DEC sent back word that the slick was no spill, rather it was likely a result of sediment sampling efforts being carried out by the Federal EPA as part of the ongoing discovery phase of the Superfund process. It seems that while dredging up small quantities of the so called “Black Mayonnaise” which lines the bed of the creek for study, some effluent might have been released into the waterway.
raptured vision
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My habit is to be early to appointments, public meetings, or gatherings. On this particular day, a Newtown Creek Alliance meeting was set to occur in hoary Greenpoint at the modern Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, and a humble narrator decided to make use of being better than an hour early by strolling through the engineered hillocks of First Calvary Cemetery here in Queens.
Late afternoon was giving way to sunset, and my path took me from the secondary gates near the former Penny Bridge toward the main entrance at Greenpoint Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unlike many of my sojourns around the place, no goal governed my steps- I wasn’t “looking for someone”. Instead, a peaceful and contemplative mood governed my steps and allowance was made for serendipity. That’s the spire of St. Raphael’s on Greenpoint Avenue in the distance, by the way.
Amongst the marble and granite, however, a surprising monument was discovered.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Weathered and unmarked, this anonymous cruciform was found. Appearing to be a wooden cross with white bronze worked onto its surface, it was frankly a stunning moment for me to discover this artifact here. Partially because of its modest and quite staid appearance- understatement and tasteful discretion hardly define the monuments at Calvary- but mostly because of the incredible value that the metal would bring to the Crows (metal collectors and scrappers) who harvest such materials for sale to the scrap industry.
It was stunning to find such a thing can remain hidden in this place which has suffered so much from their attentions.
lashing waves
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Frustration marks this posting, which focuses in on the Moore Newman monument at First Calvary Cemetery here in Queens, at the very heart of the Newtown Pentacle. Stylish even after a century has passed, the monument consists of a central obelisk with figurative statuary at its apex and a series of foot stones demarcating the borders of the family plot.
It was also here in 1876, long before its two principal occupants ended their New York stories in the early 20th century.
from The visitor’s guide to Calvary cemetery, with map and illustrations (1876), courtesy archive.org
This is a most substantial double monument, the shaft being divided by a deeply cut line, as is also the die. It presents with the inclosure a very neat and pleasing appearance, displaying much taste in its design andi construction. It stands about twenty-one feet in height, is of Egyptian order of architecture, and of the best Quincy granite.
On the shaft, inclosed in palm wreaths, are the monograms ” M.— N.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Obviously people of certain means and social standing- the tenement poor of New York City didn’t get 21 foot granite monuments- there seems to be little or no record of Mary A. Moore or Michael James Newman. Passing references to a Tammany functionary named Michael J. Newman offer hints that this might be the fellow buried here, but nothing definitive can be ascertained. Additionally, a Mary A. Moore, referred to as “a widow” have popped up here and there.
Unfortunately, these were very common Irish names in the 19th century.
from Wikipedia
Granite is classified according to the QAPF diagram for coarse grained plutonic rocks and is named according to the percentage of quartz, alkali feldspar (orthoclase, sanidine, or microcline) and plagioclase feldspar on the A-Q-P half of the diagram. True granite according to modern petrologic convention contains both plagioclase and alkali feldspars. When a granitoid is devoid or nearly devoid of plagioclase, the rock is referred to as alkali granite. When a granitoid contains less than 10% orthoclase, it is called tonalite; pyroxene and amphibole are common in tonalite. A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a binary or two-mica granite. Two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase, and are usually S-type granites or A-type granites. The volcanic equivalent of plutonic granite is rhyolite. Granite has poor primary permeability but strong secondary permeability.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The usage of Quincy Granite for construction of the stelae also indicate the social standing of the couple, as this particular mineral is the gold standard for permanence and has always been an expensive option as far as building materials goes. Quincy is a famous quarry town in Massachusetts, and the mining of Quincy Granite gave rise to one of the first industrial uses of rail in the United States.
from Wikipedia
The Granite Railway was one of the first railroads in the United States, built to carry granite from Quincy to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton. From there boats carried the heavy stone to Charlestown for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. The Granite Railway is popularly termed the first commercial railroad in the United States, as it was the first chartered railway to evolve into a common carrier without an intervening closure. The last active quarry closed in 1963; in 1985, the Metropolitan District Commission purchased 22 acres, including Granite Railway Quarry, as the Quincy Quarries Reservation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Enormous effort was undertaken to discover the identity of the Moore-Newman’s, who seem to have disappeared into history. The antecedents on the Moore side of the family are listed here, but it is doubtful that their remains lie in Calvary. A standard practice of Irish New Yorkers in the 19th century was to list long lost family members as an “In memoriam” on their own stone. Often the parents were buried at one of the churchyards or private cemeteries which Manhattan once hosted, like the 9th street Catholic Cemetery, at their own plots after Calvary was established in Blissville in 1848.
from wikipedia
Taphophilia is a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. The singular term is a taphophile.
Taphophilia involves epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of (famous) deaths. An example of an individual’s expression of taphophilia is the character Harold in the movie Harold and Maude (1971).
Taphophilia should not be confused with necrophilia, which is a sexual attraction to corpses.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An understandable lack of documentation exists about the process by which, after the Rural Cemeteries Act was passed, the exhumation of thousands of internments and concurrent transportation of the remains to Calvary were accomplished. Understand that the somewhat tribal nature of New York City in the mid 19th century, marked by internecine warfare between religious denomination and nationalist creeds, made for a lack of record keeping. If the church offered a public record of its activities, the Protestant Anglophiles at newspapers like the NY Times would have pilloried them for one reason or another. Catholics were a favorite target of that culture, which still considered protestant England the apogee of civilization, and viewed the “Papists” as a fifth column to be feared and despised.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Oddly, given other societal norms which we 21st century New Yorkers would find odious- specifically the role and rights of females- it’s the voice of Mary A. Moore which persists through time. An obituary notice preserves her grief over the loss of her husband, whom she would shortly follow into the emerald devastations of Calvary Cemetery.
from ancestry.com
In ever present sorrow of my devoted husband, Michael James Newman, who passed away Sept. 17, 1903. “Not gone from memory, not gone from love.”
The Newtown Pentacle 