Posts Tagged ‘Bluff’
That’s some set of stairs, I tell’s you
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The destination which I had in mind when leaving HQ is pictured above. It’s one set of the many, many municipal staircases which climb up and down the hills and valleys of Pittsburgh. This one, in particular, is branded with Duquesne University logos and there’s an overpass which allows pedestrians to cross a high speed road called the Boulevard of the Allies nearby the Monongahela River.
It’s something, I tell’s ya.
The Panorama image above, which breaks into the usual format here at Newtown Pentacle, gives an idea of the streetscape by which you approach the stairs. If you click, it’ll open up a version of the image at Flickr which you can zoom in on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These stairs are actually not that difficult to negotiate, but vertigo is a definite factor so I held tightly onto the bannister with my non camera holding hand. Down below, there’s a couple of highways which fly about on elevated ramps. A local street, Forbes Avenue, feeds into what I’m fairly sure is the Penn Lincoln Highway section of I-376, and there’s also U.S. Highway 22 in the mix. Beneath all of those ramps are the Armstrong Tunnels, and a local street called Second Avenue as well as the on and off ramps of a bridge.
Additionally, a ‘rail to trail’ bike and pedestrian path is mixed into the arrangement – a section of the Great Allegheny Passage called the Eliza Furnace Trail, which I had walked a few months ago, and on this day I was heading – ultimately – to the same spot I was back then – the South Tenth Street Bridge.
This Panorama is from the top of the stairs, looking eastwards along the Monongahela River towards the south side of Pittsburgh and the Birmingham Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Massing shapes, that’s what I call them. The building at the top right of the shot is the City’s jailhouse, and a brand new homeless shelter has recently opened right next door to it. I don’t think the symbolism is lost on anyone, including the poor devils who reside in one or the other.
That’s also just short of where the Boulevard of the Allies returns to ground and becomes a ‘normal’ street again, with traffic lights and crosswalks. In a post that’ll likely be coming your way sometime in the next couple of weeks, I’ll show you what that looks like, and describe what it’s like to use the pedestrian and bike lane leading to the Liberty Bridge, so get ready lords and ladies. Thrills and chills.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My next goal post was to get to the South Tenth Street Bridge, pictured above, and use that crossing over the Monongahela to situate myself properly to catch the T light rail back to HQ. Remember, I had left the Mobile Oppression Platform parked in my driveway, and used the T to get to the center of things in Pittsburgh – where I had a moment of Epiphany and then passed by St. Benedict the Moor, and admired the old timey vibe encountered on the Bluff.
Seriously though, height and I are old friends, but a humble narrator will admit to having what has always described as being a very deep and quite logical respect for heights. Others might describe it as phobic.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rickety wooden steps didn’t bother me one bit. The concrete planks which formed the ‘run’ of the middle section were badly seated and you felt a distinct shift and clicking sound when in that section. At the very top, the stairs are made from a kind of metal grate, which allows you to look down through them. Forgive my french, but that was ‘effed up.
I’ve always gotten a certain physical sensation, specifically tingling in the fingertips and a feeling of numbness in the palms, when I’m situated at a high spot. I’ve found myself on the roof of a surprising number of skyscrapers in Manhattan, and seem to have spent the last fifteen years walking across bridges so it’s not like it slows me down or anything. I don’t lock up as some do, but I become extremely deliberate and restrained while moving in high environments, a postural affectation which contrasts with the norm.
A friend of mine once described my locomotive style as ‘herkie jerkie, like a spasmodic flying jew.’ I’ve also been told that I always look angry, and that my ‘scuttling with a purpose’ posture imparts the impression that I’m on my way to murder someone or something.
Truth be told… both POV’s in this YouTube video clip link are pretty much how the world looks and feels to me, most days.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just so you don’t think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, nor ‘that I’ve seen too many movies,’ or any of the other crap I’ve heard over the years – the top right brick building is part of Duquesne University. Follow that to the black structure on top of the cliff. That’s photo and panorama one. There’s power lines and a lamp post in shot two, and if you follow those power lines down to where that white van is on the extreme lower left side of the shot above, that’s the bottom of the stairs. Whew.
Holy Pittsburgh!
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Uptown, or the Bluff?
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ignorance regarding the new habitat is admitted, but often feels suffocating. This is coming from the guy who used to conduct walking tours in NYC and would proudly stand on the county line delineating the currently undefended border of Queens and Brooklyn and say ‘welcome to…’
I have no idea where the lines are found which form the borders between Pittsburgh’s various zones and neighborhoods, nor which areas are war zones. More than once, I’ve described where I had been that day to some bartender or new neighbor that are local to Pittsburgh and they’ll say “you went where? Stay out of there, they’ll shoot you dead, that’s…”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told that over the years… at any rate, the area I was moving through in the case of today’s missive abuts Duquesne University, so I felt pretty ok about scuttling through – personal security wise. Duquesne is a Roman Catholic college which is perched on a particularly dramatic chunk of land that overlooks the Monongahela River, and is located a bit eastwards of the peninsular landform that ultimately becomes Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rough path I had laid out for myself the night before indicated that I’d need to cut across Duquesne’s campus to get where I was going. Luckily, the streets that flow through the campus are public ones and it was ok for me to do so. There’s a lot of ‘old’ buildings nearby Duquesne, clearly left overs of the mercantile and industrial eras. The building stock looks a lot like the sort of thing you’d encounter in Lower Manhattan on the west side of Canal Street.
Nature called, but unlike Manhattan, you don’t need to pee in the street like a dog in Pittsburgh. I stopped off at a restaurant and asked if I could use the bathroom. The kid at the counter looked at me like I was crazy and said ‘sure, it’s right there sir.’ On my way back out I dropped a few coins in the tips jar and said thanks.
Imagine that… you can find a bathroom when you need to.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The ground began to angle upwards as I headed towards the campus’ street grid. I kept on thinking about how my old pal Kevin Walsh from Forgotten-NY would be in absolute heaven wandering about this area with its stock of centuried buildings.
I was heading straight up the hill towards the titular edge of the landform, however, and didn’t have time for the ‘used to be, once, long ago’ thought process. Back tomorrow with where I was going and what I saw when I got there, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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Moor, moor, moor
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Really, one of the great things about the process of producing this site is the constant learning process it requires. I had no idea that a Catholic Saint called ‘St. Benedict the Moor’ existed prior to having walked past a church dedicated to him in Pittsburgh. That’s where the learning process starts.
It seems that this particular saint is the patron saint of African Americans, dark skinned peoples of African descent globally, and the island of Sicily in particular. I’ve also recently learned that Rome is mid step through the process of beatifying a new Saint whose domain will be the internet, and whose ritual dress representation in iconography will involve wearing a track suit. Say what you want about the Catholics, but they do keep up with the times, somewhat. Can’t wait to see what they do with AI.
Me? I was on my way somewhere else, scuttling up and down the hills and valleys of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it turns out, the church pictured above is the center of St. Benedict the Moor Parish. It’s a short walk away from the Epiphany Church described yesterday, but unlike Epiphany – the door at St. Benedict the Moor wasn’t open so my Vampire rule demanded I keep scuttling. Regardless, I was on my way to somewhere else anyway.
One had taken the light rail into ‘town,’ and whereas I had a fairly loose plan as far as getting from “A to B,” plenty of time for serendipity to strike was planned in. The thing about Pittsburgh is that you have to have some sort of plan when you leave HQ. It ain’t like New York where you burn out five to ten miles of linear walking, secure in the knowledge that there’ll be a subway nearby to carry you back.
There’s a fairly extensive network of bus based transit here, but truth be told – in these first six months in Pittsburgh I haven’t ridden the bus yet. Yes, it’s been six months since I left NYC, as of this week.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s been something that I’ve wanted to do since my very first Amtrak trip out here back in 2021, and on this particular walkabout it was my stated goal to scratch that itch. It was one of those rare days in Pittsburgh when you get a clear blue sky, with perfect spring weather.
I had geared up in a light manner, leaving the tripod and other camera frammistats at home. I had three lenses with me, a couple of extra camera batteries, and I was wearing my Staten Island Pizza Rats baseball cap. It was in the middle 60’s, temperature wise. Sweatshirt weather is my favorite kind of weather.
More tomorrow.
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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.
An Epiphany
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… you know how I always mention the ‘vampire rule’ which I religiously follow? The one about needing an invitation to do my thing? Well, under the prevailing interpretation of Vampire law in these United States, an open door is a literal invitation. Imagine the cacodaemonic joy that arose within a humble narrator’s breast upon noticing that the entryway door to the lovely church, pictured above, was propped open. It was everything I could do not to transmogrify into a cloud of bats and chaotically fly in there.
That’s the 1902 vintage Church of the Epiphany Catholic Church, designed by architect Edward Stotz, with interiors by John T. Comes. It’s a landmark! Really, I took a picture of the sign. I’ve seen several contradictory descriptions for the section of Pittsburgh I was walking through – Uptown, The Bluff, or The Hill District. Still quite new to this region, I don’t know where one neighborhood starts and another one ends. Perhaps I was at a locus point twixt the three.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One scuttled through the door, and then into the main chapel area. I didn’t linger, as the vampire way calls for one to get in for a quick snack, and then depart in surreptitious fashion. The lights within the building were not on, or perhaps they had dimmed because of my presence… who can say? The Church of the Epiphany’s website offers a detailed history of Epiphany Parish and the structure itself, naming the muralists and stained glass crafts people – check it out here. Really, really nice sacred space this.
As mentioned in the past, despite my Judaic upbringing and heritage, I’ve got a real appreciation for Roman Catholic architecture and iconography. Part of this is due to the fact that my Dad worked for the Archdiocese of New York, at the New York Foundling Hospital in Manhattan for over thirty years, and thereby I spent a bunch of time as a kid in proximity to the Sisters of Mercy and the Jesuits. As an adult, whenever I’ve had a chance to point my lens at a Catholic Church or cemetery I’ve taken it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in one of the corners, there was a display which was likely Easter related, but my initial reaction to it was “somebody must be a Star Wars fan.” “Look it that – they got Statues of three Jedi, but they’ve got the color wrong on the Baby Yoda one.” Right after thinking that, the filthy black raincoat was suddenly filled by a man shaped pyramid of rats. All of my constituent parts then scuttled back onto the street where a reassembly into the normal simulacra would be accomplished. Two particularly large rodents carried the camera, if you’re curious.
Note: I, of course, realize that those aren’t statues of Jedi Knights nor is the little one Baby Yoda. It should also go without saying that my experience of leaving the church building didn’t exactly play out like this, but it’s not far from what happened.
Back 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 