Posts Tagged ‘Downtown Pittsburgh’
Nonchalance
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above was gathered in downtown Pittsburgh, where modern urbanist notions of ‘building set backs,’ and corporations not blotting out the sun with skyscrapers which aren’t designed to allow sunlight to filter down to the narrow urban style streets, do not apply.
It’s always kind of dark in this section of the city, and apparently the landlords don’t think they’re making enough cash off their tenants, so they’re blaming homeless people, Covid, and ‘work from home.’ It’s not that they might be charging too much for the space, or that their corporate lessees want to base themselves in cheaper suburban horizontal style building campuses these days, which are closer to the highway and airport and in municipalities which offer tax incentives for basing there instead of here. It’s definitely not that at all, clearly it’s the fault of the roughly 1,000 homeless people in Pittsburgh that the big landlords earning estimates are off.
Also, as a note, I’ve been attempting to not mention anything related to the White House here, but yeah – you’ve got a real estate developer and landlord in charge right now. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I’m going to try and stay out of all of that here. As usual – I’ve got a lot of opinions on the matter, but I’m really trying to avoid even mentioning his name, as it gives him power in the manner of the Harry Potter villain ‘Voldemort.’
Saying all that, if you need a break from the headlines, come here, I’ll show you something different five days a week and will avoid naming ‘he who must not be named.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For instance: Recent occasion found me at the overlook platform provided by the Duquesne Incline, or as I refer to the facility – the ‘red one.’ Downtown Pittsburgh is in frame, a notable contrast from the first photo with its claustrophobic perspectives. I find that as I age, confined spaces are becoming anathema to me. During the early days just after my ankle surgery, I awoke in the middle of the night twisted up in the blanket, and positively freaked out in a panic as I felt trapped. It’s odd, the way the brain works, as I’ve always been somewhat neurotic, but have always been dangerously lacking in phobic behavior and fear.
As a middle aged/on the brink of ‘old’ guy, I’ve developed a series of things which make me uncomfortable which never used to bother me, except on a level of simple self preservation. I’ve started to not like heights terribly much, and as mentioned above – confined spaces.
The latter is something that’s always been there, since the 1980’s in Brooklyn when I was still a kid, and a race riot broke out on a city bus that I was riding. Full grown men were going at each other with abandon (the ‘Cugenes’ were pissed that a black kid from Crown Heights, part of a group of kids who were bussed from their neighborhood to the Cugene zone to go to school, had talked to one of the Italian kids’ sisters, or something – I don’t know, it was a riot and everybody was shouting) and there I was, still a kid and not even five feet tall yet, swept up in a battle between grown men as a non combatant. Brrr.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While I was up on the overlook adjoining the incline, on the first fully sunny day we’d seen in about two weeks, a Towboat negotiated its line of mineral barges up the Monongahela River and in the direction of the confluence point of the three rivers, here in Pittsburgh. It was likely going to continue onto the Ohio River, formed by the admixture of the Allegheny and Monongahela.
I’ve caught a little crap here in Pittsburgh for my insistence on using the term ‘mineral barges.’ “Cant yinz see dat its coal, yinz freakin liberal” is the sort of many derogatory comments I’ve received after posting photos on various social media groups. Sigh…
My answer remains the same as it always has, and it’s the same answer I’d give back in NYC on harbor and Newtown Creek tours: if I can’t say – for certain – what something is, I jump a category heading or two up the list. Yeah, that looks like coal. It could also be coke. It could also be piles of coffee grounds for all I know. Until I know – for sure – what something in a photo is, I’m guessing or assuming. I can say ‘minerals barges’ with certainty, but I’m guessing or assuming as far as what their contents are.
Remember Felix Unger’s, of the TV Odd Couple, breakdown for the word ‘assume?’ When you ‘assume,’ you make an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me.’
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.
So, how cold has it been in Pittsburgh?
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rivers have frozen over, that’s how cold it’s been. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the ice on the Allegheny River is about two to three inches thick here in Pittsburgh, but up river on the Allegheny River it’s as much as two to three feet thick. They’re worried about ice jams roaring down the river during the spring thaw, according to news reports. Exciting, no?
Your humble narrator drove over to the Mr. Rogers memorial, nearby the sportsball stadium where the Steelers live, recently to record the scene. These shots were gathered in that location.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Single digit temperatures have been the standard for at least a couple to three weeks now. It has snowed more or less every other day since the new year, and everything is covered in a rock hard sheath of ice with fresh snow powder on top. Very slippery.
I know what you’re thinking – hey, that must be a lot of fun – negotiating your way through that sort of wintry situation with the recently busted ankle, huh? Confirmed, it is – indeed – fun.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When shooting these, I was wearing a thermal layer against my skin, and on top of that I had on a T-shirt, and a flannel shirt, and a sweatshirt, and my winter coat – and I was still cold.
No pants.
Just kidding, I was wearing pants. Who goes to see Mr. Rogers sans culottes? Have some respect.
Back tomorrow with more, 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.
Focal lengths
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve said it a thousand times – you can’t see anything from a vehicle, especially when you’re the driver. It has to be walking, for me, if you want to notice something interesting about a city. The shots in today’s post were gathered from an automobile’s POV, I’d mention, and your humble narrator is frustrated at his need for transportation and wishes that this whole broken ankle business would just end already. I’m done.
Yesterday, one had a few errands to run, which took me about an hour and a half to accomplish. The rest of the day was mine, and the weather had unexpectedly abandoned its ultra cold and snowy character to reveal blue sky and sunlight. I had the camera bag sitting in the passenger seat and the camera securely perched next to the thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Would have been a great day for a winter walk, if it wasn’t for all of the hard packed ice clinging to the pavement everywhere. Medical opinion is that I’m coming out of this experience with a bit of PTSD related to the injury, so that ice situation filled me with anxiety and dread. My scuttling is careful and hesitant at the moment, with an uneven gait. Balance issues also seem to be a new entry onto my dance card. Wonderful, say I. Nothing like ‘dangling participles’ which you have to deal with long after a traumatic event occurred to remind you about it – constantly, and especially so around descending flights of steps.
Since I had the car with me, for which I had to worry about parking and such, my position kept on changing and I ranged across the city on a day when nothing particularly interesting was happening. Not five minutes after I left this spot – of course – a CSX freight train ran through, which I missed getting a shot of. If I was on foot… if only… bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a pretty frustrating afternoon, actually. One was trying to ‘force it,’ which never works out well. Pittsburgh wasn’t cooperating with my aspirations. The light wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Salt powder is on the wind, lifting up off of all the roadways whenever a car or truck drove by, lending everything a bit of an orange cast as light filters through it.
Saying all that, I’m practically doing this blog live right now, and the pixels are ‘still wet’ on these shots. One two hour walk would provide for serendipity, but that’s way outside of my capability at the moment.
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.
Vir Bonus
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above was captured on an entirely different day than the two following it, but it makes for a nice ‘establishing shot’ of where this particular walk started out for me. On the evening that this photo was actually captured, I was attending a work event at the Carnegie Science Center that was produced by the Adobe software outfit.
There was a mixer with food and drink, and a presentation about the company’s latest offerings. The mixer part of the night was fun, and I got to meet a few local artists and photographers. We were allowed out onto an elevated terrace at the Carnegie Science Center, one which overlooks the center of things here in Pittsburgh.
Later in the week, when the other shots were gathered – it was a short walk sort of day. After a ride into town on the T light rail, your humble narrator could be observed scuttling down the very road pictured above.
There wasn’t really a game plan for this walk, other than to just keep moving and kick my feet around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Whenever I’m in this area, a visit to the Mr. Rogers memorial occurs.
It’s always a good thing to be reminded that trying to be a good person doesn’t mean that you always are one, but that the most important thing is to try. Everyone is special, in their own way, Mr. Rogers opined. Also, he liked people just the way they are. Try some of that today, I’d suggest. Be kind.
Gosh, the world was a better place with Mr. Rogers in it. It’s no mistake that I wanted to live in his neighborhood (which was actually Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill section where I could not afford to live, I’d mention, but there you are) in this part of my life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This walk was but a part of my plans for the rest of the day. After the effort, Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself would be meeting up with friends back home and attending what turned out to be an incredibly lame ‘Ghost Tour’ of the Dormont suburb that HQ is located in. What the narrative turned out to be was essentially the top five Google hits for ‘unsolved capital crimes in Dormont.’ Disappointing.
Reflecting on Mr. Rogers’ message of positivity, however, the host did her best and brought a group of thirty or so strangers together on a Friday night for fun. Bless.
Back tomorrow with more.
“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.
Benedum-Trees Building roof tour
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described in posts all week long – Our Lady of the Pentacle and I purchased tickets for and attended one of Mark Houser’s ‘Antique Skyscraper’ tours. Houser is a journalist, author, and public speaker whose interests revolve around skyscrapers and the people who built them. A Pittsburgh native, Houser offers scheduled architectural tours, and in person presentations in his areas of expertise. Speaking as someone who’s hosted a walking tour or two over the years, I was impressed by his easy demeanor and command of the material.
It’s harder than it looks, guiding tours.
The last destination was the Benedum-Trees building, found in Downtown Pittsburgh. This corridor used to be (as Houser described it) the Wall Street of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Built in 1905, on Pittsburgh’s Fourth Avenue – by a female(!) real estate developer named Caroline Jones Machesney – this 19 story tall building was sold to two oil drilling magnates – Joe Trees, and Michael Late Benedum, in 1913. It seems that Machesny opposed Women’s suffrage, and contributed heavily towards opponents of that effort to allow full citizenship for women in the United States, which is probably why you’ve never heard of her – as Mr. Houser opined.
Mr. Houser wrote a profile of the place, and Machesny, for pittsburghmagazine.com which he contributes to regularly. It also hosts a photo of the building’s modern day owners, and a rooftop deck which Houser brought our group to, as the final stop on his antique skyscrapers tour.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Commanding views of ‘PPG Plaza,’ which is architect Philip Johnson’s somewhat sterile and anti-human Neo-Gothic design, are available from up top at the Benedum-Trees building. A vast and castellated mirror series of mirror boxes, PPG place is somewhat off putting to me. It relegates street level life to a series of cardboard cut outs, and denies any sort of organic interaction in favor of clean lines and a worshipful treatment of the building’s materials rather than the recognizing the people within the thing nor the teeming masses without.
That’s my opinion on the esthetic, by the way, and like butt-holes – everyone’s got one.
I moved along the fenced in deck, waving the camera about and recording the scenes. Run and gun, as I always say in such circumstances.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks towards the Allegheny River, with the 31 story and 1988 vintage Highmark building – aka Fifth Avenue Place – in focus. As a point of trivia, WWE Wrestler Kurt Angle’s construction worker father David was killed in an accident at this site in 1984.
The area surrounding these points of view are what I refer to as the ‘ceremonial center’ of the city, with the nearby ‘market square’ and ‘PPG plaza’ hosting events and serving as a gathering place for people during municipal occurrences. An ice rink is set up in PPG Plaza during the winter, and the most recent ‘Picklesburgh’ promotion was set up here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The tour was winding down, and we were directed towards the elevators to disburse. We thanked Mr. Houser for sharing his expertise and decided to grab dinner, locally, afterwards. We visited an outpost of Primanti Brothers, and each quaffed one of their ridiculously excessive sandwiches, along with a glass of cold beer. If you’re visiting Pittsburgh, you’ve got to eat at Primanti’s, in the same way that you have to go to Katz’s if you’re in NYC. It’s a thing.
We left the car at HQ, so it was a cab ride back to HQ in nearby Dormont for us.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I shot all of these ‘high above’ photos using the new 24-240mm lens which I’ve recently acquired, and this set of views were its official ‘try out’ mission. I’m keeping the thing.
Back next week with something different 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 