Posts Tagged ‘Greenpoint’
plague borne
That’s twice, in as many months now, that I have become infected.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator often likes to opine that due to constant proximity to the Newtown Creek, and the immune system’s response to the many bacterial and viral pathogens encountered, that he seldom gets sick. The statement continues that “when I do come down with something, it’s a whopper.”
So much so, that as I was writing this post, I accidentally hit “publish” before it was done, but that’s the sort of week I’ve had so far. One has been in “high suffer” with some sort of viral infection – not necessarily the flu – but something “flu like” which has interrupted both sleep and regular feeding schedules. For a couple of days there, not more than forty five minutes of sleep at a time occurred, which was punctuated by what I describe as cough syrup hallucinations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When sleep has occurred, it has been beneath multiple blankets, which have been found to be saturated with perspiration upon awakening. That’s how the shots of laundromats figure into today’s post, if you were wondering. Curiousity wasn’t conquered by this viral onslaught by the way.
According to the NY Times, ca. 1901, the term “blanket” is actually a brand name dating back to 1339 which has become ubiquitous. Thomas Blanket manufactured a revolutionary textile product in England’s Bristol back then, which gathered admiration and protection from the crown.
Back to my personal misery – this virus is “going around” and quite a few people I know have contracted it prior to my own infection. Chills and sweats, a violent cough, and general ennui typify the experience. I’ve actually been lucky inasmuch as I’ve been hosting a later stage version of it than what others have experienced.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For one such as myself, the worst part of the experience was missing out on the three or four days of spring like warmth and that night of heavy fog which one had been planning on exploiting fully for photographic pursuits.
All I want to do is play in traffic, after all.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
familiar rookery
It’s National Eat a Red Apple Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The holiday season arrives at Newtown Creek in a manner alien to the neighborhoods surrounding it.
Hereabouts it’s truck tires roasting on a open fire, and that ain’t Jack Frost nipping at your nose kiddo, it’s benzene. Reviewing my year end list of; all the mistakes I’ve newly made, people I’ve offended, stupid things I’ve said in public, or generally humiliated myself somehow – it occurred that I hadn’t checked in on things in DUKBO (Down Under the Kosciuszcko Bridge Onramp) in about a month.
That’s the scene, above, at the spot where Review Avenue transmogrifies into Laurel Hill Blvd. at Penny Bridge, in the Blissville section of Long Island City, in the Borough of Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long time readers of this – your Newtown Pentacle – will tell you that this bridge replacement project has been explored before.
Documenting this project has been a long standing project of mine – this 2012 post tells you everything you could want to know about Robert Moses, Fiorella LaGuardia, and the origins of the 1939 model Kosciuszcko Bridge. Just before construction started, I swept through both the Brooklyn and Queens sides of Newtown Creek in the area I call “DUKBO” – Down Under the Kosciuszcko Bridge Onramp. Here’s a 2014 post, and another, showing what things used to look like on the Brooklyn side, and one dating back to 2010, and from 2012 discussing the Queens side – this. Construction started, and this 2014 post offers a look at things. There’s shots from the water of Newtown Creek, in this June 2015 post, and in this September 2015 post, which shows the bridge support towers rising. Additionally, this post from March of 2016 detailed the action on the Queens side. Most recently, here’s one from May of 2016, and one from June of the same year. Here’s one from August of 2016, the December 2016 one, one from March of 2017 which discusses the demolition of the 1939 bridge.
Here’s a post showing what I saw during a pre opening walk through in early April of 2017, and the fanfare surrounding the opening of half of the new bridge in April of 2017, a walk through of the Brooklyn side job site in June of 2017. Here’s some night shots from early July of 2017. A series of posts focused in on the removal of the central truss of the 1939 bridge from the summer of 2017 – a timelapse, some stills, and the barging out of the truss.
Most recently, in late September of 2017, a final series of shots of the old bridge were captured in this post. Acquisition of a souvenir chunk of steel from the 1939 bridge was described in this post, and a video of the “energetic felling” of the approaches on October 1st was offered in this one. Still shots and views of the aftermath from the waters of Newtown Creek from later in the day on Oct. 1 are found in this posting, and the aftermath of the demolition as seen from Calvary Cemetery in LIC’s Blissville section in this post from October 5th.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
They’re still hard at work demolishing the rubble left behind by the “energetic felling” of the 1939 model Kosciuszcko Bridge at the start of October. These shots were captured from the hills of Calvary Cemetery, if you haven’t already figured that one out yet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The reinforced concrete piers that carried the roadway are being demolished using traditional means. That involves the yellow thingamabob being equipped with a chisel hammer, and the guy on the orange lift is spraying water on the concrete to mitigate dust.
The shots of the Queens side of DUKBO in today’s post were shot on November 17th, a Friday.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the following Sunday the 19th, a humble narrator scuttled over to the Poison Cauldron in Greenpoint.
That’s my pet name for the section of DUKBO that begins at Kingsland Avenue and heads east past Meeker Avenue to the National Grid fencelines at Lombardy Street. It’s ugly in the Poison Cauldron, I tell you, ugly. Things can’t “get from bad to worse” because they’re already there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Similar industrial demolition and scrap removal practices to those in Queens are also occurring on the Brooklyn side. Unlike the Queens side, however, I was able to walk right up to and on the job site. I even used one of the Porta Potties they had stationed to blow some internal ballast (hey, it’s a fairly long walk from Astoria).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is odd for me to see light in this spot… this was always an area permeated by shadows, which I now long for.
Additionally, not being chased, threatened, or harassed by the questionable managers of a local waste transfer station as to “whatchu takin pictchas of asshole, getdafukouttaherre” – said operation having been displaced by the construction activity – was not missed at all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The only thing going through my mind was that this scene looked like a battle had been fought here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m sure I’ll have a bit more to tell you about the Kosciuszcko Bridge shortly, as there’s supposed to be a meeting of the Stakeholders Committee coming up in early December.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was only so far I wanted to go, as this was and is an active demolition site.
Luckily, that’s what zoom lenses are for.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The things you see along the Newtown Creek…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
… if you don’t take pictures of them, nobody would believe you.
How can such a place be real, and that so few people even know it exists, this omphalos of New York City?
Upcoming Tours and events
Calvary Cemetery Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – Sunday, December 10th, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Explore NYC history, hidden inside sculptural monuments and mafioso grave sites, as you take in iconic city views on this walking tour, with Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
fouled iteration
It’s National Noodle Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is not what you might describe as a “morning person.” Despite my predeliction for being awake during the “hour of the wolf” and the “witching hour,” however, duties and obligation have seen me waking up before the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself presents itself in the eastern sky for the last couple of weeks.
An interval of confusion, and sudden onset of weakness and physiological discohesion, occurs periodically and causes me to fall into unconsciousness. One then wildly hallucinates for several hours – which I think you people call “dreaming sleep” – and this has been occurring earlier and earlier in the evening of late. One classifies this as “no good.” I’ve always opined that my ancestors were the ones who sat at the mouth of the cave with a spear whilst the rest of the tribe slept, at the ready to fight off nocturnal bears or opportunistic giant serpents. The only time I enjoy seeing the oculus of God itself rising is when I’ve been up all night.
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was working late one recent night here at HQ in Astoria, despite having seen the entire solar cycle play out, when a change in atmospherics occurred and a blanket of fog rolled through the ancient village. Couldn’t resist setting up my old Canon G10 on its magnetic tripod and cracking out a few shots – just to capture the utter creepiness of the night.
As a note, this was proper fog, not a precipitating mist. The latter is ruinous to try and capture, as it’s actually “grounded rain” rather than the fine mist typical of the former. On nights such as this, the stout Croatians of Astoria bind their windows shut tightly, proclaiming that the fog might carry some miasmic disease or mysterious things that swim through the air. Strigoi, they call them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Greenpoint, on one of the early morning outings which I’ve been forced to endure, this evidentiary shot was captured showing that the Queens Cobbler serial killer is still amongst us and continuing their deviltry. Someday, we will all know the truth of the Cobbler, if he or she doesn’t get us first and leave behind a single shoe, meant to serve as a taunt for the Golden Shield Detectives of the NYPD to analyze and puzzle over.
Who can guess, all there is, that happens in the darkest corners of the Newtown Pentacle at night?
I will say it again – BAH!
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
flowing ichor
It’s National Vodka Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the moment, one is not even sure what day it is, due to multitudinous “things I have to do” which have played out over the last two weeks. A lot of these have involved leaving the house before the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself has risen and arriving back at Newtown Pentacle HQ after it has occluded itself behind New Jersey. It is impossible for me to focus on or make “small talk” at the moment, as a tidal force swirls behind my eyes and between my ears.
In short, I’m pooped.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll have another set of Koscisuzcko Bridge shots ready for you which I captured yesterday before having to utterly change gear and put on a suit to go to a fancy pants gala dinner over in the city. Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen was a speaker, and in pursuance of not heckling her, I went outside instead and chatted with a lovely fellow who had spent 28 years in the NYPD who was sharing some of his war stories with me.
I really cannot stand listening to any member of the De Blasio executive team blowing their own horns.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I think that’s a Monarch Butterfly in the shot above. It’s kind of a pretty shot, I think, which is made interesting by the fact that the flowering plants the butterfly is inspecting are growing at a sewer plant in Greenpoint, and that the water forming the background of the shot is Newtown Creek.
Never know what you’re going to see along my beloved creek, so it’s best to always carry a camera whe you’re there, otherwise no one will believe what you tell them without some sort of photographic backup.
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
true conditions
It’s National Salami Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On this day, in 70 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem. In 1776, the very first submarine attack on a warship occurred in New York Harbor when the Turtle attached a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle. In 1860, Garibaldi entered Naples and began the process of creating the modern day Nation of Italy. In 1921, the first Miss America pageant was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Over in San Francisco back in 1927, inventor Philo Farnsworth demonstrated the first television signal. Benjamin, the last of the thylacines, died alone in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936. In 1940, the Nazis began the London Blitz, and in 1978 Rock and Roll drummer Keith Moon kicked the bucket.
The cool car pictured above was spotted in Greenpoint, incidentally. I was out one night conducting a walking tour of Newtown Creek and happened across it. The graffiti is what drew me in.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After conducting the walking tour, one set upon his path back towards the rolling hills of almond eyed Astoria, but had to pass through the concrete devastations of Hunters Point and Queens Plaza in order to do so. It was a nice night, and I decided upon walking home. On my way, I passed by the Queens Midtown Tunnel and captured this shot.
The funny bit – to me at least – about the current efforts by the State of New York to elimate toll booths in favor of electronic tolling is that no one thought about what happens on the Manhattan side of the tunnel. I’ve been noticing massive traffic backups on the Long Island Expressway since they instituted the new system, which was meant to ease traffic and smooth the commute for the 80,000 or so daily vehicle trips through the tunnel. The toll booths had the effect of causing traffic to pulse through the toll plaza four or five at a time, but now the traffic just snakes into it. The head of the snake emerges into the City and is met by traffic lights on second avenue. Those traffic lights are now the de facto governors of how fast traffic can flow through the tunnel, and on the 71 miles of the Long Island Expressway found to the east of it.
The military guys and gals have a word for this sort of thing – it’s “FUBAR.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Astoria, it was preternaturally dark when I arrived home, but this sort of thing doesn’t bother my little dog Zuzu. She operates by smell and sound, my dog, and as we engaged in her evening saunter and as she performed her investigative sniffing, I was growing increasingly apprehensive for some reason.
My pineal gland was twitching with latent horror.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As we swung back around onto Broadway and made our way back towards HQ, a large group of teenaged men were riding their bicycles down the block in a pack. According to a report I saw on the local CBS TV news, events such as this are to be viewed in a menacing light and feared. I found it menacing simply because they’re all teenagers. Darned kids, with their bicycles and the hip hop, engaging in group activities without first obtaining police permits or parental approval. Chaos!
There should be a curfew for anyone under the age of thirty, I tell ya. Damn kids.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bicycles such as the ones pictured above are a fairly modern invention, but some scholars attribute the first bike design to a sketch by one of DaVinci’s students in 1534. The first verified appearance of bicycles was in the 19th century, specifically in 1817 Germany with the “dandy horse.” These were “running machines” which were operated sans pedals or chains. The velocipede era saw the addition of pedals to the front wheel, but it wasn’t until 1863 that a french engineer came up with what we’d recognize instantly as a bike – with pedals and a chain driven rotary crank. What you’re looking at in the shot above are 21st century variants of what was introduced as the “safety bicycle” back in 1885. John Dunlop introduced the pneumatic tire in 1888. In 1889, the diamond shaped frame of the modern bike was introduced, in a model that also folded. The modern multi geared bike, which included a “Derailleur” mechanism on the chain, came on the scene at the start of the 20th century. Everything since has simply been refinement of the design.
Teenagers, however, have always been dangerous and unpredictable. Curfew!
Upcoming Tours and events
Calvary Cemetery Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – Saturday, September 9th, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Explore NYC history, hidden inside sculptural monuments and mafioso grave sites, as you take in iconic city views on this walking tour, with Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 