Posts Tagged ‘Greenpoint’
Magic Lantern Show
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is needless to say, of course, is that my magic lantern is digital. In the dawn of the age of photography, journeyman shooters would travel all around the world, or to corners of the City which the genteel upper crust would eschew- and capture images of titillating subjects for the entertainment and evangelization of the moneyed classes who would otherwise never encounter such things. Jacob Riis and Matthew Brady come to mind, and whereas your humble narrator would never allow himself to invoke those names for fear of the vast hubris it would call crashing down about my ears, a belief nevertheless persists around Newtown Pentacle HQ that such an exhibition can still find a modern audience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just under an hour long, this Magic Lantern Show about Newtown Creek is personally narrated, and transports the viewer to every corner of the Newtown Creek- every tributary and street end, on the water and above it, and is presented in the idiosyncratic and off beat manner which has become familiar to regular readers of this- your Newtown Pentacle. It attempts to explain certain core questions in under an hour which have been repeatedly presented to me over the last couple of years, and the entire talk is illustrated with both my photography and historical researches and documents:
- What exactly do you mean by the “Newtown Pentacle”?
- When did the Newtown Creek begin to matter?
- Why should I care, how does the Newtown Creek affect me, as I live in Manhattan?
- Where exactly is this place?
- Who is responsible for this mess, and exactly who is it that’s going to clean it up?
- How can I get involved and help my community revitalize and or restore the Newtown Creek?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The entire evening will cost you a mere sawbuck, or $5 as it’s referred to in modernity (and I’m not altogether certain what the deal is if you’re already a GAHS member, you’d be best served by checking in with them), and will be presented at the Greater Astoria Historical Society on June 6th, 2011 at 7p.m. I’d love to see you there, and there will be a question and answer period after the show, in which I’ll endeavor to respond to any random question from the audience. Luckily, GAHS will be there, should my knowledge fall short. Come one, come all.
Believe it or not, this still isn’t the BIG announcement. Await with baited breath the next thrilling installment of this- your Newtown Pentacle.
delicate individual
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Less than 2 weeks ago, I was wandering around in Greenpoint, heading for the street address of Continental Iron Works- the ship yard where the USS Monitor was laid down at West St. between Calyer and Quay near the Bushwick inlet. It was on Greenpoint Avenue when the shot above was stumbled across, close to where Newell crosses (or perhaps crossed) it. The big attractions in this neighborhood are the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant and the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, of course, but the acquisition of certain geographic knowledge is critical to several of my irksome studies at the moment (and even if the site has been obliterated in modernity), the efficacy of certain… theories of mine… depends on direct observation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While wandering about, the attention of several itinerant laborers became focused upon me, and although their jocular suggestions about destinations for my camera were titillating, my nervous nature took control over my ambitions for the afternoon and an effort was made to remove myself from their company in the fastest manner possible. The step of a coward is a quick one, but this odd truck trailer was spotted and demanded attention. I’m positive that someone else got this before me, likely Ms. Heather, but for a single moment your humble narrator stood tall to bring you its amusing visage.
…Also, I didn’t know the 7 train ran in Greenpoint…
ruthless conquest
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Terrible in its grandeur, the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant dominates the landscape around Greenpoint’s border with Long Island City. The Nature Walk which skirts part of its shoreline with Newtown Creek affords rare and untrammeled access to the industrial waterway, and provides an interesting vantage point to the traveling photographer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All sorts of artistic flourishes adorn the Nature Walk, one of which is pictured above that purports to show the primeval Newtown Creek and the vast meanderings of it’s course. The bottom of the frame represents the East River, and the coiling shape to the left is Dutch Kills. Note that the original course of the waterway was far reaching, and extended far beyond the modern bulkheads. In olden times, this area was referred to as “waste lands” while in modern times we call such territory “coastal wet lands”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Still under construction, the section of Whale Creek hidden from view is where the sludge handling docks will be. One can expect the enormous sludge tank at the East River on Commercial Street to be demolished when these are done, and opportunities to photograph the City’s fleet of Sludge Boats up close and personal are sure to abound.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Without a hint of irony, this section of the Nature Walk is called the Scent Garden, and it is well stocked with (often indigenous) aromatic plantings. It extends back a few hundred yards, and seems to be the spot where workers at the plant go to on breaks as evinced by cigarette butts and garbage pails full of fast food packaging. Interesting spot, but not so much visually.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Across the Newtown Creek on the Queens side is the “big show”. The mouth of Dutch Kills is occluded by a non functioning swing bridge and a static truss bridge. I’ve been told that should the swing bridge need to be opened, it is accomplished by using Tow Trucks of the sort used for heavy vehicles which winch stout steel cables temporarily attached to the structure. Your humble narrator hasn’t observed this himself, so it is hearsay- albeit from a quite reliable source.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Newtown Creek Dock, once the Night Soil and Offal Dock and later the LIRR Manure dock, is currently under a century long lease to SimsMetal. A global player in the recycling trade, Sims is contracted by the DSNY to receive several of the materials they collect for processing and disposal. They shred paper and plastic, shatter glass, and sunder metal.
I can sit and watch this operation go for hours at a time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I would be keen to actually visit Sims, but I’ve been told that this is another one of the VERY dangerous places to be on Newtown Creek. That giant pile of metal that is being sorted used to be automobiles, and the tiny toy dump trucks in the background are actually oversized wreckers. Enormous machines moving at industrial speed, with vast tonnages of metal being shredded? Not a place for a civilian, or so I’m told.
Still…
Newtown Creek Waste Water Plant Time Capsule
I received this email a couple of weeks ago- how could I resist going?
New York City Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway Invites you to join him for the Newtown Creek Time Capsule Ceremony.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, 329 Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn
As is usually the case with such events, local political figures and high officials of the municipality can be expected to turn up. DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway, Assemblyman Joe Lentol, and City Council Member Stephen Levin were in attendance, as were several prominent citizens and business leaders of the Greenpoint community were there as well.
The kids in the shots were Class 5-313 of the Samuel P. Dumont P.S. 31 Magnet School for the Arts and Humanities, who placed drawings in a time capsule not to be opened some in 50 years. Other items placed in the capsule included the latest infrastructure and strategic plans of the DEP, periodicals, and other City documents concerning the water system of New York City.
Project Firebox 21
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The stout forearms and colorful urban patois which once identified and distinguished those who emanate from storied Greenpoint no longer betray the origins of all its residents, due to the caste of bohemians and esthetes who have lately made the ancient village their home. Observe the ironic wit, sardonic smile, and postmodern vacuity of this long suffering alarm box at the terminus of Greenpoint Avenue where it collides with the East River.
The Newtown Pentacle 