Posts Tagged ‘Long Island City’
disturbed by
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 3rd, as mentioned yesterday, found me at the Hell Gate section of the East River nearby Astoria Park and the Triborough Bridge. After hanging around the joint for about 90 minutes during what turned out to be a light show of a sunset, I packed away my zoom lenses and tripod and converted the camera over to handheld mode and attached my “night kit” lenses.
This was one of my short walks, as I call them, but ultimately I was out and about on my feet for about five hours and had walked about six miles by the time I got back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You can have and use all the kit you can carry, and after an hour and half of futzing around with tripod and filters and fancy shooting techniques, my favorite shot of the effort are the two in today’s post – handheld and high ISO.
What are you gonna do?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 5th saw me hanging around HQ waiting for it to get dark and for a delivery to arrive. While I was waiting, a pack of birds descended on the forever puddle found on my next door neighbor’s roof. Next to this stagnant waterbody is my outdoor porch area, here in Astoria, so I outfitted the camera with a telephoto lens and got busy waiting for a bird to fly onto one of my wires.
Every time I try to say what kind of a bird a bird is, I get it wrong, so I just make up names for them myself. Accordingly – that’s a Peruvian Pepper Hen drying its feathers. It’s call sounded like this – GRAKKLE – which should let you know that I actually do know what kind of bird this bird is, but am smart enough not to venture any analysis of speciation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My back was sore, and my feet hurt, but I still wanted to get out and do “something.” Drinking at a bar just isn’t exciting to me anymore, in fact it’s become kind of a sad thing these days. Most of the “Astoria Commentariat” at my “local” really doubled down on the substance abuse thing during the pandemic, and shooting the shit with folks in downward spirals is just depressing. Hope they can catch themselves.
I decided thereby, that it would be a “ride the trains” night. Only $2.75.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The N was caught in Astoria, which carried me to the Queensboro Plaza IRT station, and the most photogenic of NYC’s subways – the 7. I hung around on the platform for the arrival and departure of several train sets, and struck up conversation with a young guy who was a bit of a railfan. “I could stand here and watch this all night,” he told me.
For me, that wasn’t the case.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I shot a few frames of the 7’s entering the station, and then hopped on an express which took me to Woodside. I waved the camera around a bit at a few other stops, mainly the ones along Queens Boulevard. Then I debarked from the system at 40th Lowery Street and walked back to HQ in Astoria, whereupon I downloaded the captured images and began the processing/developing process.
To recap – I showed up. I did the work. I went home.
“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.
dreaded reality
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sometimes, it rains.
After a late afternoon and early evening of threatening weather, with a humble narrator carefully choosing his path to offer shelter from the ominous skies, the amount of energy flowing about in the heavens caused a Götterdämmerung of a storm to pop. Water began cascading down, and I ducked under the off ramps of the Queensboro Bridge found at Dutch Kills Street for a few minutes until the initial torrent passed through.
You gotta know your zone, I always say.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once the initial flush of storm had crackled through, I deployed the umbrella again and began quick stepping to a subway stop at Queens Plaza which would allow me to get back to Astoria with a minimum of fuss.
Saying that, water was flying around horizontally, and upon returning to HQ, I had to turf out all my gear from the bags and hang them off of a hook for an entire day to allow them to dry out. The gear on the interior of the bags was fine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it, just in time as it turned out, to the intended stop.
Lots of people were running about, and I discovered that about 60% of the population in LIC doesn’t check the weather before they leave for the day. This was obvious, because of the fact that only about 40% of passerby were outfitted with umbrellas or other rain gear. Of course, the population of people who have recently moved into Queens Plaza’s new luxury condos display a gait that indicates that walking is a fairly novel experience for them, as opposed to stationary cycling on their Pelotons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It took about 5 minutes for the R to arrive “downstairs” at the Queens Plaza IND station, and I boarded a train.
What? You people don’t wear masks on the subway anymore?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Astoria and the sky had really opened up.
I’ve worked out a system for carrying my umbrella that involves jamming it in amongst the straps of the two bags I use for my camera gear. I’m able to thereby able to not have to commit an entire hand to carrying and managing it, which allows me to keep on shooting.
I’d normally toss a shot like the one above, with the umbrella in frame, but there’s something I really like about it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had to fjord a couple of street rivers on my way back to HQ.
You’re not imagining it, by the way. Storms in NYC are quite different than they used to be and our average rainfall is actually a lot higher than it used to be. It’s disguised by the official numbers, which describe “precipitation” rather than rain or snow. NYC doesn’t get multiple yards of snow anymore, which melts slowly, instead it gets drenching rains and powerful thunderstorms which flood the streets.
“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.
frequent fumbling
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After exiting the Court Square subway stop in Long Island City and crossing Jackson Avenue, the Manhattan bound 7 train runs on an elevated truss bridge which follows Davis Street. Davis Street is where the Neptune Water Meter company used to be found, which is the factory building that became 5ptz – the graffiti and street art gallery. These days, there are tower apartments sitting on the site, and their owners call them 5ptz. Grrr.
Davis Street is where Batman’s parents were murdered by gunman Joe Chill in at least two cinematic iterations of the crime, and I think Highlander once had a sword fight there too. These days, there ain’t too much to see on Davis, other than the soundproofed walls of luxury condominium towers. Soul? None.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m Facebook friends with a lot of people I’ve never met in “meatspace.” One of them is an artist who carries his sketchbook to a lot of the same places that I bring the camera. Monte Antrim. Look him up, great stuff. Anyway, Monte had posted a drawing of a derelict car he found at the end of Davis Street which intrigued me, and since I was in the neighborhood…
Why not?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a very, very late model car and something I can tell you for certain is that it was dumped here in the last couple of years. That’s odd. How certain am I? Very. I have been haunting this area for 15 years.
I’m told it used to be a Mercedes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I whipped out the tripod for this series of shots, as my desire was to reduce the distraction offered the water’s texture. The tripod allowed me to do a longish exposure, and the wind driven ripples were thereby smoothed out into a mirror finish.
There’s another condo building that’s opening down at the end of Davis Street, found under the screaming steel wheels of the Subway. The looks I was getting from them… on a street once renowned – globally – for attracting artists… Maybe if I had set myself up to do some investment banking it would have seemed normal to them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A sign adorning the new building promised studio apartments starting at “just $660,500” were available for immediate occupancy. This is what their frontage looks like.
It’s a scam, you’ve been had. You been took. There’s a state superfund site on the other side of that railyard fence and there’s a federal superfund site 3/4 of a mile away. You’re living on top of what used to be a chemical factory. Every ten minutes a subway train goes past your window generating 100+ decibels of ear damage. The elevated tracks are dripping with dielectric oils and PCB’s. You’ve got the off ramps of the Queensboro Bridge a quarter mile away, and traffic is always heavy, as is auto exhaust. If you’ve got that kind of money, you could be living in a house rather than a noisy and polluted box. It’s also not a good investment, no matter what the broker told you. You’ll be lucky to get your original capital back when you sell.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sigh… what’s the point anymore.
The good news is that I continued to not get wet as the rain began to really come down. My umbrella was deployed and I continued scuttling towards Queens Plaza and the subway ride back to Astoria.
“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.
unfrequented moor
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My plan for avoiding a series of thunderstorms on June 1st involved placing myself in areas which host some sort of structure above. The Pulaski Bridge just happens to be one of those structures. While waiting for a Long Island Railroad train to pass by, some bloke struck up a conversation with me. Turns out he was a homeless veteran who is residing at the Borden Avenue Men’s Shelter a few blocks away, and he described conditions there as being fairly grim. He was the kind of Vet who still dresses in his army uniform – khaki BDU’s and a boonie hat, long hair and a beard. Nice enough guy.
We seriously have to do better by our veterans.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Vet guy offered aid to a different homeless fellow that suddenly appeared, and agreed to walk him to another homeless shelter which is found in Greenpoint at Clay Street on the other side of the bridge, and they set off for Brooklyn together. I bid them good luck, and continued to use the Pulaski Bridge as a grandiose umbrella while photographing LIRR trains transiting to and from along the siding found under the bridge.
This is an “at street grade crossing,” which is fairly rare in NYC. Robert Moses spent a lot of time and treasure reducing the number of these during his decades in power.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rain began to intensify, and a humble narrator deployed his actual umbrella while beginning to head back towards “civilization.” Once again, I took up station on a foot bridge over the tracks, and this time around it was the Long Island Expressway which offered me a “rain shadow” to shoot from. Rain shadows are caused by structures. If you know your zone well enough, you know exactly where to walk to stay mostly dry. There’s also wind shadows. Dry patch of pavement during a thunderstorm? Rain Shadow.
One of the problems with “modern design” construction, the sort that sends mirror box rhombuses thrusting rudely at the sky, is that they create strong wind currents at sidewalk level and they rob pedestrians of comfort. I’m of the belief that this is part of their design – to make the urban environment around them hostile so as to discourage loitering, and to encourage you to buy a luxury condo just to get out of the turbulence.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The rain I was experiencing was just the leading edge of a stronger system of storms heading into the area, so after a few more shots of passing LIRR trains, I shot back under the LIE and started heading back towards the subway in case I need to duck and cover.
As it turned out, just as I got back to Hunters Point Avenue and the 7 stop found there, it stopped raining. Hooray.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As long as I was there, and it was now right about the height of what used to be called rush hour, it would have been silly not to get some shots of the trains heading out of Sunnyside Yards and towards the City.
That’s a New Jersey Transit train, for the curious. They spend their days in Queens at Sunnyside Yards, in between rush hours.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An Amtrak unit or two came rolling by as well, and I decided that I was pushing my luck – weather wise. The scuttling continued, and rather than getting on the 7 (which I would have taken to Jackson Heights and then transferred onto an R or M) I’d instead take the chance and walk over towards Queens Plaza for a connection to the R at the downstairs IND station.
More on that 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.
cavern eyed
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the 1st of June, two things were annoying me. Well… lots of things were annoying me, but leading the parade were an ominous weather forecast and a bit of lower back pain. I had stupidly deleted an entire folder of photos by accident the day before, and lost several nice shots so I was also really annoyed at myself. I decided on a pathway for the day’s effort which would involve constant access to areas that could offer me shelter from the prophesied thunderstorms and rain when they arrived.
Luckily, half of Western Queens is located underneath a highway overpass or an elevated subway line. Off to 31st street did I scuttle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A quick walk to the N line at 31st street saw me boarding a train and heading towards Queensboro Plaza. The N is an IND train, like the R and M, but it operates out of the IRT station at Queensboro Plaza.
Queensboro Plaza (IRT) is the one “upstairs,” whereas Queens Plaza (IND) is the one “downstairs.” How dysfunctional is the MTA? They still maintain an inter operational distinction between the two systems after nearly six decades of operating them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Moving through the transit system and seamlessly transferring from line to line is what makes you a New Yorker. My “don’t get wet” plan involved – as stated – staying close to areas of cover for when the sky broke open and rain started pissing down. Yeah, I could’ve just stayed home, but after accidentally deleting an entire “roll” of shots I had a fire in my belly to do some work.
Exultant, that’s how I felt when the 7 line arrived. One boarded the train and set off for my next destination.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Hunters Point Avenue 7 Station was where I debarked, and where the plan for my day continued. I got a couple of shots of a Flushing bound 7 on the other side of the station heading towards Court Square before scuttling up the stairs to the street.
I love the esthetics of this particular station, and will reiterate my statement that the 7 is the most photogenic of all the subway lines.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up on the sidewalk, there’s a hole in the fence I like to use when passing by, and luckily for me – the 7 line service is so frequent after its painfully long to install CBTC upgrades – another Manhattan bound train was already on its way into the Hunters Point Avenue station on the truss bridge over Sunnyside Yards which connects to the Court Square Station after traveling over Davis Street.
Yes. Nerd. Me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My next stop was a few blocks away, in DUPBO – Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp. There’s a Long Island Railroad siding hereabouts. If you’re in the neighborhood – usually weekdays between 4 and 6 – there’s a very, very good chance you’ll get to see something like the shot above playing out.
More 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 