Posts Tagged ‘Long Island City’
brief and desolate
Vintage Tugboat at Newtown Creek – photo by Mitch Waxman
Note: This is a “reblog”, and was originally presented in August of 2010.
A rare opportunity to ride up the Newtown Creek was recently enjoyed by your humble narrator, and on my journey up that maligned cataract I spotted an artifact of New York Harbor’s glorious past sneaking past Hunters Point.
from epa.gov
Blue-claw crabs, bluefish, weakfish, striped bass, and other species inhabit the creek, and fishing and crabbing for human consumption occurs [Ref. 7, pp. 2, 5; 8, p. 11; 21, p. 13; 22, pp. 1-2; 24, p. 143; 52, p. 93; 68, p. 3; 69, p. 1]. Subsistence fishing has been observed in Newtown Creek at Dutch Kills, and crabbing for consumption has been observed at the end of Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn [Ref. 7, p. 5; 21, p. 13; 22, pp. 1-2; 68, p. 3; 69, p. 1]. These locations are both within the zone of contamination for the Newtown Creek site [Figure 2 of this HRS documentation record]. Therefore, Actual Contamination is documented, and the target fishery is evaluated for Actual Human Food Chain Contamination.
the W O Decker at Newtown Creek – photo by Mitch Waxman
Wooden hulled, its spitting steam boilers have long been replaced by modern diesel engines, this little (52 feet long) tugboat is the W O Decker.
also from epa.gov
Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing into the 1930s, Newtown Creek was widened, deepened, and lined with bulkheads to accommodate the growing traffic, leading to the destruction of all its freshwater sources [Ref. 8, p. 10; 12, p. 52]. During World War II, the government commandeered factories along the creek to make military equipment, such as a factory that made aluminum for fighter planes [Ref. 11, p. 14]. At that time, Newtown Creek was the busiest industrial port in the Northeast, with tanker traffic lining its length [Ref. 7, p. 1; 11, p. 13]. The national highway system built after the war took business away from the nation’s waterways, leading to a rapid decline in the level of industry along Newtown Creek [Ref. 7, pp. 1-2].
the W O Decker passing by the “Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center” – photo by Mitch Waxman
A “historic place” the Decker was originally called the Russell 1 when it was built in 1930 for the Newtown Creek Towing Company, who were specialists in berthing and towing heavy cargo along the crowded and narrow waterway.
from gmdconline.org
The Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) started in the late 1980s as an innovative intersection of two interests: reclaiming derelict factories in North Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood and sustaining industry and manufacturing in New York City. The organization formally incorporated in 1992.
From its initial purchase and redevelopment of a large facility at 1155 Manhattan Avenue for use by light manufacturers and artisans, GMDC has since expanded and today is the only nonprofit industrial developer in New York City. The organization acquires, develops, and manages industrial real estate that provides small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises with affordable, flexible production space.
In the shot above, The Decker is passing the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn – photo by Mitch Waxman
The Decker is currently a high end tour vessel, operated by and out of the South Street Seaport in Manhattan.
from seany.org
The wooden tugboat W.O. Decker was built in Long Island City, Queens in 1930 for the Newtown Creek Towing Company, a firm specializing in berthing ships and barges in the creek that separates Brooklyn and Queens. Originally called the Russell I for the towing company’s owners, she was renamed the W.O. Decker in 1946 after being sold to the Decker family’s Staten Island tugboat firm.
The shield wall of the Shining City, framed by Long Island City on the right and industrial Brooklyn on the left with the Pulaski Bridge just at Horizon – photo by Mitch Waxman
The vessel I was aboard continued on toward the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, but the Decker turned in the narrow part of the Newtown Creek near the confluence of its tributaries Whale Creek and Dutch Kills.
Check out this 1896 article at the NYTimes, which actually interviews the manager of Newtown Creek Towing Company, John Russell, for whom the Decker was originally named.
singularly heavy
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, nowadays one finds oneself hanging off bridges late in the evening attempting to capture “time exposures” after realizing that there aren’t all that many “night shots” in the library. Honestly, even I find this behavior suspicious, which is why there aren’t that many “night shots” in the aforementioned library. When the thermonuclear eye of god itself shines not upon the Newtown Creek is when a lot of the really “fun stuff” happens around these parts, only a small part of which involves a rodentine army which emerges and swirls out from hidden apertures in the concrete devastations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The first and second shots featured today are captured from the Pulaski Bridge, specifically the staircase which carries pedestrian traffic to Borden Avenue from the elevated path. The shot above looks toward Greenpoint with Manhattan behind it. The shutter was open something like eight seconds, which is why the water appears glassy and the artificial lighting of parking lot and lamp posts have taken on a star like halo. The halo is caused by the iris shutter mechanism within the camera, and is shaped by the blades of the device.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The big problem I’m having with gathering this sort of material is actually the pedestrian nature of my movements. As automotive conveyance is a luxury which I currently do not enjoy, there are large sections of the Creeklands which I just don’t want to walk through at night. A vast physical coward and feckless quisling, the problems your humble narrator is experiencing are dual.
First- I am simply too meek and bookish to trust that the cruelty of the nocturne streets will leave me unmolested, and second- I fear that which may be revealed in the result. Who can guess what it is, that might march about the deserted industrial lowlands of the Newtown Creek when free from the tyranny of casual observation?
dared consciously
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Loathsome, the only place one such as myself can truly feel at peace is amongst the emerald devastations of First Calvary Cemetery, in the company of the tomb legions. Lousy, my thoughts grow increasingly unordered and chaotic, as melancholy and regret rule my every step. Lost, revelation is sought, as I struggle not to say that forbidden name.
And over all, the thing which cannot possibly exist in the Sapphire Megalith watches bemusedly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Morose, peregrinations of primal fear rack my mind, remembering that “as above, so below” can have many meanings. Monstrous, the consequences of uttering those hateful syllables eat at my thoughts in the manner and urgency of an addiction. Montresor would understand the compulsion, and the nagging hunger to abandon all caution and restraint.
Perhaps I should join with some cult of Arabian Hasish eaters, or develop a taste for the distillates of the poppy, just in the name of finding some relief.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Violent and horrible, the reprisals for resuming the quest would be Jovian in character, striking from the heights with demoniac fury. Vengeance, previously forsworn by those powers and potentates who conspire and corrupt as they sail the endless sea, will undoubtedly be horrible. Victory for them would come if their overt warnings and admonitions were ignored.
The spring has brought violets to the surface, here in Calvary, and their nepenthe like perfume has emboldened me to take a foolish chance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Let them come, for I care not anymore. Lovers of that unholy thing which cannot possibly persist in the cupola of the Sapphire Megalith, these unholy acolytes can stay my tongue no longer with their threats. What can they take which has not already been lost, stripped away, or erased? At long last, the question must be asked out loud, and damned be the consequences.
Also, from newtowncreekalliance.org
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Earth Day BYO Picnic Lunch at the Newtown Creek Nature Walk
Sunday, April 22nd at 1 p.m.
Come join in for this casual celebration of the victory that is the Newtown Creek Nature Walk. Bring your own brown bag lunch and join the Newtown Creek champions who worked hard for years to win this unique waterfront park.
Sunday, April 22nd at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Nature Walk between 1pm – 2pm.
Finally,
Obscura Day 2012, Thirteen Steps around Dutch Kills
April 28th, 10 a.m.
Your humble narrator will be narrating humbly at this year’s Obscura Day event on April 28th, leading a walking tour of Dutch Kills. The tour is already two thirds booked up, so grab your tickets while you can.
“Found less than one mile from the East River, Dutch Kills is home to four movable (and one fixed span) bridges, including one of only two retractible bridges remaining in New York City. Dutch Kills is considered to be the central artery of industrial Long Island City and is ringed with enormous factory buildings, titan rail yards — it’s where the industrial revolution actually happened. Bring your camera, as the tour will be revealing an incredible landscape along this section of the troubled Newtown Creek Watershed.”
For tickets and full details, click here :
obscuraday.com/events/thirteen-steps-dutch-kills-newtown-creek-exploration
mighty dome
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Queensboro beckons as always, when business in the Shining City calls. It is best not to muse about Friday the 13th of April, which is one of those special dates which have been remarked upon in the past at this- your Newtown Pentacle, rather than engage in simple triskaidekaphobia. Simply put, there are certain dates on the calendar during which momentous events just seem to cluster. Births, deaths, the fall of empires. For instance, in 1204 AD, Crusaders conquered Constantinople, eradicating the joy which the date had brought to the citizenry of the Eastern Roman Empire (the Romoloi, as they would have called themselves) as the anniversary of the death of a legendary King of the Bulgars and implacable enemy of the second Rome- Krum the Horrible- who died in 814 AD.
from wikipedia
While Nikephoros I and his army pillaged and plundered the Bulgarian capital, Krum mobilized as many soldiers as possible, giving weapons even to peasants and women. This army was assembled in the mountain passes to intercept the Byzantines as they return to Constantinople. At dawn on July 26 the Bulgarians managed to trap the retreating Nikephorus in the Vărbica pass. The Byzantine army was wiped out in the ensuing battle and Nikephorus was killed, while his son Staurakios was carried to safety by the imperial bodyguard after receiving a paralyzing wound to the neck. It is said that Krum had the Emperor’s skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the birthday of Thomas Jefferson and Butch Cassidy, and the traditional New Years day in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand- referred to as Chaul Chnam Thmey in Khmer, Songkan in Laotian, and Songran in Thai. Additionally, this is the anniversary of an oxygen tank exploding on the Apollo 13 spacecraft in 1970, while enroute to the moon.
from wikipedia
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command Module depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Handel’s Messiah was performed for the first time in 1742, Fort Sumter surrendered to Confederate forces in 1861, starting the American Civil War. All of this, and lots more, happened on April 13th, which in 2012 falls on a Friday. None of these events though, explain the crude cruciform graffiti recently observed on the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian walkway.
from wikipedia
The Queensboro Bridge is a double cantilever bridge, as it has two cantilever spans, one over the channel on each side of Roosevelt Island. The bridge does not have suspended spans, so the cantilever arm from each side reaches to the mid-point of the span. The lengths of its five spans and approaches are as follows:
- Manhattan to Roosevelt Island span length (cantilever): 1,182 ft (360 m)
- Roosevelt Island span length: 630 ft (190 m)
- Roosevelt Island to Queens span length (cantilever): 984 ft (300 m)
- Side span lengths: 469 and 459 ft (143 and 140 m)
- Total length between anchorages: 3,724 ft (1,135 m)
- Total length including approaches: 7,449 ft (2,270 m)
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Perhaps the folks in the Shining City know something about what might be lurking in Western Queens, scuttling about in the night, and have opted to install wards and sigils on the crossing to keep it out of Manhattan.
from wikipedia
The term sigil derives from the Latin sigillum, meaning “seal”, though it may also be related to the Hebrew סגולה (segula meaning “word, action, or item of spiritual effect, talisman”). The current use of the term is derived from Renaissance magic, which was in turn inspired by the magical traditions of antiquity.
In medieval ceremonial magic, the term sigil was commonly used to refer to occult signs which represented various angels and demons which the magician might summon. The magical training books called grimoires often listed pages of such sigils. A particularly well-known list is in The Lesser Key of Solomon, in which the sigils of the 72 princes of the hierarchy of hell are given for the magician’s use. Such sigils were considered to be the equivalent of the true name of the spirit and thus granted the magician a measure of control over the beings.
dull wonder
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ongoing observations of the FedEx construction project at Dutch Kills are impossible for your humble narrator to avoid, as my daily travels often necessitate that my incessant marching carry me past the place. Luckily, recent phases of the project have created lapses in the fencing around the site which have allowed visual access that doesn’t require climbing upon or dangling from either traffic signals or the Long Island Expressway.
from dutchkillscivic.com
In 1642, licenses were granted to some Dutch citizens to settle in Queens. “Kill” is a Dutch word meaning “little stream.” Since Dutch men settled around the “Kill,” (in Long Island City) the name Dutch Kills was adopted. The “Kill” (or stream) is a tributary of Newtown Creek, which divides Queens from Brooklyn.
During the Revolutionary War, British troops were billeted in a series of farmhouses on 39th Avenue (Beebe Avenue). These houses stood until 1903 when they were torn down to make way for the railroad. In the early 1900’s the Queensborough Bridge was opened. Proximity to Manhattan, presence of railroads, and Long Island all contributed to the importance of Dutch Kills.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve conducted a few private walking tours of the area around Dutch Kills in recent weeks, mainly for groups of European and American students, many of whom were aghast at the scale of this endeavor and stunned by the lack of dust abatement going on. Wisely, several of them held handkerchiefs to their mouth and nose while walking by.
from wikipedia
Dust abatement refers to the process of inhibiting the creation of excess soil dust, a pollutant that contributes to excess levels of particulate matter.
Frequently employed by local governments of arid climates such as those in the Southwest United States, dust abatement procedures may also be required in private construction as a condition of obtaining a building permit.
Dust abatement methods include the regular spraying of water on loose dirt in construction sites, the paving of or applying magnesium chloride to dirt roads, and restricting access to dusty areas.
Abatement oil (an organic, lubricating and penetrating oil) most commonly used to remove debris such as dust and asbestos. Application of this product is normally done by lathering onto the surface and then removing with a clean dry cloth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the things which I’m growing increasingly apprehensive about is the “occupational exposure” to the endemic pollutants surrounding and suffusing the Newtown Creek waterway. As mentioned in earlier postings, when visiting a sewer plant I no longer react to the smell and consider a visit to a Waste Transfer station on the banks of English Kills to be a pleasurable diversion.
The sudden illness and death of my friend and mentor Bernie Ente a year ago weighs heavily on my mind even now, and little doubt exists in my mind that the Creek had at least a tangential role in his decline.
from wikipedia
An occupational exposure limit is an upper limit on the acceptable concentration of a hazardous substance in workplace air for a particular material or class of materials. It is typically set by competent national authorities and enforced by legislation to protect occupational safety and health. It can be a tool in risk assessment and in the management of activities involving handling of dangerous substances. There are many dangerous substances for which there are no formal occupational exposure limits. In these cases, control banding strategies can be used to ensure safe handling.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In the world of the Newtown Creek- where the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume, where sickly trees fed by a morbid nutrition struggle to burst forth from the shattered cement, where the water is a sickly shade of antifreeze green, and where every surface is coated with a queer and iridescent “colour”- what strange and undesirable substance might be carried by the lightest of breezes?
Who can guess all there is, that might be buried down there, which has been granted freedom?
from dec.ny.gov
To protect humans and the environment from damage by air pollution, DEC continually measures levels of pollutants in the air. DEC regularly reports the results of these measurements — in the case of ozone, which at high levels can be a threat to human health, the results and predicted pollution levels are reported in real time, on DEC’s website and through broadcast media.
DEC measures air pollutants at more than 80 sites across the state, using continuous and/or manual instrumentation. These sites are part of the federally-mandated National Air Monitoring Stations Network and the State and Local Air Monitoring Stations Network. Real time direct reading measurements include gaseous criteria pollutants (ozone, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide), PM2.5 (fine particulate with diameter less than 2.5 microns), and meteorological data. Filter based PM2.5, lead, and acid deposition samples are collected manually and shipped to the laboratory for analysis.
Monitoring air for pollutants is a complex technical task, requiring not only direct measurement, but also measurement standards and quality assurance to ensure that the information provides a correct understanding of air quality in New York State. Ambient air quality reports provide the data and interpretations to the technical community and the public.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These concerns about exposure to the poisons of the watershed have been expressed to the team of medical professionals who keep my health at delicate balance. Queries are advanced from this group of doctors as to why I just can’t leave this place to its own devices and disposition. What compulsion is it that drives one time and again to venture into this veritable lions den of carcinogens, corrosives, and environmental corruption?
from wikipedia
In human context, self-destructive behaviour is a widely used phrase that conceptualises certain kinds of destructive acts as belonging to the self. It also has the property that it characterises certain kinds of self-inflicted acts as destructive. The term comes from objective psychology, wherein all apparent self-inflicted harm or abuse toward oneself is treated as a collection of actions, and therefore as a pattern of behaviour.
Acts of “self-destruction” may be merely metaphorical (“social suicide”) or literal (suicide). Generally speaking, self-destructive actions may be deliberate, born of impulse, or developed as a habit. The term however tends to be applied toward self-destructions that are potentially habit-forming or addictive, and are thus potentially fatal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Simply put, it has become my belief that if Newtown Creek and it’s tributaries can “be solved”, a thorough understanding of the problem- both historical and modern- will be required. Such a magnificent puzzle as the one this place represents, located at the very navel of New York City, might offer a solution to larger national puzzles. It’s my hope that in some small way, this blog can help to “connect the dots” when somebody far more intelligent than myself applies themselves to the issue in the future.
The answer won’t be offered by me, of course, as I must always remain an outsider cursed to watch and record but never to participate in such things.
from wikipedia
The optimisism bias (also known as unrealistic or comparative optimism) is a self-serving bias where an individual perceives that they are less at risk of experiencing a negative event compared to others. The optimistic bias is seen in a number of different scenarios, including causing individuals to believe that they are less at risk of being a victim of a crime, smokers to believe they are less likely to contact lung cancer or disease than other smokers, and even first-time bungee jumpers believe that they are less at risk of an injury than other jumpers. Although this bias occurs in both positive and negative events, there is more research and evidence that the bias is stronger for negative events. However, there are different consequences that come from these events: positive events often result in feelings of well being and self-esteem, while negative events lead to consequences with more risk, such as engaging in risky behaviors and not taking precautionary measures. The optimistic bias can also be viewed in terms of expectancies about specific events
The Newtown Pentacle 