Posts Tagged ‘Long Island City’
Archives #021
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The situation continues to improve here at HQ, after the surgeon who restored my broken ankle removed the hard cast and replaced it with a walking boot/brace. I’ve still got a lot of pain occurring from the aftereffects of the surgery, which is more of a dermatological problem rather than an orthopedic one, but there we are. At any rate, another archives post greets you today, with all posts having originally been published on this date in their respective years.
2012’s offering on the 4th of November was ‘Sinister Swamp,’ which continued the post Hurricane Sandy survey of Newtown Creek which I was conducting with Hank the Elevator Guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been asked, multiple times, over the years about the odd titles I’d assign to these posts. Literally, I had a book of Lovecraft short stories on my desk and I’d just flip it open. Whatever two word phrase my eyes randomly landed on would become the title of that days post. If you know what Lovecraft named his cat, you’ll understand why I had to be a bit more careful in title selection than just randomly grabbing lingo from the old boy. There’s a vast amount of ugly embedded in Lovecraft’s writing.
2015’s ‘abetted by’ discussed a few things observed during a Working Harbor Committee excursion, and laid out what the difference between a ship and a boat is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m managing to get up and down the very stairs which felled me, drive the car for short intervals, and do basic tasks like making a sandwich. This walking boot is a ‘get out of jail’ card. I’ll be able to vote tomorrow, which I’m very much looking forward to. Nice thing about living in a swing state is that your vote actually matters.
2020’s ‘stolen fearfully’ showed part of a night time pandemic walk which I undertook in Astoria. Man, I miss those deserted streets.
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“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.
Archives #019
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The most wonderful time of the year, and I’m missing it. Bah.
Some good news which this humble narrator can share with you is that my doctor has cleared me for use one of those boot things and then encouraged me to WALK AROUND WITH IT ON. I start physical therapy next week, so I’m taking things slow, but I actually left the house yesterday and drove around Pittsburgh for a few hours. Filled the car’s gas tank while I was out, and had the camera with me while I was motoring about and listening to Black Sabbath, on an atypically warm afternoon. Didn’t take a single shot, the camera just came along for the ride.
Hey! It’s Halloween!
A fairly well read post – by this point in time some 15 years after its original publishing date – is 2009’s Halloween offering of a western Queens ghost story called ‘The White Lady of Astoria.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I’ve mentioned in the past, given the number of people and residences in NYC, there are surprisingly few city ghost stories. I’ve always chalked this up to real estate valuation, as haunted condos don’t sell as well as the ones without spectral amenities. NYPD seems to not use the term ‘serial killer’ that often, I’d also mention. Probably don’t want to get the people nervous.
Just saying… If you calculate NYC’s head count (The New York City metropolitan region, often called the Tri-State Area, has a population of around 20 million people. This includes New York City itself and surrounding areas in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut), a strictly statistical point of view demands that there have to be at least a few serial killers loose and ‘doing their thing’ in the five boroughs at any given moment. (Historically, it’s estimated that about 0.3-0.4 serial killers per one million people are active in the U.S. each year. Translating that into a percentage, this rate would be approximately 0.00003% to 0.00004% per million people annually.)
2014 saw my revelation of the Queens Cobbler’s activities back in Western Queens and revealed them to the world. How’s that for a Halloween post?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I seem to recall being ‘stuck’ for a Halloween post for this one. A post I was working on fell apart, so I left the house and shot some spooky photos around LIC at night, and got to writing something ‘grimdark.’ The rail bridges in the shot above are the Montauk Cutoff, by the way, on Skillman Avenue.
This grimdark post was from Halloween, in 2018,
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.
Archives #017
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Archives, archives… luckily, I’m fairly prolific and Newtown Pentacle has been updated almost daily since 2009. All of these posts were published on this date in their respective years. As you’re receiving this, my broken ankle has theoretically just been X-rayed, and I’m talking to the Doc about what’s going to happen to me next. Road to recovery, all that…
Back in 2010, this post discussed encountering the tomb of ‘The man who could dodge bullets’ at First Calvary Cemetery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot of Newtown Creek was gathered with a telephoto lens, from the Empire State Building observation deck – if you’re curious. It’s contextually found in the post linked to just below.
Hurricane Sandy was on its way to NYC in 2012 when this October 29th post was published.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hopefully, the Doc has improved my situation somewhat by the time you’re reading this post.
2018’s October 29th saw this post published, which explores the fact that there are some calendrical dates in the historical record on which profound things just seem to randomly occur throughout the centuries.
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.
Archives #013
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My beloved Creek, how I miss thee… This shot looks towards Brooklyn’s Greenpoint from LIC’s Blissville along the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. What’s missing here is a rail bridge which used to connect LIRR freight trains to the Brooklyn side, where the Mobil Refinery used to stand.
Today, another archives post from broken ankle country (#brankle) greets you, with all represented posts having been originally presented on this date in their respective years.
This 2015 post discusses the garbage train in LIC’S Blissville section.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I always figured that if I broke an ankle it would be all the way back in Brooklyn at the end of English Kills, which is also the end of Newtown Creek, and is found some 3.8 miles from the East River. I never liked going back here alone, either. Too easy to get hurt and too difficult to get help if you did.
This 2017 post visits the actual last mile of Newtown Creek in Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
End of December in 2022 is when I left NYC and moved to Pittsburgh. No regrets, I would add. Again, it’s an interesting thing for me to recollect about the actual sensory experience of this particular day when viewing the photos. I remember the day this shot was captured as offering near perfect weather conditions for a long walk.
This 2023 post from October 23 involved me trying to ‘get back on the stick’ exercise wise, after an interval of being stuck at home while caring for Our Lady of the Pentacle after she endured a medical procedure. A year later and our positions have reversed, and I’m the one in trouble.
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.
Archive #011
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Progress continues here in Pittsburgh, as far the recovery from the broken left ankle injury goes. To wit, this is the first of these archive posts that I didn’t have to throw together in a panic on the morning it was meant to publish. What that also means that is that my thought processes are recovering, and the sensory ‘noise’ introduced by the pain transmitting up from the ankle and foot is beginning to fall off a bit. This is being written on Saturday the 19th, btw.
Back in 2009, I was walking over the Pulaski Bridge – spanning the fabulous Newtown Creek – when the bridge opened for maritime traffic, as described in this posting from October 21 of that year. I find this sort of thing exciting.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m hoping to be able to drive again fairly soon. What’s been holding me back is the physical reality of getting down the same flight of stairs that I broke my ankle on, then out the door to the driveway, and finally getting into the car without killing myself or incurring any new injuries. It’s a palaver, every little thing is. Taking a dump requires ten minutes of planning and careful execution just to get into position on the porcelain.
October 21 in 2012 is when this post was published, which discussed a random tugboat that I encountered while out on NY Harbor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time I experienced the lack of purpose I do now was during COVID, but at least then I was able to go out at night and walk the deserted sidewalks of the concrete devastations in LIC. No walkie for me for a long while, with long walks not being possible on an even longer timeline. I might have to switch over to bike riding!
This 2020 post ruminated upon getting what you want and not having to act like some boring and ideological ass to achieve it.
“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 