Posts Tagged ‘Monongahela River’
End of a wide angled scuttle in Pittsburgh
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few last shots from a medium long walk in Pittsburgh, one that started off in the Oakland section and then wandered southerly towards the Monongahela River and the Birmingham Bridge. There were still a couple/three miles between me and the T Light Rail station where I’d catch a ride back to HQ.
I’ve been learning how the ‘kids talk about the world’ these days, so I’ll throw in some aura talk…
My aura would have been a sickly pulsating but dull olive green, a color which might interpret as diarrhea brown/tan color. A scuttling mass of insecurities and regrets, perhaps that’s why I’m so reviled, and my aura reveals me. Everybody loves to hate and condemn a humble narrator, and the entire world seems compelled to remind me of every failing.
While crossing this bridge, I looked down at the surface of the river and a whole school of tiny fish just suddenly popped up to the surface, saw me, and then all died. A flock of birds landed in the water, to take advantage of the feast, then they looked up at me and they also died from some sort of toxic shock as well. I’m pestilential.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s a bit of a palaver – in an automobile – to access this bridge, let alone when you’re doing so on foot. Two lefts and a sharp right if you’re driving the car. On foot, it’s walking on busted sidewalks alongside a busy road without a single sign saying ‘go this way, icehole.’
What was happening within my personal aura of horror and regret?
The ankle was singing its song, my back hurt a bit from carrying the camera bag, and whereas it was my turn to cook dinner when I got home, I had zero ideas for what form that might take. Anxiety bloomed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Birmingham Bridge connects the south side of Oakland, the ‘academic district,’ with the ‘South Side’ neighborhood. As I understand it, these are modern conceits as both sides of the river used to be occupied by the J&L Steel manufacturing outfit.
‘South Side’ as a descriptor includes the sub neighborhoods ‘South Side Works,’ ‘South Side Flats,’ and ‘South side Slopes.’ When I’ve asked the locals about where the borders are, the answer is vague. The exact jigsaw puzzle of ‘this hood starts here, and ends there’ remains elusive.
I used to enjoy vast wandering arguments back in Queens about where Astoria ended, or where Woodside or East Elmhurst started. (hint: NY Connecting Railroad makes for a neat border marker… just saying.)
I am not intelligent enough about Pittsburgh to declare to you that after leaving Oakland and walking across the bridge, I had entered an area on the South Side which was once called Birmingham. Ask anyone.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the southern terminus of the span, a set of stairs awaits.
This is one of the assemblies of rises and runs which specifically triggers the PTSD symptomology, left over from the broken ankle incident. I am incapable of walking down this set of particular set of steps without clutching at the bannister. Given the amount of gear hanging about my person, and the presence of a camera in my right hand… this one was leftie’s show. It is so weird, the way this new phobia of mine works.
Another new phobia I’m enjoying at the moment involves something called ‘Cervical Decapitation,’ a gruesome injury and fate which sees your spinal cord mostly severed, but there’s still enough electrical connection left behind for your head to continue working all the gear in your chest and belly. From the collarbone down, you’re a bag of uncontrollable meat and bone cursed with a still working internal battery of the usual organs, but up top your brain is trapped in its malfunctioning box of skull. You may, or may not, be able to communicate with the outside world. Wow.
From the collar up, Cervical Decapitation basically turns you into the main character in a Metallica song. Brrr.
This… this is actually why everyone hates me, as I’ll bring this sort of thing up with random people – a lot – at weddings or Bar Mitzvahs. Nobody wants to contemplate these horrors, or discuss the historical consequences of coal mining, or hear why the Hexavalent Chromium which was recently uncovered in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, as part of the continuing build out of luxury housing along the fabulous Newtown Creek, is consequential.
As a note, on a list of chemical compounds which are certain to kill you, there’s descriptors you can apply like ‘kills you in 40 years,’ ‘kills you in 20 years,’ ‘kills you quick,’ and then there’s Hexavalent Chromium.
If I was to start a heavy metal band, it would be called ‘Hexavalent Chromium,’ and we would play music so hardcore that it could rewrite your cellular RNA in a manner that encoded the music, and kidney cancer, onto your heir’s geonomes…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I worry about sinkholes and not falling into them, practice hyper vigilant monitoring of my immediate vicinity for possible angles of attack by members of the human infestation, or Canada Gooses, and constantly check my pockets to ensure that I haven’t lost any of the discrete pieces of gear which I have secreted about my person.
One of these days, I’m going to offer a list here. Everything I’ve learned that it’s best to have with you at all times, from my ‘three quarters’ to the ‘two flashlights,’ and the sandwich bag which I carry several feet of parachord within. That’s just a start, I’ve also got a compass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The T carried me back to Dormont, whereupon I’d decided that it would be a chicken dinner that would be on offer that night, with a side of broccoli and some rice we had left over from the night before.
One big change in my life, since moving to Pittsburgh, is that unlike NYC – being lazy and ordering ‘take out’ hasn’t been much of an option here. I’ve got a suburban home sized kitchen now, which doesn’t randomly manifest plagues of insectoid or rodentine pests like my place in Astoria used to.
Biggest rodent related problem for me right now are the plethora of Lagomorphs and Squirrels in my back yard, all of which Moe the Dog wishes to murder.
Back tomorrow, with something different.
“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.
Eliza Trail behind, Flats in front
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After leaving the Eliza Furnace trail on the north shore of the Monongahela River, one then crossed the waterway, via the South Tenth Street Bridge, and your humble narrator had but one goal in mind.
Beer and trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s a short walk, but the path passes by a largish number of residential structures and clinics – many of which are involved in the charitable work of housing vagrants, while others are a part of the ‘medical/insurance industrial complex’ whose profits arise from addiction recovery services.
As is usually the case with such areas, a population of folks ‘living rough’ and ‘not in the program’ can be observed nearby. As such, this is one of the parts of Pittsburgh where you want to observe ‘NYC rules.’
Be aware of surroundings, spin around on your heel periodically to see if you’re being followed, don’t allow yourself to be ‘cul-de-sac’d’ on a dead end street, have your headphones not in your ears. I’m not saying it’s dangerous here, it’s really not, I’m just saying it makes sense to have ‘the radar’ turned on when armies of junkies are wandering around.
Maintaining a bit of paranoia is a life skill, for one such as myself.
That’s a particularly spectacular Ukrainian Church, pictured above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One slapped his feet against the pavement, on Pittsburgh’s Carson Street, which is the ‘via majorica’ of this section of the city.
Mixed use zoning here, including a set of particularly ancient residential structures, and punctuated by the occasional shop or storefront. Most of the commercial addresses seem shuttered, consequential of some long ago urban planner’s decision to turn the ‘local’ Carson Street into a primary arterial roadway, one whose design involves getting drivers through the area at a maximum rate of speed while they’re heading towards several nearby bridges and tunnels which lead to satellite communities.
People earn their money in the city, thereby, and then drive away to a distant suburb to spend it. It’s obvious what the problem is here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My case study for this particular POV remains the Cross Bronx Expressway – and the Long Island Expressway which I know more about – both of which turned into multiple mile long engines of blight generation for NYC, back in the 1960’s and 70’s.
A big part of making it absolutely hellish to drive into Manhattan in modernity, and forcing people to commute by transit instead, is to encourage the populace to drop some of their coin in the central business district. Ever wonder why the real estate types love congestion pricing and bike lanes so much?
The ‘planners’ look down upon our world like it’s a flat paper map, spread out on a mahogany desk in some City Hall office.
They don’t see groups of bored kids, or dog walkers, or imagine any of the small stuff in their plans – like a candy store, found on a corner. In fact, a candy store is usually in the way of what they want to do or have been told to want by the bosses. From an urban planner’s POV, a Trader Joe’s or a Target are much more laudable ‘anchor’ tenants for a project than some nickel and dime locally owned neighborhood candy store.
Growth, it needs to be organic and considered or it becomes cancerous. Oh, the urbanity of it all!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The local Government, here in Pittsburgh, is currently floating a particularly short sighted policy scheme – creating a new tax regime for an area that is successfully growing itself, and then using that tax money to prop up an area that is dying on the vine.
In the case of Pittsburgh, this conceit is dubbed as being a TRID, and the current political regime wishes to direct the tax moneys generated by a successful development environment in one neighborhood (The Strip District) to buoy up the commercial and office sectors of the Downtown area nearby its transit hubs – a program which would play out over a forty year period.
Forty years…
I’d like to point out – as a point of reference – that Ronald Reagan was President some forty years ago – and that multi generational financial schemes such as this seldom work out well or ‘trickle down’ for the tax paying citizens who haven’t actually been born yet.
Gen X here, and I’ve watched this sort of political handout to the past which shortchanges the future before. Savings and Loan crisis, anyone? No bueno.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bah!
Luckily, I arrived at that brewery by the train tracks just in time.
Inspected the porcelain, ordered a pint, and took up station at the outdoor seating, just as CSX #1897 arrived at the pass.
More on all that tomorrow, which will be a ‘Hey Now!palooza.’
“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.
Say goodbye to Aunt Eliza
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After having scuttled upon the Eliza Furnace Trail on the northern shore of the Monongahela River, your humble narrator reached the spot where he’d break off the trail and reenter the street grid (as it were) so as to cross the water and get over to the southern shore.
My plan was to cross the river via the South Tenth Street Bridge.
The section of the rail trail before me is referred to colloquially as ‘The Jail Trail,’ as it passes directly past the city’s jail, which is also right next door to an enormous homeless shelter. No bueno.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A Towboat was spotted, towing a few barges under the Birmingham Bridge, but it was pretty far away and I can’t tell you much about it. Luckily, zoom lens.
I cut across a parking lot to get to where I needed to be.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This sidewalk led to an intersection with the South Tenth Street Bridge, and coincidentally – the bridge’s intersection with the Armstrong Tunnel.
My goodness, it’s almost as if there’s a method behind all the madness.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator was experiencing a bit of a lull in his energy levels. It had been a nice day climate wise, but the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself had been bobbing about in the sky, and the Eliza Trail offers little or any shade, so I was feeling a bit warm and fatigued.
Sol Invictus indeed.
Ebb and flow. Time for a quick break.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back at where I’d been, in that nest of ramps feeding to and from the Birmingham Bridge.
Luckily, a shady spot awaited me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Other than a plague of Spotted Lanternfiles who seemed to be reproducing as I watched, this little shady spot gave me a minute to unload the camera bag off of my back, and slurp down some of the water I had been carrying with me in that Nalgene water bottle so recently added to the kit.
I hate the weight of carrying water, yet enjoy its recuperative property. It’s a dichotomy, but I’m just like the kiwi – a fuzzy little fruit with a lot of personality. Man, I do miss having a Bodega on every corner…
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.
Crossing, Mon
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured is a narrow band of relative safety one occupied to the right of that white line, which the trail I had been walking upon spit me out onto.
Luckily, it was a fairly low traffic day, when I suddenly had to try and not die while scuttling along this stretch. At the end of the elevated ramp, I was able to execute what can currently pass as ‘running,’ to get to the other side of the street where a sidewalk existed. The busted ankle situation persists in terms of not being able to run properly.
Effin Pittsburgh…
Y’know, people out here, they’ll get after me here for cussin. I don’t know how you don’t curse a blue streak when encountering this… it’s exactly the sort of thing which makes me want to engage with the ‘powers that be.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Safely on a sidewalk, my next set of moves involved getting back to HQ in Dormont. My original plan was to simply walk to the Station Square stop for the T light rail system, which is found a mile or two down the road.
Saying that, it was really hot out, and I decided to ‘punk.’
I’d save a bunch of walking, and cross the river via the Fort Pitt bridge, then catch a T ride at one of the downtown stations instead. Win!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Fort Pitt Bridge is a complicated beast, and especially so when one is driving southwards. A series of high speed roads converge via multiple on-ramps to the bridge, which all resolve into singular travel lanes.
To head to the airport, for instance, you need to exit the span via a portal on the far left side of the bridge. To exit to local streets or head west, you need to bear over to the far right. This creates an ‘X’ shaped interchange for high speed traffic that is converging from three distinct sources.
Factor in the aggressive style of driving common to most in Pittsburgh, and you’ve got a nonstop traffic jam which plays out 24/7 – as drivers cross multiple lanes of traffic to position themselves for those two exits from the span. The aggressive driving figures in to this as they all try to ‘eff each over to get into their desired lanes, which they all try to do immediately upon entering the span. Not fifty or a hundred feet ahead, where it’s easy… no… not the Yinzers. They need to get into their lane right ‘effin now, lest somebody take something away from them.
Of course, they’ll ALL try to do the complicated merge asap and at speed, rather than just slowing down and traveling another fifty feet to… bah…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I enjoy walking over this bridge, but then again I famously like horrible things. As mentioned at the start of this scuttle, which began up on Mount Washington and included the Emerald View Trail which provided a diagonal westward path down off of the landform, and it was quite uncomfortable out – climate wise.
High summer, humid, ‘shvitzy.’
One way or the other, however, I had to get to the T light rail as it sure wasn’t going to be coming to me, and thusly ‘leaned into it’ for the last leg of this one. At least it was in the shade…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the described point of conflict on the Fort Pitt Bridge.
In the shot above, the far right ramp feeds two lanes off of traffic off of the I-376 ‘Parkway West’ and onto Fort Pitt, whereas the left hand side services entrances for both local street traffic and is also fed by another highway ramp which brings high speed traffic from multiple sources right towards this spot.
A significant volume of traffic passes through this pass (estimated at 85 – 107,000 vehicles a day), and I’ve come to refer to Fort Pitt Bridge as being the ‘master cylinder’ of all traffic in Pittsburgh. Something happens here, or on the ramps leading to it, and that ripples outwards at 60 mph to the entire network of high speed roads hereabouts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, one made it to the so called ‘Golden Triangle,’ and a few quick steps soon saw your humble narrator on a T light rail, heading back to HQ and the ebullient greetings of Moe the Dog.
Back tomorrow with something different, at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
CSX Trains and Hey Now! Vibes
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few shots from the end of a short but cool walk in Pittsburgh, and pictured above is the ‘Uptown’ or ‘The Bluff’ zone along the Monongahela River. Picture’s POV is from the pedestrian walkways of the South Tenth Street Bridge.
I decided to head over to the brewery nearby the CSX tracks that I frequent, in the ‘South Side Flats’ section. Hadn’t had a drink in a couple of weeks, and a cold beer sounded fantastic.
About 15 minutes worth of scuttling, and I arrived. Headed inside, inspected the porcelain, purchased my drink, headed for the door leading to the outdoor seating… and just as I was walking outside…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #1852, all spiffed up with a July 4th paint job, hurtled through the pass. Funnily enough, the night before this was shot, I had been chatting with a railfan buddy of mine back in NYC, saying ‘I really don’t care about all that July 4 stuff they’re doing, if I were to get a shot or not, I don’t care.’ I also extended that statement to cover the Union Pacific ‘Big Boy’ event too. Pfft.
Of course, I got shots of everything, including Big Boy, which will be published fairly soon. Newtown Pentacle Time Warp reminder again, I’m way ahead of the schedule here – for once. This post is being written during the second week of July, for instance.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #7505 came through next, heading westerly just like 1852 was. Empty mineral cars behind it.
Finished that first beer right about here, went inside and received a reload. Headed back out to where I was sitting, and…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
Oddly enough, the sequentially numbered ‘next’ train coming through was CSX #7506, heading easterly.
Finished my second beer, and then paid my tab. Began getting ready to head for the T light rail, and catch a ride back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now!
CSX #3610 was the next one through, which I captured from an elevation. This is from pretty much directly over the spot that I normally shoot from, below at ground level. The train? Heading easterly.
Short walk, and a pretty cool day for a humble narrator.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I keep on saying it to myself – ‘everytime you leave the house with the camera it doesn’t have to be a marathon, icehole.’
Just out of curiosity – if you’re having a mental chat with yourself, talking out loud to that person in the bathroom mirror for instance, how do you address the part of yourself you’re trying to speak to?
Hey ‘Jerkwater,’ ‘Sir,’ ‘youse,’ or do you talk to yourself formally, with a ‘Mister’ or ‘Frau’? I’ll usually unleash a chord of blue language at my doppelgänger, but that’s ok as luckily the other guy – the one in the mirror – finds my invective as funny as I do.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
