Posts Tagged ‘New York City’
peculiar shaking
Heading back home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having switched my camera over from “long exposure” to “hand held” night settings and lenses, the Northern Blvd. truss bridge carried an official part of the Flushing Bay Promenade which led back to residential Flushing. The next time that I come back here, and I’m planning on it, I’m going to setup the tripod and long exposure kit up here and see what happens. The walkway is shared with a bike path, so I’ll have to take care not to present too big a footprint and ensure that I’m “visible” to oncoming bikes.
You can talk till you’re blue in the face to the bicycle fanatics, but they’ll never acknowledge that bicycles are vehicles. Why they love to infringe vehicle infrastructure onto pedestrian area pavement is beyond me. They also insist that they shouldn’t “have” to wear bike helmets. I insist that you shouldn’t have to wear shoes, but you’re walking around NYC, so it’s probably a good idea. Doesn’t matter, they’re not from here, and will move away when the decade long real estate bubble bursts to start trouble somewhere else.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shots in today’s post are high ISO and wide aperture ones, which report something fairly close to what the scene looked like to the naked eye. Dark, essentially. This jibes with what I’m always told by people who spend their time – or grew up – in this section of Queens around Flushing Creek. It’s hidden, largely inaccessible and locked away behind chain link fences, something that is experienced from a distance. Sounds a lot like my beloved Newtown Creek, huh?
This section around Northern Blvd. actually reminded me a lot of Industrial Maspeth, or Dutch Kills in LIC.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Next week, I’m hoping to take you to some places more familiar, as my post polar vortex schedule (this post is being written on Tuesday night, just before midnight… Hello world of the future!) offers many diversions in Astoria and Long Island City. I’m also meaning to head into the City for a short spell and take some pictures of a thing.
You never can tell where I’m going next, I sure can’t.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
rested uneasily
Flushing Creek at night.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s not Flushing Creek in the shot above, rather it’s part of a largish NYC DOT facility that adjoins it. I’m fairly sure that the elevated roadway to the left is the Whitstone Expressway and that the one on the right is Interstate Highway 678, which is odd since 678 never leaves NY State and actually connects the Bronx and Queens with the Hutchinson, but there’s Robert Moses for you. There’s a tangled cloverleaf of high speed roads here – where East Elmhurst, Willets and College Points, and Flushing combine. As mentioned earlier in the week, I call this the area “where boulevards collide.” It’s all very confusing, and one of the least pedestrian friendly spots in the entire city.
There is a protected bike lane, though, because… priorities…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An open fence allowed access to the water at Flushing Creek, alternatively known as the Flushing River. This shot looks sort of westward along the industrialized canal. Both Flushing Bay and Creek have all the usual environmental issues – I’m told – involving open sewers and post industrial pollution that are commonly observed along NYC’s inland waterways like the Gowanus or my beloved Newtown Creek.
Again, I’m not overly familiar with this “zone.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I believe that’s Northern Blvd. up there, on the truss bridge over Flushing Creek. This shot is looking towards “Downtown Flushing” and the Main Street area. I intend to get to know this waterway quite a bit better in the coming months, as I’m always looking for something new to point my camera at, and to learn more about the Borough of Queens.
More tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
too shapeless
Flushing Bay Promenade.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s part of the World’s Fair Marina at Flushing Bay, looking westwards towards LaGuardia Airport, in the shot above. Having attended a NYC Parks Dept. meeting discussing their plans to reinvest and upgrade the Marina (Parks runs it) a couple weeks back, a mental note to return and explore a bit was overturned last week before the weather got ugly. Off to East Elmhurst’s border with Corona and Flushing went a humble narrator, using the Q19 Bus as my conveyance.
I mean, come on, doesn’t everybody hang around the Queens waterfront at night in January?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was medium cold, as a note, although as the night went on and the wind picked up it did become increasingly uncomfortable. During warmer months, I’m known to be out on one of my little night jaunts for six to seven hours, but this time of year, shorter intervals are required due to the climate. In all actuality, I was ok, but the camera gear was malfunctioning a bit. The camera itself was fine, but my remote release wire was “sticking.” I soon started sticking it into an interior pocket of my sweatshirt to warm it up, which made its malfunction predictable rather than sporadic.
I had longtime Newtown Pentacle curmudgeon and frequent comment offerer Don Cav with me for this one, who met me at the entrance to the park. Don is a World’s Fair(s) enthusiast and never misses an opportunity to visit the place, or to tell me in person that I’m wrong about absolutely everything.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, as Don and I were chatting, I missed wiping my lens down for the shot above. I’m sure that a certain other frequent commenter named George will soon ask why I included it in this post due to the many photographic imperfections created by the dusty lens, to which I will offer – I just kind of like it.
I also get to say “Candela Structures” when describing it, but it might be more accurate to describe this thingamabob as a “Schladermundt Structure.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned above, it wasn’t life threatening cold like it was at the beginning of this week, as we were walking around the promenade, but there was ice floating about in the salty waters of Flushing Bay so… it was cold enough.
The shot above looks eastwards towards the mouth of Flushing Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Across the water “my kind of thing” was visible.
By that I mean large scale industrial properties with interesting utilitarian shapes. I’m not going to get all “granular” about what’s found in this area, as it would be entirely disingenuous for me to present freshly discovered details in a manner indicative of some long familiarity. I can tell you where colonial era farmhouses used to stand in Maspeth, but have no real knowledge of Flushing’s environs. That’s something I plan on addressing this year, another one of my little mental notes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
More tomorrow, and Flushing Creek at night, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
youth’s madness
East Elmhurst.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, I uncharacteristically rode a bus from Astoria to East Elmhurst in order to get into the right spot for some “waving the camera around” action, which deposited me a few blocks away from my destination. A scuttling I went, heading eastwards on Astoria Blvd. I was heading for the zone I describe as “where Boulevards collide” or “just so Robert Moses.” It’s where Ditmars, Astoria, and Northern Blvd. all smash together with the Grand Central Parkway and Citifield at the edge of Flushing. You’ll be walking down the sidewalk in certain spots, and all of a sudden find yourself walking onto an off ramp to the highway.
One of the least pedestrian friendly spots in Queens, I tell you, although I’ve only been through here a few times.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way, I spotted this tiny domestic survivor from long ago on Astoria Blvd. Itty bitty and wood framed, it had advertisements in its windows advertising a “Cuarto en renta” (room for rent). Something about the propert caught my eye, and instinct told me that “something has happened here.” Can’t tell you what, didn’t do the research on the property, but usually if something catches my eye the way this place did…
I’ll look into it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s one of the entranceways to the Flushing Bay Promenade pictured above, which is actually a pedestrian bridge overflying the Grand Central Parkway with Flushing Bay beyond. LaGuardia Airport is to the west, Flushing Meadows Corona Park to the east. Directly north is Flushing Bay, and as you can discern from the shot above, I arrived right on time just as the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself had ducked behind Manhattan. The night time, it’s the right time, I say.
More tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
meagre documentary
Mind your yum yums, it’s cold outside.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Intrigued by some of the sights observed and recorded at Flushing Bay recently, a humble narrator decided that a return to the premise was required. My goal destination was the corner of 31st drive and Ditmars Blvd., where the NYC Parks Department offers free passage over the Grand Central Parkway via a pedestrian bridge that terminates at the entrance to their “Flushing Bay Promenade” facility. Of course, waking up in Astoria introduces a lot of “how do I get there” questions when discussing the north eastern shorelines of Queens. I could always take the just walk or use the 7 line to get to Main Street in Flushing and then walk back in westerly direction thought I, but remembrances that I had publicly vowed to ride a variety of bus routes offered by the MTA here in Queens came to mind.
A short interval later, I had my route and schedule figured out and accordingly set off into the crisp January cold.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The walking to the bus thing could have been alternatively accomplished by using another bus – the Q101, I believe – which proceeds along Steinway Street. The bus which I was planning on traveling to East Elmhurst’s border with Flushing was the Q19, which stops at Steinway and Astoria Boulevard. Quite a pleasant walk through the neighborhood HQ is found in, however, involves the diagonal path of Newtown Road, which supposedly predates the street grid surrounding it.
Newtown Road intersects Steinway Street at 30th avenue, and from there it’s a three block walk to the bus stop. All told, it was about seven blocks from door to bus. Three if I’d taken the 101, of course, but seven blocks away is “around the corner” for one such as myself and it was quicker to just walk. I arrived at the correct spot with five minutes to spare for the arrival of a Q19 meant to arrive at about 4:12.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Roughly thirty minutes later, I was still waiting for the Q19. The printed schedule on the box thing mounted on the pole dictated (as did the MTA site) that there should have been two Q19’s passing this stop during that half hour interval. The 4:36 was there just about on time, but was packed with throngs of people. Other than the unpleasant jostling you’d expect in a crowded bus, the ride went smoothly and seemed to be on schedule. Apologies again, unknown lady, for the tripod incident.
At least I arrived at my destination just when I expected to do so at 102nd street and Astoria Blvd., about two and half miles from Steinway Street. More tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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