Posts Tagged ‘New York City’
irresistibly borne
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few more shots from the low light photography exercise I’ve been forcing myself to perform all winter.
Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this place. It’s a dinosaur, a relic of the “old” Queens Plaza, which has somehow withstood the arrayed powers and potentates who have completely remade most of the area. One would hope that for the sake of history, and in order to preserve the cultural heritage of the Borough of Queens, that this shop and its signage be granted landmark status and preserved “as is”for all time.
Obscured by the lamp post, one would add, is the signage that reads “Ladies Welcome.”
I’ll bet they are.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Acela was in its bed and snug as a bug in a rug.
Acela maintains a difficult schedule all day and really needs her rest. She is very sweet however, and everyone has nothing but good things to say about her. This is where the modern train receives maintenance and attention from trained mechanics and engineers, at the Sunnyside Yard.
from wikipedia
Generally Amtrak train crews consist of an engineer, a conductor, and at least one assistant conductor. Acela trains also have an On-Board Service crew consisting of two First Class attendants and a Cafe Car attendant. In addition to the food service provided in the Cafe Car, on most trains an attendant will also provide at seat cart service, serving refreshments throughout the train. First Class passengers are served meals at their seats on all services.
At Amtrak, the On-Board Service crew is considered separate and subordinate to the Train and Engine crews. Acela maintenance is generally taken care of at the Ivy City facility in Washington, DC; Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York; or Southampton Street Yard in Boston, Massachusetts.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Apologies are offered for any unintentional “artsy fartsy”ness to the shot above, I was just trying to push the exposure and catch the light. This one was on Northern Blvd. incidentally. All of these were handheld shots, at a variety of exposures and iso settings using environmental light, for you photographic types.
particular lepidodendron
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent obligations called for me to enter the sense shattering psychic cauldron which is the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, obligations which I was actually quite happy to perform- mind you- but… most of the City is too young to have any ghosts in it. This isn’t the case down on William, once Rose, street. This lane has been known to those of European descent since before the great fire of London.
Buried beneath the despicable and bland veneers of modern day oligarchy lurks an occluded world.
from wikipedia
William Street is a city street in the Financial District of lower Manhattan in New York City in the United States of America. It is one of the oldest streets in Manhattan and can be seen in the 1660 Castello Plan of New Amsterdam. It runs generally southwest to northeast, crossing Wall Street and terminating at Broad Street and Spruce Street, respectively.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was in the neighborhood for the plainest of reasons, to practice my craft and photograph a party thrown by colleagues and friends and to capture the ceremonial awarding of a plaque to an honoree. In accordance with my custom, an early arrival was sought, but the MTA had other plans. It was lightly raining, and as always the darkness of Lower Manhattan was a palpable and lurking presence. Physical darkness, that is, not spiritual.
There is plenty of the latter in Manhattan, for my part at least, but it was literally a “dark and stormy night.”
from wikipedia
Broadway is a street in the U.S. state of New York. Perhaps best known for the portion that runs through the borough of Manhattan in New York City, it actually runs 15 mi (24 km) through Manhattan and The Bronx, exiting north from the city to run an additional 18 mi (29 km) through the municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown and terminating north of Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is the English literal translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Whilst on William Street, the location of a Delmonico’s restaurant was crossed. Having just a moment or two before I was needed at the event, some fiddling around with the camera settings allowed me to capture the above shot. Normally, this is the sort of thing which you’d clearly use a tripod for, but this shot was handheld.
Always plagued by a timorous constitution and tremulous hands, one has been studying the training techniques espoused by the Great Houdini himself over the winter months, in an attempt to develop a steadier grip on both camera and reality.
from wikipedia
In 1929, Oscar Tucci opened a “Delmonico’s” popularly called “Oscar’s Delmonico’s” at the former Delmonico’s location at 2 South William Street (sometimes listed as 56 Beaver Street) in New York. The Tucci incarnation adopted the original menus and recipes, and became distinguished in its own right, continuing to attract prominent politicians and celebrities. It was open continuously until it closed in 1977.
In 1981, a new Delmonico’s was opened at the location by Ed Huber, which operated until 1992.
The building was vacant until 1998, when the Bice Group acquired the property and again opened a Delmonico’s, with Gian Pietro Branchi as executive chef. In 1999, the restaurant was sold to the Ocinomled partnership, which continues to operate Delmonico’s at the South William Street location. The current website lists the address as 56 Beaver Street.
ornate and exotic
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Maddeningly, lucky captures like the ones featured in today’s posting have been pretty rare for me of late, but here’s three from the proverbial “right place, right time.” Whilst crossing the devastations of Laurel Hill last week, enroute to a meeting in Brooklyn, those dense atmospheric conditions which had all but occluded the visual presence of Manhattan, just an hour earlier, suddenly cleared up. The burning thermonuclear eye of god itself omnipotently bathed the accursed earth in its radiation, driving away the rain laden clouds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I was skulking and scuttling the periphery, along an obscure pavement, of the polyandrion of the Roman Catholic Church- called Calvary. Bearing witness to this sudden explosion of majesty and inadvertent stage lighting, for one such as myself, was fraught with danger. Having grown increasingly nocturnal over the winter months, your humble narrator let slip an audibly fearful hiss when that light- which had traveled 93 million miles in seconds and was aimed directly at me- struck my shadow tempered skin. At once, I was moving eastward- and toward safe harbor in the perennial shadows of DUKBO (Down Under the Kosciuszko Bridge Onramp) scuttled I.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, as it was late in the day, this luminous event was short lived and the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself now floated low to the horizon in the northwestern sky. Enormous volatility in the air and surrounding cloud systems lent an effusive quality to its emanations, which oddly framed the so called Freedom Tower- a megalith nearing completion on the site of national tragedy and aspiration. To one such as myself, however, such things are better left for others to contemplate, enjoy, and discuss. There is no place for me in the company of others. My place is here, along the Newtown Creek, and amongst the tomb legions.
pleasures and pains
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A photographer friend of mine, an esteemed and award winning fellow whose career began before I was out of diapers, tells me that the shot above is the best capture I’ve ever managed to pull off. It depicts a moment from the Working Harbor Committee’s “Great North River Tugboat Race of 2010”, specifically the line toss competition. Who am I to argue with a seasoned pro, especially on Maritime Sunday?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is actually my favorite part of the Tug Race, wherein competitors attempt to throw the rope over a bollard on the dock. They have three tries, but the entire vessel must make a full pass every time. As of right now, it looks like there will be another tug race at the end of the summer, by the way, so hold tight for more rope tossing shots in 2013.
Project Firebox 61
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Out of order is what the sign says, with instructions to instead call 911 or some other specialized number for the Queens Fire dispatchers. There are several fire boxes bearing similar screeds which have been seen around Sunnyside in recent weeks, so my guess is that some central switch or relay is out somewhere. Imagine the horror of this scarlet watcher, unable to reach out to its distant firehouse to summon aid. This box also carries an option for summoning the gendarme, by the way, a feature I remember as originating sometime during the second or first Koch administration.
The Newtown Pentacle 