Posts Tagged ‘New York City’
unseen material
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent walk took me up Vernon Avenue… why is it that walking towards Hells Gate always feels like “up” and towards Long Island City “down”? There is an actual change in grade, as Astoria is actually built on ground physically higher in altitude than the eluvial plain that LIC stands on- yes- but that’s not it.
Anyway, Vernon at Broadway, where once the 96th street and 86th street ferries from Manhattan met the Broadway trolleys at Hallets Cove. Right by Costco and Socrates Sculpture Garden, if you require modern landmarks.
Here’s a post from February of 2010 that described the area in some detail.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a large amount of construction going on here, and fairly large scale buildings are hurtling up and out of the mud. It’s been a few months since my path has brought me in this direction, and it was startling to see how fast these structures are forming up.
Not too long ago, there was a massive fire at the little factory that used to exist at the bottom left of the shot above, the round sign that says “Alpine” is all that’s left.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cool thing about the very large building which is going up on the corner of 12th street, other than the enormous footprint of a structure which will feature 199 apartments…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
…is that the whole thing is being built by just one guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you may have heard, American worker productivity is at an all time high, and no where more so than in Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It seems hard to believe, but this fellow holds every possible license and certification that the building code demands of its employees, rumor has it that he’s also the principal financier.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It can’t be easy building things by yourself, there no one to take a coffee break with, and car pooling is out of the question entirely.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I look forward to the day when the 199 new families unpack, and join with the rest of us. Enjoying our comfortable and never crowded mass transportation, learning that they can rely on the presence of modern and top notch hospitals, and that their children can look forward to a rewarding and full scholastic life in local schools.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Always a selling point for Queens, multicultural experiences will abound. The nearby Queensboro, Ravenswood, and Astoria projects will satisfy anyone’s desires to learn about new and interesting cultures that have their roots in exotic foreign lands.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welcome to Queens.
remarkable law
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A freelancer, your humble narrator is always looking for work. Recently spied in Long Island City, there seems to be a company that specializes in a trade I’m interested in.
Is this what “service economy” means?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just ask anyone who has ever lent me anything of value how good I am at this. Pretty much anything I touch ends up at least partially ruined, and when one puts his mind to the task… whoa, nelly.
I can’t have anything nice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I too offer “Destruction Services”, although my understanding is that large players in the destruction trade, like the United States Marines for instance, play this game at “big league” levels. My destruction business isn’t limited to old files like these guys though, I’ll mess up new stuff too.
Freelance rates will apply.
rolling peacefully
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Cavorting along in that neighborhood which once hosted the titan works of the Waldes Koh-I-Noor mill, where relict rail tracks reach up mercilessly through the asphalt of modern times, your humble narrator was chasing a shot of mighty Queensboro in the distance- illuminated by the rays of a setting sun.
My path brought me to the lightly travelled and seldom commented upon Davis Court.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An industrial street lined by warehouses both old and new, my attention suddenly became fixed upon these six sandwiches of dubious origin affixed upon the ground.
They appeared to be a sextuplet of jelly sandwiches, but one can never be sure about such things until a bite has been taken- which I was unwilling to do.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It cannot be explained to you, lords and ladies of Newtown, why this arrangement of comestibles struck me as sinister. Perhaps it was the abandonment of perfectly edible food to the nocturnal scavengers which roam the creek lands, a beady eyed and squealing army which emerges from cracks and from other hidden apertures only when the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself has sunken below the horizon.
Perhaps it was the sandwich arrangement, I cannot say, but repulsion ruled my thoughts.
Feeling faint, your humble narrator moved on.
dim entity
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the 24th of February, a Newtown Pentacle posting was offered in which description of an astounding demolition which had occurred along 30th street in Long Island City, and whose purpose was to clear the way for a gargantuan FedEx trucking depot and shipping center. Attempting to describe the sheer scale of this to friends and Our Lady of the Pentacle simply proved that words would be inadequate to convey the scale of it all.
So, a humble narrator went back, and did a little bit of climbing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having once been a child in Brooklyn, you humble narrator learned to climb the urban landscape like a monkey. This skill is something that still comes in handy, especially when something which needs photographing is behind a ten foot tall plywood construction fence. The shot above is a “stitched panorama” which incorporates around 16 individual exposures into a single image- encouragement is offered to click through to the largest incarnation of this shot at flickr (click here) to appreciate the massiveness of the footprint.
Click here to see it on a google map.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the decking of the Borden Avenue Bridge, you can see that the construction site extends all the way to the Dutch Kills tributary of the malign Newtown Creek. FedEx must need an awful lot of space.
Wonder why?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Well to begin with, the entirely coincidental condemnation and demolishing of the FedEx World Service Center building in Manhattan (528-556 West 34th Street) to make room for the Hudson Yards residential development has robbed the shipping giant of certain capabilities. My guess, and it’s a guess, is that they were offered Queens instead.
And once again, Manhattan exports its problems to Queens, I guess.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When this site has been mentioned, those who live and work in Queens get a wild look in their eyes. They ask “Wait, where will all those trucks go when heading into Manhattan?”. Sure, they’ll be taking truck routes, but what happens when they bottleneck at Queens Plaza, the Midtown Tunnel, or the Triborough? Care to guess?
What about the tractor trailers leaving from LaGuardia and Kennedy, how will they get to Long Island City?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of that climbing talent bragged about at the beginning of this posting, and a switch of POV to Hunters Point Avenue brings you this “stitched panorama” of the rubble beyond the fence. Notice the lack of water being sprayed on the shattered masonry, or any attempt at dust abatement, and remember that the factories which stood here for nearly a century adjoin the monstrous pollution of the Dutch Kills tributary.
This is no land that the site stands on either, rather it’s a construct. This area was filled in by Michael Degnon in the early 20th century with rubble from the Belmont Tunnel construction, and that the bulkheads which defined the modern shape of Dutch Kills were only installed in 1914 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This rubble is coated with a century worth of “the colour”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Around thirty or forty feet down, the waters of the Newtown Creek gurgle about boulder and gravel, and around the wooden piles which the concrete mastabas of modernity stand upon. The Creek is eternal, and water always- inevitably and eternally and patiently- wins.
Like many things around the Newtown Creek, and Queens in particular, you must just accept the decisions of your betters in Manhattan- I guess. They wish to install playgrounds for the idle rich along the Hudson, erect fanciful condominiums for their comfort, and soaring office towers to administer and employ them. Why should those of us in Queens complain, when they export their waste, their trucking facilities, or their garbage to us?
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I guess?
ALSO:
March 6th, as in tonight
blissville update
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just in case you were wondering, not too much new to report on the oil situation in Blissville Queens, which is found on the northern shore of the lamentable Newtown Creek. Our friends at Riverkeeper continue to investigate, as do everyone’s friends at the State DEC. Conversation with highly placed members of both organizations indicate that they have people working on it.
These photos from the beginning of February in 2012 would seem to dispute that. Compare to the same area in August 2011.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The conversations were informal, and were initiated by your humble narrator. Concurrently, I’m not going to “report” the substance of these exchanges yet, as I’m not “that kind” of blogger. “That kind” would seek to embarrass or denigrate the process and participants for puerile amusement and or self advancement. This is not the case, and I draw a line between what a source tells me privately versus publicly. Suffice to say that things are moving along and that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
The Newtown Creek Alliance is aware of the issue as well, and we are working on it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some of you may have noticed that I said “we” referring to NCA, and in accordance with some standard of full disclosure which only one such as myself adheres to- the group has awarded me the title of “Historian”. I’m picking up the fallen banner of my friend and mentor, Bernie Ente, and will strive to earn the honor by continuing to reveal the occluded history of this place.
The initial assessment of the leak, as presented in the posting “oil in queens” back in December of 2011 has garnered little attention from the mainstream press. The sole venue which ran a story on it is the DNAinfo website, their posting can be accessed here. If this was Manhattan, I’d be fighting the NYTimes for access.
But seriously, who cares anything about Queens?
ALSO:
March 5th, as in tonight:
Riverkeeper and NCA ask: How’s the Water? How’s Newtown Creek?
Join Riverkeeper and the Newtown Creek Alliance for a presentation on water quality in the Hudson River Estuary and its tributaries, focusing on the waters around Manhattan Island and in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek.
March 5, 2012, 7:30PM to 9:30PM
Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th Street, NY map
and March 6th, as in Tuesday
