Posts Tagged ‘newtown creek’
no singers
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After another depressing visit to the collapsing bulkheads of Long Island City’s 29th street, one continued his lonely scuttle along the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek.
My toes pointed towards Borden Avenue, so I followed them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A strip club nearby Borden Avenue has reopened after its pandemic slumber, it seems. I’ve always been a Star Trek guy, and don’t enjoy this form of bawdy adult entertainment, but to each his own.
Life, as it were, finds a way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One decided to continue westwards along Borden Avenue, heading towards the East River where I would hang a right and begin scuttling back towards Astoria.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, the enormous construction site which used to house the HQ of the online grocery “FreshDirect” was passed.
I just can’t pass up a view like this one.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long Island Railroad was operating at street grade, and two of their engines were heading towards the Sunnyside Yards. An absolutely terrific amount of FDNY traffic had been passing me by and heading west towards Hunters Point for about a half hour, a deployment which included that ambulance pictured above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the Vernon Jackson stop, a gaggle of fire chiefs and multiple engine and ladder companies were turned out. It seems that some sort of metal debris and reports of “people on the tracks” had drawn their attention.
I hung around for a while, waving the camera around. Anything the FDNY does is interesting.
“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.
nimbus over
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Mentioned yesterday, the building pictured above sits on the site of the first large scale petroleum refinery in the United States. It later became known as the Standard Oil Queens County Oil Works, but the original 1854 facility and its founder are described in this post from 2014.
Truth be told, on this particular evening, I wasn’t in “history” mode, instead I was focused in on taking pretty pictures of ugly things.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks north, across Newtown Creek and at Queens, along the line which the Brooklyn Queens Expressway travels along between LIC’s Blissville section on the left, and Maspeth’s “West Maspeth” section on the right.
The BQE is sited along what was formerly (1870-1898) the legal line between the municipality of Long Island City and Newtown’s Village of Maspeth. Maybe it was already the “Town of Maspeth” back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries… something I’m not sure of, speaking in a purely calendrical manner.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back on the walkway of the Kosciuszcko Bridge, and once again setup with the tripod and all the other gear, I got busy.
You have never ending vibration problems up there, due to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway traffic running behind you.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You can really feel it when a heavy truck rolls by at speed up there, and mid span there’s a discernible flex when one shouts by. It’s not at all disconcerting, but it’s a factor if you’re doing a longish exposure up there as the vibration can transmit up the tripod and shake the camera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For some reason… ahem… the bridge’s fences offer apertures just big enough for me to slide my favorite lens through… ahem…
There’s a trick to shooting up here which revolves around making sure that neither the tripod legs nor the lens are making the slightest physical contact with the fence, as it transmits the traffic vibration.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Satisfied that I had actually made it worth getting up that morning by doing something useful and fun, I packed up the bag and headed back to HQ.
More 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.
torture of
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s time for my weekly soliloquy about Newtown Creek’s Dutch Kills tributary in Long Island City, a collapsing bulkhead undermining a city street, and the municipal dysfunction which will continue until somebody gets hurt or dies.
Nothing matters, and nobody cares.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s hard not to be depressed about all of this. Especially given how much of our earnings are taxed away to support it. With sales tax, it’s something like thirty five to forty cents of every dollar earned by a New Yorker that goes into propping up an insane system of impotent agencies and authorities. They can’t do anything to fix the environs for budgetary reasons, but somehow multi decade long tax breaks to hand out to big real estate are always available.
What do you think “affordable housing” means? It means that the developer received significant multiple decades long tax suffrage in return for agreeing to cap prices on new units to “just” a few thousand dollars a month. It’s a con, a grift, a scam.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At least nobody has cut down my favorite tree. Yet.
A humble narrator is at the end of his rope, lords and ladies. Something just has to give. It’ll likely be the pavement and foundations of LIC’s 29th street, I would offer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One continued on his scuttle, visiting all the familiar places and waving a camera at them. There’s serious talk right now about delisting Dutch Kills and several other Newtown Creek tributaries as “federally designated navigational channels.” What that means is that the United States Army Corps of Engineers would no longer be involved in the maintenance or oversight of maritime industrial access to these head waters.
What that further means is that if any dredging or bulkhead maintenance issues come up in the future, it will be either private capital or NYS or NY City which do the deed and paid for it. In other words – the tribs will predictably silt up due to the combined sewer system and fill with human excrement. This will attract biting insects. The City will spray malathion indiscriminately due to their fears of mosquito borne diseases. Malathion is watered down nerve gas.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wandering off into the night, that’s me. Friendless, alone, the filthy black raincoat fluttering about in the sooty winds. Everything, and every effort, is ultimately useless and nothing matters at all…
Bah.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s time for me to leave this place, I think.
Retreat into the west, just like one of Tolkien’s elves.
“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.
langorously under
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My long walk on March 14th continued along Newtown Creek, and I visited all of favorite places west of 48th street. Vainglorious thoughts cause me to refer to my circumlocutions of the Newtown Creek as a “patrol.” Irregular in schedule, it seems that about every six weeks or so, I walk the entire shoreline of the waterway, and have done so for nearly fifteen years now.
I really should have gotten into building model airplanes or something.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dark and lonely is the way I like it. Sure, there are passing cars and trucks, but I’m the only pedestrian usually. It’s actually a bit surreal, truth be told. Moving about in the veritable geographic center of NYC, and more often than not – complete and utter solitude.
It’s been a panacea during the pandemic, I tell’s ya.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I grew up without siblings, so being alone is normal for me. Unfortunately, what’s going through my mind during these long walks is a non stop review of all of my failings. I really work myself over psychologically during these long walks. Why? Well, even if your Jewish mother is dead, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do to yourself what she used to do and rake yourself over the coals for every mistake you’ve ever made dating back to potty training.
A particular quirk of mine involves the way my memory works. I don’t remember anything good that I’ve done or said, instead the milestones in my psychological roadmap revolve around failure.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sleights or arguments – those stick around. Complimentary relationships or personal victories are soon forgotten. I’ve gotten better about this stuff as I’ve gotten older, but in my late 20’s and early 30’s it was crippling to exist behind these eyes and between the ears. On this particular walk, I was processing painful memories retained from when I was in Junior High School. Pedantic, huh?
For the curious – I remember being embarrassed, and hoping that nobody who has ever met me as an adult would find out about that time in 7th grade when I decided to wear a pair of “Tale Lord” jeans to school and was roundly mocked for months about it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, I was reminded by a cousin of the great esteem one used to espouse for the band “U2,” in my senior year of high school. Given that I barely listen to that outfit anymore, but still stand behind the statement that the albums “Boy” and “War” were pretty great, I grew embarrassed about that too. Working myself over about all of the stupid things I’ve said and thought over the years…
Part of this thought process revolves around the aging process. We are all different people at different times in our lives, and the trick is to accept that as the years stack up that you’ve evolved – hopefully. That trick eludes me as – since mentioned – my focus and lattice of memories are built on a foundation of professional and personal mistakes, and saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right time. My internal Jewish Mother will never let me forget about failures.
You’re supposed to succeed, what do you want, a medal? Mr. Big Shot, remember the time you shit your pants when you were at cousin Nancy’s first wedding in Washington when you were 4? Your father was so embarrassed he had indigestion for the entire Carter administration. What about the time you…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Saying all that, I positively feed upon all of this ennui. Wouldn’t do it to myself if it didn’t have some positive effect, right? Maybe it’s why I work so hard and so often. Why I strive to try and not be a Dick.
Tomorrow – something completely 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.
ugly trifles
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nothing matters. Nobody cares.
One has been keeping an eye on the collapsing bulkheads of Newtown Creek’s Dutch Kill tributary along 29th street in LIC for a while now. We’ve activated the politicians and officialdom. Right now, they’re arguing over which agency is at fault, and the land continues to crumble into the water and undermine the roadway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been wondering, what if I was to buy a few cans of green paint and fake a bike lane here? That would get some action out of the powers that be, I imagine. Bike lane, after all…
Is there some way to spin a collapsing street as racist, or phobic about sexual orientations?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There was something alive in that hole, incidentally. It was hissing and growling at me while I was shooting these. No, really.
Probably a mama raccoon or something, or at least I hope that’s what it was.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s all so god damned depressing. This City has a budget larger than the GDP of most nation states, and NY State’s annual budget is competitive with those of countries with significant military footprints. With all that cash flying around, they can’t even swing putting out a few bollards and some caution tape of the road side of this.
Nothing. Matters. Nobody. Cares.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bah. One continued one with his long walk along a short creek. I headed over to Hunters Point Avenue and its eponymous bridge.
I was operating the camera entirely handheld, incidentally, as I didn’t want to slow myself down while “futzing” about with gear.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At least my beloved little tree of paradise still stands, and continues to stretch towards the sky from under a factory wall.
More 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 