Posts Tagged ‘North Side’
Tyranny of the now
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Welcome back to fresh content, here at your Newtown Pentacle.
The ice, as it were, has broken and Pittsburgh is now in a warming cycle for a few days. Bad news is that there’s likely going to be some flooding at some point soon as vast sheets of river ice, currently bound up in rural counties hundreds of miles away, will be flowing towards the confluence of the three rivers hereabouts. The Army Corps seems pretty concerned about the arrival of ‘ice dams.’
That’s tomorrow’s problem, although the level of the water in the Port of Pittsburgh continues to ominously rise.
These shots were gathered in a section of Pittsburgh’s North Side called the ‘Mexican War Streets.’ As the name of the place might suggest, the streets are named for American Generals who distinguished themselves during the Spanish American War (as it’s now known).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It has been profoundly cold and snowy/wet here for what seems like an eternity. It felt great to be outside, although I was tied to the car. I love the convenience of just being able to drive up to something and get a shot, but it ain’t the same as the ‘serendipity’ of finding something unexpected and I’m also anchored to a certain geography because of where I parked.
I know, first world problems. An hour or two of time was available to me on this particular day, which I decided to throw away by hanging around a train yard at which absolutely zero locomotives appeared.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While cooling my heels and kicking the dirt, one of Pittsburgh’s ‘PRT’ buses appeared. I’d point out the bike rack on the front of the thing, and mention that this is another one of the things which NYC’s MTA says absolutely cannot be done, but then again I’m done arguing with the MTA.
Back tomorrow.
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“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.
Going home empty
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A last triad of images, from a rather unproductive afternoon, but given that in this post-broken ankle interval, I’m vaingloriously trying to maintain a daily schedule here in the absolute trough of a Pittsburgh winter, it’s the best I could do. Norfolk Southern let me down, there should be trains moving around in the shot above. Blast!
I was prepared, by the way. I had a radio scanner in my camera bag and everything, but no activity. Thwarted!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was cold and bored, so for some reason this vine imprisoned hunk of cement on the rail bridge caught my eye. After about a half hour or so of waiting around, I limped over to the Mobile Oppression Platform (a Toyota) and fired the engine up.
With the exceptions of the days I go to ‘PT’ or ‘physical therapy’ and the day directly following one of the sessions when sore, I’m beginning to feel ok most of the time, regarding the injury. The PT sessions involve a lot of targeted exercises which are coached directly by the therapist. These include some time on a leg press, an interval on a sort of bike, stretches, and there’s a few things they have me doing which just look ridiculous.
At least they do when I perform them, as I’m fairly comical to watch.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The nose of the MOP was pointed towards home. This time around, I opted to use the West End Bridge, which I’ve mentioned several times before in connection with walking rather than driving over it.
You’ve got pretty good views from this bridge, which hangs over the headwaters of the Ohio River. 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.
North side, Pittsburgh
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As part of a very frustrating afternoon, wherein I had to go fetch a few compositions for this week’s posts while the region is in a deep freeze, one found himself on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The past still seems to be standing tall in this area, nearby the ‘Mexican War Streets’ and ‘Chateau’ historic districts. What you’ll see lining the streets here is pretty much the same as every other historic district you’ll encounter in the northeastern United States, old commercial and light industrial structures repurposed to modern needs, with the streetscape being preserved in atavist fashion.
I’ve been meaning to take a walk around here for a while, although it’s not like this section has escaped my notice since moving out to Pittsburgh from Queens’ Astoria in December of 2022. Of course, I was taking a drive on this particular day rather than a walk, since my shattered left ankle is still reconstituting itself and the ground is cloaked in snow and ice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the many odd things about Pittsburgh is that it’s not all that hard to find a place to park, even on weekday in the central business districts, although I prefer leaving the car in a parking lot (about $5-7, depending) to metered street parking. On this particular afternoon, however, it was street parking that I used. My goal for this location involved trains, but Norfolk Southern seemed to be in on the whole ‘let’s not let Mitch see anything he might find interesting’ conspiracy.
It’s not so easy being the main character, sometimes.
When I got out of the car, a local resident who was smoking a cigarette asked me what I was up to. We actually had a pretty nice conversation about the area, photography, and conversation revealed that he was one of the many people who had bought an apartment in one of these renovated historic buildings. The Harvester International Building was that particular structure, right alongside the RR tracks. He said the building’s soundproofing was spectacular.
Saying all that, it was freezing and my ankle hurt, so I headed back to the Mobile Oppression Platform (a Toyota) and turned on the heat within the cabin. I had already decided to just throw my hands up and admit defeat.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s a warren of narrow 19th century streets that you’ll find in this area. Narrow and canyonesque due to the built environment, there’s a lot of interesting details and ‘pregnant’ locations in this zone. When it warms up a bit and I’m fully back on my feet, this place is going to be examined closely.
Pictured is part of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, an 1886 vintage ‘sacred space’ which I’m definitely going to try and visit at some point in the future, and hopefully get some interior shots of.
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.
Catenaries and atavists
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve mentioned that the local transit agency – dubbed ‘PRT’ for ‘Pittsburgh Regional Transit’ – which operates the T light rail service, has been conducting a profound series of repairs and upgrades to the Red Line light rail service which runs through the area that HQ is located in all summer long.
The availability of rail based mass transit is one of the factors which decided where Our Lady of the Pentacle and I would settle, I’d mention.
These repairs have been going on since June, and in lieu of running the T service, rail shuttle buses have been carrying the load instead. Theoretically, the week after Labor Day was meant to see a return of regular T service, but a fallen tree had interrupted things again by pulling down a series of the catenary wires that power the thing. Outbound from Pittsburgh’s center was running fine, but inbound towards the City was blocked by repairs and rewiring.
Sigh. I finally rode on a bus in Pittsburgh, thereby.
The rail shuttle carried my fellow commuters and I via surface streets to the Station Square facility along the Monongahela River, whereupon we were directed onto one of the T platforms to finish our journeys. The other two lines were, and have been, up and running and while waiting for a Blue or Silver line light rail unit to show up at Station Square to carry us the rest of the way, an outbound Red Line caught my eye as it entered the facility.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a ‘long walk’ day. The Blue Line T arrived, and deposited me at its terminal stop on Pittsburgh’s North Side, nearby the sportsball stadiums. I was eschewing the headphones on this scuttle for some reason, wanting to pay attention to my surroundings with the whole compliment of built in sensory equipment. My goal was to wander back to more or less the start of this walk at the Station Square T facility.
The North Side is absolutely lovely, despite it having a somewhat ferocious reputation. There were a few spots along a loosely decided upon route that I had in mind, but I had planned in ‘serendipity.’
Serendipity is when you happen across something which you didn’t anticipate on a photowalk, and is a joyous sort of experience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it turns out, there’s a Historic District tucked into the North Side, full of late 19th and very early 20th century structures, a fact which was otherwise unknown to me. It’s called ‘Allegheny West,’ and it’s one of twelve such historic districts in Pittsburgh which receive special attention from the City and the residents who live there. Neat!
I’ll definitely be wandering back through here again, and checking out what’s on display. How the other half lives, indeed.
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.
Never miss an opportunity
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator has been obliging the wishes of his team of doctors in recent weeks, who have decreed that he submit to a now annual series of tests. These procedures are ingenious, including the use of high frequency sound waves and or queer radiations which are focused through my decaying flesh and the rot of my physical firmament.
The white coat and blue pants brigade have also been siphoning off the ichor in my veins, and sampling the various jellies and syrups found within the skinvelope, for chemical analysis. Nothing is particularly wrong with me other than the usual stuff, but these scholars seem to enjoy testing my patience as well as my fleshy bits.
My resolve is to ‘play ball with the docs,’ on a now annual basis. Back in NYC, I’d generally only seek medical attention when bleeding.
I’m making the best of all these violations of comfort and privacy, and since I’m in the habit of carrying a camera with me everywhere I go – took the opportunity after a recent ultrasound lookie-loo to crack out a few shots from the roof of Allegheny General Hospital’s parking lot roof.
Have to admit, I love the sound of the word ‘ultrasound.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The hospital where this particular procedure was inflicted is on the north side of Pittsburgh, so the perspective on this one is looking southwest towards the downtown section. It’s a ‘stitched panorama,’ meaning that I took about five photos while twisting at the waist, and ran them through a photoshop function to combine and blend them together into a panorama.
As a note: My neck was all sticky after the ultrasound, and its accompanying application of weird institutional jellies, and I felt pretty gross. Bleh!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I don’t know about you – lords and ladies – but one such as myself is silently screaming when submitting to the attentions of the physicians. Nightmare fuel, most of it.
A recent trial involved a multiple appointments series of Periodontal treatments at my Dentist. I’ve lived my life in a manner which is designed to avoid having power tools inserted into my mouth, but acquiescence to medical advice is a wise course of action and thereby I endured multiple hours of this particular torture. Good news is that my gums are now as pink as a baby’s bottom.
Did you know that most of the men who would eventually form the KGB’s torture squads, under the early rule of the Soviets, were Dentists?
“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 