Posts Tagged ‘Northern Blvd.’
reflecting ribbon
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots emanate from a time in the past, an era when a young George W. Bush taught us all how to laugh. The colorful display, unfortunately, no longer graces the tableau found at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Steinway Street. A car wash still inhabits the spot, but the variegated signage has since been removed and replaced by the banal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The prevailing light and atmosphere of 2012’s last couple of weeks is epitomized, I think, by the shot above. A sincere desire to drink in chromatic splendor demanded that the first shot in today’s post be displayed, in order to break up the fungoid monotony of December.
perfume conquering
“follow” me on Twitter at @newtownpentacle
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having finally regained the ability to move about, your humble narrator is loosed once more upon an unsuspecting borough, slaking his jaws and coveting quivering delights. A short trip (via subway) to Greenpoint yesterday evening to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the estimable Newtown Creek Alliance, and today- glory of glories- a walk down Northern Boulevard. My destination was in midtown Manhattan, but I dared not risk walking the entire way as normal habit would demand, so I caught a different train after scuttling from Astoria to Queens Plaza.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, I spied this inflatable representation of a snow homunculus, which grabbed my attention for some reason. It adorned the shanty market of some french Canadian Christmas tree merchant, in front of the former Pathmark supermarket which has recently closed at the corner of 43rd street. Curiosity arises in me about these people, who camp out in their lots and run gasoline generators for light and heat on the sidewalks. Not enough to actually try and talk to them, but I’m curious nevertheless.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Growing up Jewish, the only part of Christmas that was kosher in my house were snowmen. My grandmother would adjure on the entire subject of the goyem and their Christmas mishegas and confabulate “yoyzel on de cross” with “Sanda Klause”, a tradition which my mother would gladly carry on. Secular, my parents once went so far as to buy a little plastic tree a few years after my Grandmother passed away. My father spray painted it blue and white, and mom decorated it with dreidels and white tinsel, and they stuck a star of David on top. They insisted we call it a Hannukah Bush.
Personally, I always stuck to the snow homonculii, as nobody objects to them.
breakers lacerated
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last Saturday, after conducting a walking tour of Dutch Kills for a group of enthusiasts, your humble narrator found himself walking up 35th street, and upon arriving at the street’s intersections with both 38th avenue and Northern Blvd.- I was moving past the titan Packard building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Engaged in conversation with Our Lady of the Pentacle, who helped out with the tour, I suddenly felt as if someone might be throwing crumpled up bits of paper at my back. Spinning around to confront my attacker, this swarm of bees was observed.
It had been bees bouncing off my back!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the things I’ve learned about Queens is this- if something “should be done or said”, no one is going to do it, so you’d better do it yourself. Our Lady of the Pentacle sighed at this point and walked up the block to find a shady spot to sit down while I crossed the street and yelled “BEEs” at anyone who approached this spot.
After many years of marriage to one such as myself, she knew that the following would take a while and she might as well get comfortable.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I called 911, and told the operator that there were a lot of bees swarming on the same corner as a subway stop, and was told that that’s not an emergency and that I should call 311. With a hearty “yes ma’am” I hung up and called 311.
The operator listened to my description of the situation, and asked me if I had contacted the property owner about the situation.
Attempting to explain that I was attempting to report a dangerous situation here on the streets of Queens, she interrupted me and chided that “I wasn’t letting her talk”. There no way, of course, that this situation would have been dealt with differently if I was calling about such a situation in say… Manhattan.
She continued that “bees are part of nature and that the City of New York doesn’t mess with nature”.
hilltop pavement
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is not impossible that your humble narrator was conceived in the back seat of a car like the one pictured above, observed recently on Northern Boulevard here in Astoria- or at least I hope I was. A 1966 Ford Mustang, lovingly cared for, and sporting the sort of style which defined the industrial supremacy of American auto manufacturing in the 20th century.
from Wikipedia
The first-generation Ford Mustang is the original pony car, manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1964 until 1973.
It was initially introduced as a hardtop and convertible with the fastback version put on sale the following year. At the time of its introduction, the Mustang, sharing its underpinnings with the Falcon, was slotted into a compact car segment.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From nearly every perspective, whether it be safety or fuel economy or pure comfort- a modern car is preferable in a straight comparison to a vintage ride like this one. However, if you’ve never felt the volcanic rumble of a 1960’s muscle car starting up, or been pressed back into the seat by the acceleration…
from themustangsource.com
Not much changed for Mustang in 1966. The grille design changed a bit–the 1966 models had the running pony inside the corral free-floating on horizontal grille bars. The side trim was slightly revised and a restyled gas cap completed the exterior changes.
On the interior, the instrument panel was redesigned with five round gauges, replacing the panel borrowed from the Ford Falcon for previous model years. Ford broke the 1,000,000 Mustang mark in 1966–18 months after its introduction. To celebrate, Ford released the Sprint 200 Mustang. They were mechanically identical to other six-cylinder Mustangs, but had a chrome air cleaner and a special engine decal which read “Mustang powered Sprint 200.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Few cars are as iconic as the early Mustangs, there’s the GTO and Trans Am of course, but the Mustang just screams rock and roll. Driving this car without “The Doors” playing would just be a crime.
from dmv.ny.gov
Standard series historical plates for passenger or commercial vehicles display either:
- a five-digit number followed by the letters HX (for example, 99999HX), or
- the letters HX followed by a five-digit number (for example, HX22222).
- Standard series historical motorcycle plates display the letters HM followed by three numbers.
Personalized Historical plates for any historical vehicle or historical motorcycle are now available. For an additional fee, registrants can order personalized letter/number combinations of up to eight characters (includes spaces and/or a silhouette of New York State) or 6 characters/spaces (no state silhouette available) for a motorcycle. Personalized Historical plates have the word “HISTORICAL” along the bottom of the plate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The dashboard exhibits classic form over function, with scores of knobs and sharp edges that would cut you to ribbons in an accident. This isn’t the design of modernity, overly concerned with what could happen, rather this is a can of Budweiser between your legs and a pack of Marlboro Red on the dash kind of design. Braggadocio on wheels, the chariot of a youthful culture manufactured before everything went so terribly askew.
Compare to the modern variant here: ford.com/cars/mustang/
oh, xolotl, behave
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another one of the topics which your humble narrator is an absolute geek about happens to involve the pre-Columbian belief systems of the aboriginal cultures which distinguished Mexico and its central American Neighbors to the south. Particularly the Aztec, or Mexica, belief system (Aztec is a spanish word) is something dear to my heart. This is mentioned so that the replete joy I felt at discovering this “cool car” on the corner of 43rd and Northern Blvd. recently might be understood.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the hood, or bonnet for anglicized readers, is a lovely little illustration. Ironically presented using western techniques of illustration- it nevertheless depicts an Eagle Knight and Mexica Princess framed against an imposing temple. The central skull face at the bottom of the piece is the earth monster from the “Calendar Stone of Tonatiuh”, and a full size reproduction of said sculpture may be found at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.
The Eagle Knights were sort of mesoamerican “Green Berets”, an elite caste of warriors distinguished by a noble birth and the use of specialized training, weapons, and tactics. The Mayan warriors depicted in the popular film “Apocalypto”, in comparison, were Jaguar Knights.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shining surprise on this “cool car” was found on the rear view mirrors. I’m sure that the “Ramirez” tag has some sort of modern pop cultural significance which I am unaware of, to which my only reply is “La Raza” as I sweep my spread fingers across my eyes.
Before you ask about the title of this posting- Xolotl was the name of the obsidian glass instrument which was used in the ceremonies of human sacrifice to the sun god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaoc. The Mexica considered it to be a living being.
The Newtown Pentacle 