Posts Tagged ‘ny harbor’
furtive fragments
It’s National Greasy Foods Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Working Harbor Committee, a non profit whose mission is “to educate the public about the Harbor and New York and New Jersey” and which a humble narrator is both the official photographer for and a member of the organization’s steering committee, called a meeting recently. We had some organizational business to conduct, voting on Board members and other nitty gritty at an annual meeting.
Instead of some banal office, however, this time our annual gathering occurred at the South Street Seaport Museum’s Wavertree. a historic sailing vessel which dates back to 1885 and which is the flagship for the museum.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It should be mentioned that a humble narrator isn’t possessed of the same sense of wonder and excitement that some of my cohorts at WHC are when the subject of sailing vessels comes up, but it was pretty cool to be able to visit an artifact of the “forest of masts” era on NY Harbor.
The Wavertree recently spent some time at Cadell’s shipyard on Staten Island, wherein the old girl received expert attention and refitting. The renovations and so on are still ongoing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There are just a few historic ships in NY Harbor, with the South Street Seaport museum hosting the majority. Given NYC’s predilection towards annihilating anything older than a few decades old whether terrestrial or maritime, the presence of Wavertree in Lower Manhattan is a not insignificant thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot, and the following, are tripod shots captured from onboard the ship itself. The far background in them will appear a bit blurry, as Wavertree was bobbing about a bit in the tide. It was interesting, from a behind the camera POV, to have the fixed point in my focal zone set for the ship I’m on rather then some thing which is off in the distance – the opposite of what I normally do when onboard a vessel.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s some complicated rigging up there, and I joked around with one of my WHC pals about him going all “Burt Lancaster” and swinging around on the ropes. My pal assured me that he was not going to go all “Burt Lancaster.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the quarterdeck looking across the East River towards Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also from the quarterdeck, and looking west towards Manhattan.
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Sunday, November 12th, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
leaden coffin
It’s National Pancake Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Note: Flickr seems to be having some issues today, so if the shots in today’s post don’t appear or display “broken” image link icons, it ain’t me.
Last week, I took a new friend over to “Skelson’s office” on the Staten Island side of the Kill Van Kull. My new pal, who is a photographer that I met during the lowering of the Koscisuzcko Bridge truss during the summer, had never been to Kill Van Kull and given that she’s into shooting the same sort of maritime industrial stuff that I am…
“Skelson’s office” is a section of the Staten Island shoreline that another photographer buddy of mine named John Skelson, who has left this world, used to haunt and this was officially his “spot.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While we were at Skelson’s Office, the usual parade of tugs and barges sailed past, including the gargantua you see in today’s shots. That’s a Jersey City based Weeks Marine maritime crane, specifically the 533. Its boom is 210 feet long and it has a lifting capacity of 500 short tons. That’s 5,392 “regular people” gross tons if you’re curious. If you click over to the Weeks site via this link, you’ll see a space shuttle dangling off of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There were two tugs guiding the crane along the Kill Van Kull, but the big one doing the actual towing was the Katherine, pictured above. My new pal had her mouth hanging open as this unit passed by, as you don’t see this sort of thing every day.
Well, I do, but there you go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Found some garbage lying along the shoreline, and since I had to urinate, the big red letters made for a decent enough target. Great, again? America is great, now.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The show continued along the Kill Van Kull and we spent a couple of hours hanging out and photographing the tugs and barges and container ships passing by Skelson’s Office. If you want to see this sort of thing for yourself (I mean tugs and maritime industrial goodness, not me pissing on the word “Trump”) check out the link below for the recently announced Working Harbor Committee boat tour of both Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill on October 15th.
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
spittle flecked
It’s National Banana Split Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a single shot today, depicting the Penny Bridge area of my beloved Newtown Creek and looking westwards across Greenpoint towards Manhattan. I’ll be conducting a walking tour of Dutch Kills in LIC tomorrow, link and details below, if you’d like to come along. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day to take a short walk along a long creek.
Upcoming Tours and events
America’s Workshop Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – Saturday August 26th, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Explore the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
raiding contingent
It’s National Sponge Cake Day, followed by the Night of the Living Dead, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of a personal milestone is reached today, as I’ve now been amongst you all for some six hundred months. The last eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty three days have been a mixed bag, overall. Lots of boredom and pedantry, which has been punctuated by pulse pounding terror. Every now and then, one or two of the four hundred and thirty eight thousand, three hundred odd hours which I’ve experienced on this mortal coil hasn’t totally sucked. I’ve met good people, bad people, and have generally gone out of way to try and not hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.
For all of those times when I’ve been a total asshole to someone during the roughly twenty six point three million minutes I’ve been on this planet, apologies are offered.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s lessons I’ve learned, and mistakes I’ve made which I strive not to repeat. When I was born, Lyndon Baines Johnson was President of the United States (I’ve got a certificate from the White House some where congratulating my parents on my arrival) and the Woodstock festival had just wrapped up. I clearly remember a moon landing, and the Watergate investigations being broadcast live on all three television networks.
I was a weird and lonely kid, and some things never change – even after nearly one point six billion seconds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One is lost and deep in a “reminisce” today. Trying to remember their faces and to forget all the slings and arrows. Trying to appreciate what I’ve got, and lost, and the pageantry I’ve experienced. Overall I’ve been fairly lucky, as people of high quality who are “above my pay grade” are in my life. Also, I’m thinking about dead friends, and family.
Tonight is the Night of the Living Dead, so perhaps I’ll be seeing some of them as they try to batter in my door to feast.
Upcoming Tours and events
DUPBO Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with NYCH20 – Thursday August 24th, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Explore Greenpoint and Hunters Point, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
America’s Workshop Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – Saturday August 26th, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Explore the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
adjacent buildings
It’s National “Eat A Peach” Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So, the world didn’t end yesterday – again – and Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself dragged our elderly dog Zuzu all the way down to the sub basements of our bunker in Astoria for nothing. Now, I’ve got an angry old dog. According to the weather reports, today is going to be fairly horrible as far as heat and humidity, but the heat should be breaking just in time for me to conduct a walking tour of DUPBO (Down Under the Pulaski Bridge Onramp) on Thursday for the NYCH20 outfit (link below, come with?). I’m doing another walking tour on Saturday with the Atlas Obscura folks, this time it’s LIC and the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek.
Pictured above is the 4 train entering the 59th/Lex subway complex, which has nothing to do with eclipses or Newtown Creek, I just like the shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having come of age and attainment of cognizant knowledge of a world outside my parents and family during the 1970’s and 80’s, I was fairly certain that the world would end in my lifetime. Back then, the scenarios by which things would go “ass over tits” involved either a thermonuclear war with the Soviets or Red Chinese, or via the arrival of a new ice age which was meant to arrive concurrently with a floating hole in the atmospheric ozone layer that would allow beams of cosmic radiation to microwave the surface of the planet. Both events were meant to be caused by the propellants commonly used in aerosol cans at the time, known as “CFC’s.” I’ll never forget that night when I got home from work and threw on the family television to see the Berlin Wall coming down, and the realization that at least one of the doomsday scenarios I had grown up with had become highly unlikely. Simpler times, huh?
Other versions of the apocalypse were then developed, and their storylines propagated.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Doom, gloom, and the impending destruction of the American way of life are critical tools for the powers that be. Bread and circuses were the levers that the Romans pulled, here in North America it’s ginned up barbarian hordes and the threat of creeping moral degeneracy which drives the crowd. Remember the plots being prepared by Hassan Al Majood in 2007? How about the terror network of Mohammed Bin Tikriti in 2003? You shouldn’t, as I just made those up, but for a second there they kind of blended in with the rest of the national narrative, didn’t they?
Don’t think about international trade, wage stagnation, provable global climate change, or any of the host of truly existential issues facing our civilization. The world is going to end in tribulation and end time prophecy, so go get yours before somebody else claims it all. Consumers are meant to consume.
Upcoming Tours and events
DUPBO Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with NYCH20 – Thursday August 24th, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Explore Greenpoint and Hunters Point, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
America’s Workshop Newtown Creek Walking Tour, with Atlas Obscura – Saturday August 26th, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Explore the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City, with NCA Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 