Posts Tagged ‘photowalk’
any limit
Do you smell that?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Waiting for a train, and I mean a specific train of a certain line rather than just whatever might be headed toward Manhattan, entails acceptance of the fact that one must endure several pneumatic blasts of powderized rat droppings carried in the slipstream of more frequently serviced lines.
Mold, bacterial specie, and fumes generated by decaying electrical switches (as well as other more esoteric bits of equipment) are also incorporated in this refreshing torrent of miasma. Welcomed, as the static mass of air down under Broadway in Astoria (and in the subway system citywide) is a concatenation of horrors, an unmoving and highly humid jelly of stink and reprobate contamination which is at least set into a sort of motion by the action of piston leaving concrete cylinder which one might describe as a breeze.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The gentleman in the shot above noticed, as did I, certain queer movements down upon the tracks as some squamous army marched about in the fetid trickles of sewage running and pooling about in the intervals betwixt the train propelled clouds of pneumatically driven stink.
A plague of rats has tormented the neighborhood found between the Steinway and 46th street stops along Broadway for several months now, conditions accelerated and excaberated by the phenomena which is derogatorily referred to as “Bloomblight” by area wags. Named for the current Mayor, the term refers to a building lot which has been cleared of structures but has been left as an open pit while awaiting building development, in complete disregard for the safety and domestic tranquility of existing residents. Two such plots have lain open on Broadway, between the two stops, for quite awhile.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Puff after puff of vomitous stink and poisonous air follow these trains and bathe riders in contaminant particulates- and between these arrivals and departures- one is treated to a different sort of commute- that which is enacted by the nightbreed rodents.
One wonders if this vermin habitation and community, whose true size is seldom glimpsed or only ever hinted at, marches to and from Manhattan on a daily schedule as we do? Do they have some potentate there, as we do, to whom allegiance is expected? Are there rats who stay local, proclaiming the glories of their outer borough and quite subterranean lair, as we do? Do they brag about the quality and diversity of restaurant garbage in Queens?
Is there a rat 311 which they can call to complain of traps and poisons?
After all, lords and ladies, as above so below- and who can guess, all there is, that might be buried down there?
Want to see something cool? Upcoming Walking Tours
Modern Corridor– Saturday, July 13, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
moment grows
Maritime Sunday once more washes ashore.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A short post today, with a single shot depicting the Franklin Reinauer and Dace Reinauer tugs in port at Erie Basin in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Even tugs deserve a day off now and then, lords and ladies, especially on a holiday weekend’s Maritime Sunday.
Want to see something cool? Upcoming Walking Tours
Modern Corridor– Saturday, July 13, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
Project Firebox 78
At the currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Were open and armed conflict between the Boroughs to break out, the Grand Street Bridge would likely be a key strategic asset for either side to possess. The nearby MTA bus depot serves the transit fleet of Brooklyn, not Queens, and the Maspeth Militias would not be able to pass up such a key strategic target.
This centuried firebox, a member of that peaceful legion which desires naught but an absence of harm and obeyance to a strict fire code, would enjoy a front row seat at the literal and littoral frontline- should hostilities erupt.
Want to see something cool? Upcoming Walking Tours
Modern Corridor– Saturday, July 13, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, August 10, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
13 Steps around Dutch Kills– Saturday, August 17, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
signed contract
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To begin with, happy 4th of July.
Second, given that we are into our second decade of the “new normal” and all, I think we need to discuss some of these so called “holiday traditions” of ours. Sentimental attachment to the past is something by which we must not be ruled, after all, not in an America hating world which is as cruel and dangerous as this one. Our leaders instruct that all things should now be discussed and considered in the contextual framework of “newspeak” – whether it be the burning of coal for BBQ (climate change contributor), the ritual feasting (obesity epidemic), inebriation (drunk driving checkpoints), or the detonation of small explosives by the gentry (terrorist tendencies). Enjoy your freedom today, just not too much or too loudly, and within the guidelines set down by our ruling committees.
Also, if you see something, say something, and show me your identification papers.
each attempt
An abbreviated post today on underground difficulties.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As has been oft mentioned in the past, a humble narrator is no fan of being on the Subway. A necessary evil for transiting to and tithing for the Shining City of Manhattan, I usually spend my time on the train doing my level best to avoid anyone else’s gaze and playing around with settings on my camera. It is surprisingly difficult to get an ok shot down there. The light is very odd, the environment is somewhat hostile- always a study in extremes, and the place is absolutely infested with humans.
