Posts Tagged ‘Pickman’
ruptured hopes
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
November 9th, a humble narrator was once behind the wheel of the car, and after running a few move related errands, I had a couple of hours to kill. There’s a whole outer ring of seldom visited Newtown Creek views which are now in reach. While pulling into Mount Olivette Cemetery in Maspeth, a chance meeting occurred and I ran into an old friend – Tony Nunziato. Having not had a chance to say goodbye, I was glad of the chance to do so.
As you’re reading this, if everything has gone according to plan, all of my worldly possessions have been loaded into a moving truck which is heading towards Pittsburgh. Additionally, as you’re reading this, I’m likely cleaning the toilet and or pushing a broom around an empty apartment in the Astoria section of the Borough of Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As tomorrow’s post publishes, I will be about six hours into my own journey to Paris of Appalachia. Last week, I drove Our Lady of the Pentacle and a carload of gear out to the new house. We set up a quick and temporary state of housekeeping, and on our first night there we were standing out on the deck and admiring the town.
Something pretty cool occurred, when a Doe – as in a female deer – wandered into our driveway and looked up and at us. It huffed out a grunt, and continued on its way. Also, we’ve got bunnies living in our back yard. One of them is a white rabbit. I haven’t noticed a hookah-smoking caterpillar yet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My little drive around Newtown Creek’s environs included a couple of other cemeteries in addition to Mt. Olivette. On my way home to Astoria, I decided to also take a ride around First Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City’s Blissville section as well.
Last week, when I was in Pittsburgh, a visit was paid to their Calvary – Allegheny Cemetery. I was only scouting, but… wow.
More tales of my last weeks in the City continue, 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.
myriad other
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
November 7th, and one back in NYC – I had to move the car for alternate side, so I went to a point of elevation nearby HQ for an hour and shot a bunch of train photos not unlike the one above. I also ran out a pretty large panorama shot, which you can look at here.
I’m working on a City focused transliteration of the Bible which I dub “The New Yorker Testament” wherein the lord rests on the third day as there’s no alternate side, and it’s got a “good spot.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
November 9th, I had a few minutes to spend on my own pursuits and needed some “head space” from all the have-to’s of moving out of the City, after making my last run to the scrap yard. I hopped in the car and headed over to my beloved Creek.
While in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section, at Apollo Street and while shooting the photo above, I noticed a freight train moving westwards along the Lower Montauk Tracks of the Long Island Railroad, on the Queens side of Newtown Creek, and thought “hey, I’ve got a car now, I can do this.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Using routes familiar and loved, one zoomed over to Maspeth’s Haberman siding and got there just as this GATX freight unit was heading back towards the Fresh Pond yard. Win!
More next week, 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.
crystal stream
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On Halloween, Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself went to the local saloon here in Astoria for a spooky drink, and then headed back to HQ for the now daily ritual of packing boxes for our impending escape from New York.
It was raining, and one set out to capture the local milieu from up on the porch. That’s the bodega across the street from me here in Astoria, which I’ve shown you countless images of over the last decade. I couldn’t put much time into this sort of pursuit this time around, as on November 1st I’d be climbing in behind the wheel of the new car and driving it to Pittsburgh. We had a week’s worth of real estate listings to see, and the goal was to sign a lease in Pittsburgh before we came back to NYC.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 1st of November was a travel day. With piss breaks and a meal or two factored in, the 370 miles or so to Pittsburgh from Queens is about a 7-8 hour long day of driving. 90% of that interval are highway hours, on fairly good roads with 70 MPH speed limits. From Astoria in Queens, it’s Triborough to the GW Bridge, and crossing the heavy road volumes of the Hudson River coastline of New Jersey will cost you a minimum of an hour’s worth of stop and go traffic. Once you’re about a third of the way into New Jersey heading west, it’s pretty clear sailing. The only thing that makes the drive concerning are the numbers of semi trucks encountered and the reckless abandon of about 50% of your fellow drivers who think 70 MPH isn’t fast enough.
Long story short, we drove to Pittsburgh. We stayed in an AirBNB, which we arrived at after picking up some groceries at a convenience store, drank a bunch of the wine we bought at the aforementioned shop, and woke up very early the next morning – November 2nd – to a heavy blanket of 1/4 mile visibility fog which had suffused into Pittsburgh and it’s suburbs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While drinking my morning coffee, I couldn’t help but record the scene from the AirBNB’s back yard deck. This was in an area which I’m told is called “the South Hills,” which is basically the sloping side of the highest point of elevation in the city’s center – Mount Washington.
We had a full day’s worth of realtor meetings, Zillow appointments, and all sorts of far flung destinations to visit. We literally had to drive to Moon, and Mars, and I had the desire to visit Carnegie sometime during the week’s time we’d be here.
More to come next week, from the misty mysteries of Pittsburgh.
“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.
humming music
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The John J Harvey Fireboat stopped at the dock in Blissville, along Newtown Creek, where we picked up the majority of the people who accompanied me on my last navigation of the waterway. The crowd debarked, although some of us stayed onboard for the ride back to Manhattan’s West Side. The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge had opened again, and allowed us to pass.
The Captain of the Fireboat, Huntley Gill, decided to offer me a salute and fired the water monitors onboard the Harvey for a display.
My pal Scott Wolpow managed to grab some video of that, here it is:
– video by Scott Wolpow
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I managed to get one or two last shots from the water on our way back to the East River, and eventual docking on the Hudson at Manhattan’s Pier 66. That’s the recycling company which I got rid of all my electronic and metallic junk at, dubbed Allocco Recycling, by the way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek was a masters class in environmentalism, government, and the non profit business world for me. I learned so much, from so many smart people. I stayed honest here, even when I had to compromise, which is something I’m proud to say. Unfortunately, a definitive answer to the only question that truly matters was never arrived at. The question?
Who can guess, all that there is, which might be buried down there – in the sedimentary black mayonnaise – underlying the lugubrious waters of the fabulous Newtown Creek?
“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.
sunlight lies
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Captain Huntley Gill and the crew of the John J Harvey Fireboat navigated their vessel some three miles back from the East River into English Kills, a tributary of Newtown Creek, and executed a turnaround nearby the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge. We started heading westwards then, and back towards the East River.
To say that a humble narrator’s emotional state was complicated would be a bit of an understatement. It’s not always apparent when the cover closes on a chapter of your life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s really all over, now. Especially right now.
As you’re reading this post, which published at 11 am on November 30th, Our Lady of the Pentacle and I are currently driving to Pittsburgh. Literally – right now – and as of 11 am, I’ve been on the road for about 5 hours. We’ve got a car full of the sort of things that you don’t entrust to a mover – cameras, computers, valuables – with us. Tomorrow morning, we’re taking possession of our new digs and starting the “moving in” process.
This wasn’t – as it turned out – the last time I’d be on the Fireboat, but it was the last time that I’d be taking a group out on Newtown Creek. More on my last trip on the Harvey in a future post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To everything there is a season, huh?
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 