Posts Tagged ‘Pickman’
vast reaches
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pictured today are the operations of A.R.C. scrap metal division of a corporation called Alloco found at 540 Kingsland avenue in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, pictured from a vantage point on the loquacious Newtown Creek.
Another former Standard Oil property converted over to modern usage, A.R.C. scrap metal is involved in the recycling trade.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the folks who work here, and you couldn’t ask to encounter a nicer bunch of guys. Their yard always displays a frenzy of activity, with heavy equipment sorting through the flow of waste materials and what seems like dozens of safety vested and hard hatted workers laboring away.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You may have seen one of these shots before, and apologies are offered for repetition. One is still sorting out problems and playing catch up after the interruption to work flow offered by the lightning strike which disabled much of my equipment.
It has been a very, very busy period of time with many unexpected and unscheduled obstacles.
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August 5th, 2012- Newtown Creek Alliance Walking Tour- The Insalubrious Valley
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman will be leading a walk through the industrial heartlands of New York City, exploring the insalubrious valley of the Newtown Creek.
The currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens, and the place where the Industrial Revolution actually happened, provides a dramatic and picturesque setting for this exploration. We’ll be visiting two movable bridges, the still standing remains of an early 19th century highway, and a forgotten tributary of the larger waterway. As we walk along the Newtown Creek and explore the “wrong side of the tracks” – you’ll hear tales of the early chemical industry, “Dead Animal and Night Soil Wharfs”, colonial era heretics and witches and the coming of the railroad. The tour concludes at the famed Clinton Diner in Maspeth- where scenes from the Martin Scorcese movie “Goodfellas” were shot.
Lunch at Clinton Diner is included with the ticket.
Details/special instructions.
Meetup at the corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. on August 5, 2012. The L train serves a station at Bushwick Avenue and Grand Street, and the Q54 and Q59 bus lines stop nearby as well. Check MTA.info as ongoing weekend construction often causes delays and interruptions. Drivers, it would be wise to leave your vehicle in the vicinity of the Clinton Diner in Maspeth, Queens or near the start of the walk at Grand St. and Morgan Avenue (you can pick up the bus to Brooklyn nearby the Clinton Diner).
Be prepared: We’ll be encountering broken pavement, sometimes heavy truck traffic as we move through a virtual urban desert. Dress and pack appropriately for hiking, closed-toe shoes are highly recommended.
Clinton Diner Menu:
- Cheese burger deluxe
- Grilled chicken over garden salad
- Turkey BLT triple decker sandwich with fries
- Spaghetti with tomato sauce or butter
- Greek salad medium
- Greek Salad wrap with French fries
- Can of soda or 16oz bottle of Poland Spring
for August 5th tickets, click here for the Newtown Creek Alliance ticketing page
evil vines
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The good news is that the whole Internet access thing seems to be solved for now, and your humble narrator is once more reliably online. The bad news is that I’m off to Staten Island to conduct a walking tour of the Kill Van Kull instead of doubling down and making up for lost time. Not really bad news of course, as I love doing the whole “reveal thing”, but I am really, really behind on my schedule. If you care to come along, we will be meeting up on the Staten Island side at 11, nearby the northern exit from the St. George ferry terminal, tickets are $20 per head.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Afterwards, I shall race home, or at least move as quickly as New York will allow me to. My plan is to get back to work immediately upon entering HQ. One grows tired and irritable due to this constant state of worry and despair, and looks forward to once again returning to the pure joy of researching, writing about, and photographing the myriad adventures offered within the Newtown Pentacle.
distinct and definite
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Continuing strife related to the lightning damage actually continues today, as that maleficent entity which is called Time Warner Cable continues to frustrate and annoy. The one component that all others rely upon in my little electronic web is unfortunately supplied by this nightmarish and ill mannered corporation, which is web access. Confirmation that everything which might potentially be wired to their equipment for this purpose is functional has been ascertained, and a trip to their Manhattan HQ yesterday consumed three hours of my remaining time on this planet.
Upon returning to my HQ in Astoria- one discovered that the replacement modem supplied by this endeavor exhibited the same bizarre behavior as the lightning damaged one. To put it mildly, the customer service representative who I spoke to after this realization got more than a small bit of spleen, and most likely needed a short break for religious reasons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator is not pleased, and wonders why the seeming goal of this company’s customer service stratagems seem to be designed to inspire impotent rage. You can see the helplessness and despair displayed on the faces of their employees, who have the aspect of badly led soldiers used to losing battles. Our Lady scolds my steady invective and mean spirited attitude toward this labor force, reminding me that it’s not “their fault”. If it’s not the fault of a company’s employees that their product is inferior and badly delivered or maintained, then whose is it?
Only after a particularly pointed barrage of the purest hatred (expressed by nasty statements about the customer service representative’s paternal heritage), I would point out, that the August 8th appointment they offered me yesterday magically sprang forward to this afternoon. Why not offer the Friday appointment on Wednesday in the first place, rather than risk the ill will engendered?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recently, the United Nations issued a statement adding Internet access to the list of “human rights”. Here in the City of Greater New York, where that institution is housed, this human right is governed, measured, and sold at rapacious rates by a third rate provider. There are certain utility functions- phone, healthcare, electricity, water, cooking gas, heating fuel- considered too important to escape either heavy government regulation or outright municipal monopoly and official franchise. One would like to see data services break out of the 20th century metaphor of an entertainment or telephonic business model, and consequences for malfeasance and incompetence on the part of commercial franchisees added to the municipal play book of regulatory fines.
Some day we will look back and laugh, one predicts, at this rat pile of a company which exploited the early days of the digital age.
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Upcoming Walking Tours:
July 28th, 2012- Working Harbor Committee Kill Van Kull walk- This Saturday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Kill Van Kull, or tugboat alley as its known to we harbor rats, is a tidal strait that defines the border of Staten Island and New Jersey. A busy and highly industrialized waterfront, Working Harbor’s popular “Hidden Harbor – Newark Bay” boat tours provide water access to the Kill, but what is it like on the landward side?
Starting at the St. George Staten Island Ferry terminal, join WHC Steering Committee member Mitch Waxman for a walk up the Kill Van Kull via Staten Islands Richmond Terrace. You’ll encounter unrivaled views of the maritime traffic on the Kill itself, as well as the hidden past of the maritime communities which line it’s shores. Surprising and historic neighborhoods, an abandoned railway, and tales of prohibition era bootleggers await.
The tour will start at 11, sharp, and you must be on (at least) the 10:30 AM Staten Island Ferry to meet the group at St. George. Again, plan for transportation changes and unexpected weirdness to be revealed to you at MTA.info.
for July 28th tickets, click here for the Working Harbor Committee ticketing page
August 5th, 2012- Newtown Creek Alliance Walking Tour- The Insalubrious Valley
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman will be leading a walk through the industrial heartlands of New York City, exploring the insalubrious valley of the Newtown Creek.
The currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens, and the place where the Industrial Revolution actually happened, provides a dramatic and picturesque setting for this exploration. We’ll be visiting two movable bridges, the still standing remains of an early 19th century highway, and a forgotten tributary of the larger waterway. As we walk along the Newtown Creek and explore the “wrong side of the tracks” – you’ll hear tales of the early chemical industry, “Dead Animal and Night Soil Wharfs”, colonial era heretics and witches and the coming of the railroad. The tour concludes at the famed Clinton Diner in Maspeth- where scenes from the Martin Scorcese movie “Goodfellas” were shot.
Lunch at Clinton Diner is included with the ticket.
Details/special instructions.
Meetup at the corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. on August 5, 2012. The L train serves a station at Bushwick Avenue and Grand Street, and the Q54 and Q59 bus lines stop nearby as well. Check MTA.info as ongoing weekend construction often causes delays and interruptions. Drivers, it would be wise to leave your vehicle in the vicinity of the Clinton Diner in Maspeth, Queens or near the start of the walk at Grand St. and Morgan Avenue (you can pick up the bus to Brooklyn nearby the Clinton Diner).
Be prepared: We’ll be encountering broken pavement, sometimes heavy truck traffic as we move through a virtual urban desert. Dress and pack appropriately for hiking, closed-toe shoes are highly recommended.
Clinton Diner Menu:
- Cheese burger deluxe
- Grilled chicken over garden salad
- Turkey BLT triple decker sandwich with fries
- Spaghetti with tomato sauce or butter
- Greek salad medium
- Greek Salad wrap with French fries
- Can of soda or 16oz bottle of Poland Spring
for August 5th tickets, click here for the Newtown Creek Alliance ticketing page
strange region
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nearly have I sorted out the various electronic issues caused by the lightning strike which sundered my links with the far flung interwebs, however, the last and greatest hurdle is before me.
The thundering incompetency and bureaucratic nonsense of the Time Warner cable empire awaits. Long has it been since I severed my relationship with them regarding the delivery of televisual and telephonic service, a second rate and badly delivered suite of offerings at best, but they remain the only game in town as far as high speed Internet (at least in my zip code).
Yes, smaller operations exist, but they largely piggy back onto the Time Warner system in Astoria.
Today, I must hie to Manhattan and company headquarters in order to exchange a lightning damaged cable modem. The customer service operator offered me an in home appointment on August 8th, some 14 days from now, so the only way to get this dying elephant to perform its most basic function in a timely fashion is to visit its house and kick it in the trunk.
I would point out that DirecTV was here within 24 hours to assess the situation, and had their replacement equipment up and running within 48 hours of the lightning event.
Hopefully, by tomorrow, the entire system back at Newtown Pentacle HQ will be functionable again- but this is probably vainglorious hope speaking. With luck, I will be able to start doing “my thing” again within a day or two.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Tonight, however, diversion can be obtained at the Flux Factory in LIC. Kate Zidar of Newtown Creek Alliance will be joining Dr. Eric Sanderson for an interesting presentation.
Flux Factory presents…Newtown Creek: Past, Present, Future – JUL 26
Flux Factory is pleased to present the third workshop in a yearlong initiative, The Future of Your Neighborhood: Who Decides?
Newtown Creek: Past, Present, Future
July 26th, 7 pm – 9 pm
Flux Factory
39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, NY 11101
The July workshop will focus on Newtown Creek: one of the most polluted industrial sites in America, bordering Flux Factory’s Long Island City neighborhood. Eric Sanderson of the Mannahatta Project will share historical research he’s collected on the Superfund site, with the aim of making information available to artists, designers, city planners, and other interested parties for widespread use in restoring its original splendor. Kate Zidar, Executive Director of Newtown Creek Alliance, will present information on the current state of the creek, including how community members can participate in materializing visions for its future.
_______________________________________________________________
Upcoming Walking Tours:
July 28th, 2012- Working Harbor Committee Kill Van Kull walk- This Saturday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Kill Van Kull, or tugboat alley as its known to we harbor rats, is a tidal strait that defines the border of Staten Island and New Jersey. A busy and highly industrialized waterfront, Working Harbor’s popular “Hidden Harbor – Newark Bay” boat tours provide water access to the Kill, but what is it like on the landward side?
Starting at the St. George Staten Island Ferry terminal, join WHC Steering Committee member Mitch Waxman for a walk up the Kill Van Kull via Staten Islands Richmond Terrace. You’ll encounter unrivaled views of the maritime traffic on the Kill itself, as well as the hidden past of the maritime communities which line it’s shores. Surprising and historic neighborhoods, an abandoned railway, and tales of prohibition era bootleggers await.
The tour will start at 11, sharp, and you must be on (at least) the 10:30 AM Staten Island Ferry to meet the group at St. George. Again, plan for transportation changes and unexpected weirdness to be revealed to you at MTA.info.
for July 28th tickets, click here for the Working Harbor Committee ticketing page
August 5th, 2012- Newtown Creek Alliance Walking Tour- The Insalubrious Valley
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman will be leading a walk through the industrial heartlands of New York City, exploring the insalubrious valley of the Newtown Creek.
The currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens, and the place where the Industrial Revolution actually happened, provides a dramatic and picturesque setting for this exploration. We’ll be visiting two movable bridges, the still standing remains of an early 19th century highway, and a forgotten tributary of the larger waterway. As we walk along the Newtown Creek and explore the “wrong side of the tracks” – you’ll hear tales of the early chemical industry, “Dead Animal and Night Soil Wharfs”, colonial era heretics and witches and the coming of the railroad. The tour concludes at the famed Clinton Diner in Maspeth- where scenes from the Martin Scorcese movie “Goodfellas” were shot.
Lunch at Clinton Diner is included with the ticket.
Details/special instructions.
Meetup at the corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn at 11 a.m. on August 5, 2012. The L train serves a station at Bushwick Avenue and Grand Street, and the Q54 and Q59 bus lines stop nearby as well. Check MTA.info as ongoing weekend construction often causes delays and interruptions. Drivers, it would be wise to leave your vehicle in the vicinity of the Clinton Diner in Maspeth, Queens or near the start of the walk at Grand St. and Morgan Avenue (you can pick up the bus to Brooklyn nearby the Clinton Diner).
Be prepared: We’ll be encountering broken pavement, sometimes heavy truck traffic as we move through a virtual urban desert. Dress and pack appropriately for hiking, closed-toe shoes are highly recommended.
Clinton Diner Menu:
- Cheese burger deluxe
- Grilled chicken over garden salad
- Turkey BLT triple decker sandwich with fries
- Spaghetti with tomato sauce or butter
- Greek salad medium
- Greek Salad wrap with French fries
- Can of soda or 16oz bottle of Poland Spring
for August 5th tickets, click here for the Newtown Creek Alliance ticketing page
nature transmutes
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator just can’t get enough of the Long Island Railroad yard in Long Island City.
Back in January of this year, while “wondering uneasily“, we established that the LIRR station in Long Island City accomplishes tasks which it would take some 30,000 horses to accomplish on a daily basis. Last year, in October- these very tracks were visited in “Deeply Hidden“.
Simply put, I’m kind of drawn to this spot.
from wikipedia
This station has 13 tracks, two concrete high-level island platforms, and one wooden high-level island platform. All platforms are two cars long and accessible from Borden Avenue just west of Fifth Street. The northernmost one, adjacent to tracks 2 and 3, is the only one used for passenger service. The other concrete platform adjacent to tracks 6 and 7 and the wooden one adjacent to tracks 8 and 9 are used for employees only. All tracks without platforms are used for train storage. The southernmost four tracks are powered by third rail while the remaining tracks are used only by diesel-powered trains.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once upon a time, street grade rail crossings were pretty common in Western Queens, but these days there are only a few that I know about. As always, never will I claim to be an expert on this subject, as there’s too many alphanumeric terms involved for me to remember. As mentioned in the past, mathematics isn’t my strong suit, and I’ve always been cursed by a sort of numbers based dyslexia. I’m all ‘effed up.
from wikipedia
The Long Island Rail Road owns an electric fleet of 836 M7 and 170 M3 electric multiple unit cars, and 134 C3 bilevel rail cars powered by 23 DE30AC diesel-electric locomotives and 22 DM30AC dual-mode locomotives.
In 1997 and 1998, the LIRR received 134 double-decker passenger cars from Kawasaki, including 23 cab control cars, and 46 General Motors Electro-Motive Division diesel-electric locomotives (23 diesel DE30ACs and 23 dual-mode DM30ACs) to pull them, allowing trains from non-electric territory to access Penn Station for the first time in many years, due to the prohibition on diesel operation in the East River Tunnels leading to Penn Station.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Arithmetic challenged, in a Jewish family, this marks one as worse than an idiot. The stereotype which opines that Jews are possessed of a certain aptitude for mathematics is fairly accurate (or at least it generally is in my family), and black sheep status was assigned me as early as second grade when they rolled out long division. Consistently low scores on the math section of standardized testing always betrayed my inadequacies to scholastic authorities, and was a great cause of concern to my parents. Reports from teachers fed their dire suspicions that I would someday end up “a bum on da bowery” or “shovelin shit on da street”.
from wikipedia
The DE30AC and DM30AC locomotives replaced aging GP38s, Alco FA1/FA2s, F7As and F9As, and MP15AC and SW1001 locomotives, with GP38s used to push and pull diesel trains and other locomotives used to provide HEP for the trains. The bodies of the DE30AC and the DM30AC are similar; the difference is the ability of the DM30AC to use electric third rail while the diesel engine is off, enabling the locomotive to use the East River Tunnels into New York Penn Station. DM30ACs have third rail contact shoes, permitting direct service from non-electrified lines in eastern Long Island via the western electrified main lines all the way to Penn Station. A few such trains a day run on the Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, and Montauk Branches. The engines’ naming scheme: DM = Dual Mode, DE = Diesel Engine, 30 = 3000 hp, AC = Alternating Current traction motors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m told that people suffering from several different cognitive disorders spend their time memorizing train schedules and details about the rail system, and that they find some solace in the purely numerical language which governs the subject. Me, I just wander around aimlessly, and get the giggles when I’m lucky enough to randomly come across a train passing so close by. My major malfunction is taking too many pictures of trains and boats, it would seem.
from 1877′s “Long Island and where to go!!: A descriptive work compiled for the Long R.R. Co.“, courtesy google books:
Long Island City is the concentrating point upon the East river, of all the main avenues of travel from the back districts of Long Island to the city of New York. The great arteries of travel leading from New York are Thomson avenue, macadamized, 100 feet wide, leading directly to Newtown, Jamaica and the middle and southern roads on Long Island, and Jackson avenue, also 100 feet wide, and leading directly to Flushing, Whitestone and the northerly roads.
Long Island City is also the concentrating point upon the East river, of the railway system of Long Island.
The railways, upon reaching the city, pass under the main avenues of travel and traffic, and not upon or across their surface.
