Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Very trusting
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I actually couldn’t believe what I was looking at, and knew that none of my friends from NYC would accept the story, so I took a picture of it. Some guy on my block left his car running, and driver’s side door hanging open, and then went inside his house for some reason. I stood there watching the car idle for a good five minutes, tamping down my innate desire to steal it, just to teach him a lesson. Brooklyn.
People in one of the Facebook groups for my Town/Borough here in Pittsburgh (Dormont) have been complaining of late about people breaking into their cars in the dead of night. The ‘break in’ they describe incorporates no broken windows or jimmied locks, instead their car doors are simply left unlocked. It’s inconvenient to lock them, they say…
The fuck? The stupidest thing in the world is an unlocked door. They apparently do this with their houses too. As in go to sleep at night with the doors open. Brooklyn? Wowza.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Compared to the real life ‘Batman movie’ which I grew up and spent most of my adult life in back in NYC, Pittsburgh is comparatively ‘safe.’ The City of Pittsburgh is more or less entirely contained within Allegheny County, but the county also encompasses several other satellite communities as well. As of 2022, there were about 1.2 million residents who live in about 546,000 households here in Allegheny County. Also in 2022, there were 129 Homicides, as so reported by the cops. The vast majority of those homicides were ‘kid stuff,’ with gangland and drug trade motivations. That’s a murder rate of 0.01075%, statistically speaking.
“People walk around like they’re safe or something.” That’s something we used to say a lot back in the 1980’s. NYC has a 2022 population of about 8.5 million, and there were 433 murders during that interval, which creates a rate of 0.00509411765%. Thereby, believe it or not, Pittsburgh has a higher murder rate than New York. Saying that, the unlocked door thing contributes to a staggeringly high level of burglary and home invasion which no New Yorker would tolerate. Saying all that, statistics don’t really tell the whole story, and I wonder what those numbers would say if we were to superimpose Pittsburgh’s footprint over part of the NY/NJ metro area (say, I dunno, Western Queens), an area whose population represented just 1.2 million citizens, and then do a 1 for 1 comparison.
As I’ll often point out – Y’know who has most of the world’s lightbulbs, or toilet seat covers, or pencils… China, followed by India. Know why? Lots and lots of Chinese and Indian people who live in cities. Want to light up a Republican’s cloister? Tell them that China has more or something than America does.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I’ve mentioned a few times, I find the criminals and street people of Pittsburgh absolutely adorable. They’re so obvious. Saying that, there’s rough customers here whom you definitively don’t want to deal with, and this part of the country is extremely well armed. I recently saw a news report about the Cops holding a fair to make it easier to get a concealed carry permit for the pistoleer crowd. The Cops!
Me? I carry a camera, not a gun, at least not yet. I lock my car doors, and the last thing I’ll do before going to bed is to methodically visit all the doors and windows in the house to ensure that they are securely locked up. I don’t leave my car door open with the engine running, and whereas I hate the phrase ‘keep your head on a swivel,’ that’s the way I learned to live my life back in NYC.
Back tomorrow with something else, at this – your Paranoid Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Goodly Hue
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Riding on a double decker tourist bus in Pittsburgh, and which turned off the highway, and into the crowded and very urban area of Oakland. This is where the big universities are found – Carnegie Mellon and UPITT, and a bunch of smaller learning institutions and religious centers like Rodef Shalom Synagogue. This area looks a great deal more like a ‘city’ than most of Pittsburgh does. Dense, heavy traffic, lots of pedestrians and bike riders, street level retail – that sort of thing.
As mentioned earlier in the week, I was ‘shooting fast,’ meaning that I was using the sort of ISO sensitivity I’d normally use at night, with shutter speeds of 1/5000th to 1/8000th of a second to freeze the exposure and compensate for being onboard a moving vehicle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bus rode past the Frick (oops) Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park, and negotiated a roundabout to ultimately head back towards its home base at the South Side Works development, on the other side of the Monongahela River. To be honest, I was glad that the trip was ending after spending about two hours baking in sunlight.
The bus routed back through Oakland, where I spotted a few things that I’d like to further explore when I come back on foot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of them is the Soldiers and Sailors monument, which is just down the block from the Hospital in which Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for Polio. Man, imagine that happening today. You’d have Republican Senators lining up to blame Polio on immigrants, or to intone that the viral disease was a sign of moral turpitude and societal decay. On the other hand, you’d have Democrat Senators decrying the need for a cure as it is perfectly ok to have Polio and it doesn’t make you a bad person.
One of my favorite dark aphorisms, which I often throw out to make people uncomfortable, follows :
That which does not kill you only makes you stronger… excepting Polio.
Back next week with something different – 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.
Hlidskjalf in Pittsburgh
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent afternoon’s desire for diversion saw a humble narrator purchasing a ticket for one of those double decker tourist buses. There’s two versions of the service available here in Pittsburgh – one is a ‘hop on/hop off’ dealie with designated stops, the other is a ‘just the tour’ option which means you stay in your seat for about 90 minutes. As I’ve never actually done one of these tours, I figured on giving it a try. My ticket saw me boarding the thing for the last scheduled outing of the day, for the ‘just the tour’ option.
The bus’s route meanders through Pittsburgh, hitting several major attractions and areas where you can expect to find lots of restaurants and bars. Me? I was onboard to wave the camera around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s a fairly difficult thing to get shots from a moving vehicle, and especially so when that vehicle is riding on a highway or other high speed road. I used the same technique which has been mentioned in the past, in connection with my ‘from Amtrak’ series, which is ISO 6400 at F8, and a shutter speed of between 1/5000th and 1/8000th of a second. The trick is to focus your shot on where you’re going to be rather than where you are, just like in a video game. The other trick is to just keep on shooting and not worry about exposure too much, since as long as you’re in the ball park you can always push it a bit in post.
That’s the West End Bridge, if you’re curious.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As opined above, the tourist double decker bus makes several predetermined stops for its ‘hop on/hop off’ customers, including ones nearby the stadiums on the North Side. That’s the entrance to PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates sports ball company. My complete and utter lack of interest in this sort of thing is a bit of a handicap, socially speaking, I will admit.
What’s that crazy Norse word in the title mean? Hlidskjalf is the throne found at the top of the world in Asgard, a “high chair” from which Odin kept an eye on mundane things. One couldn’t help but look around for ravens or wolves following me around when I was sitting on the double decker bus. I was digging the depersonalized perspective from this outing, some 20 feet or so over the ground plane, and the different point of view from the one that I normally have.
Back 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.
Rodef Shalom
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent endeavor found a humble narrator on a tour of Pittsburgh’s Rodef Shalom Synagogue. The photo above was gathered back during the winter, as for one reason or another (mainly, it was raining), a similar shot of the entire building wasn’t gathered during on the day of the tour, which was offered by the Doors Open Pittsburgh outfit.
For the history, and origin story, of this amazing religious building located in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section (nearby UPITT and Carnegie Mellon) click here for the story as directly offered by the congregation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start, my fascination with this building was whetted first by its capacity – it’s designed to seat 1,300 people! Secondly, it’s more or less where the ‘Reform’ tradition of Judaism was codified. Thirdly, it’s one of Henry Hornbostel’s many landmarks, along with the Manhattan Bridge back home on the East River.
Our guide described several contributors to the building with familiar names which rang bells in this ex New Yorker’s ears. Guastivino Tile, terra cotta works in New Jersey’s Red Bank… it felt like I was hearing a lecture about Queensboro Bridge, or the original City Hall Subway Station, as all those names were spoken.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, the first thing I did after arriving was to have a chat with the security guard and let him know I was a part of the next ticketed group. Next, I walked the perimeter of the property and got a few outside shots. Pictured above is a biblical garden, wherein all of the plantings are vegetable speciations specifically mentioned in the what the Goyem would call the ‘Old Testament,’ but which we members of the English speaking member of the tribe simply call ‘The Bible.’
As to why I checked in with the guard… The Tree of Life mass shooting has forced synagogues (and mosques) in Pittsburgh to take security very seriously. Many cameras, emergency police call buttons, and armed guards are now a part of visiting a Shul here. That sucks. Thereby, if what you’re doing could be considered suspicious, it’s best to let the powers that be know that you’re not getting up to any malarkey.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Doors Open tour got started and the Synagogue’s archivist, dubbed Martha, spoke about the history of the congregation(s) who occupy the building. As mentioned, the place is cavernous. There’s a pipe organ, which is something I personally have never seen in a Shul.
Exceptional craftsmanship is apparent in the Rodef Shalom congregation room. The woodworking and fineness of the pew’s carpentry, in particular, grabbed my notice. The founders of this organization were from the south of what is now Germany, and their number included several people who worked as Cowboys at mid 19th century Pittsburgh’s local stock yards.
My familial forebears were part of the second and third waves of Jewish immigrants to this country, who hailed from the Slavic part of Europe and stayed in New York after finding work in the Garment Industry. The Pittsburgh founders of this institution spoke German and were likely citizens of the Austro Hungarian or Turkish Empires, whereas my ancestors spoke Yiddish, Polish, and Russian.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last time that I saw anything this grandiose in the ‘Jewish Catalog’ of Religious Buildings was at NYC’s Eldridge Street Synagogue. For a more local comparison to another Pittsburgh Synagogue check out this post about Poale Zedeck, which was visited on another Doors Open Pittsburgh tour back during the spring of this year.
This shot is from what used to be the ‘Ladies Section,’ which is set up on a balcony. Martha the archivist mentioned that there are three congregations identified with the modern institution. The actual Rodef Sholom one, an LGBTQ one, and one of the displaced congregant communities who used to be based at Tree of Life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s also a surfeit of stained glass. That one pictured above is set into the ‘oculus’ ring where the arches that form the dome meet. Floor to ceiling windows with elaborately rendered biblical allegory woven into colored glass is also present. I’d love to get back in here sometime with a tripod, and the whole kit, to do a series of studied photos.
Guess it’s the right place to pray for that to come true, huh?
Back next week.
“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.
Heavy and Light
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back to a photo of CSX #916 in the shot above, which was mentioned in a post a couple of days ago. It ended up being the only train I’d get photos of this particular evening, while carousing at a bar nearby its right of way.
After several hours of quaffing beer, it was time to get back home. One settled his tab, and scuttled off to the T light rail to catch a ride back out to Dormont, where HQ is found, nestled amongst the South Hills region of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While waiting for my chariot to arrive, this quartet of motorcycle enthusiasts caught my attention. Pennsylvania doesn’t have a helmet law for bikers, which is bizarre to an ex-New Yorker such as myself, who used to hang around a Manhattan Meat Market bar frequented by Hells Angel and Pagan alike (no ‘colors’ at the bar was the owner’s rule.)
It’s fairly routine to be driving along a PA. highway at 60-70 mph (speed limits are different here) and have some dude on a Harley road bike scream past you, with nothing protecting their head beyond sunglasses and a bandanna. Bold, I tell you. Bold.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally didst the T arrive, whereupon one surmounted the light rail for the ride back home. Luckily, the air conditioning onboard the T was going full blast, an atmospheric modularity sorely needed after having just spent several hours outside in August heat and humidity.
Back tomorrow with something utterly different – 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 