Posts Tagged ‘queens’
stirred not
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator ponders the deep stuff while out scuttling. “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” and the like. Aglets, which are the plastic or metal tips of shoelaces, have an unspoken and quite sinister purpose. Is house paint just nicely colored industrial waste? Are the fire retardant chemicals that federal law demands factory inclusion of, into carpets and furniture, actually fire accelerants? Does “new car smell” cause cancer? Also, whereas you see an occasional dead pigeon, where do they go to die – in their multitudes. Is there a vast pigeon graveyard somewhere? I bet it’s in the Bronx, if there is such a place – with grand shoals of pigeon ivory glittering white in the radiances of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself.
Penguins aren’t who or what you think they are. They’re assholes like geese. For a while now, I’ve been wondering about how to control insects, given that they’re essentially biological robots who receive information packet instructions through pheromone messaging. If we figure out the right chemical syntax and steroidal language, could the Ants and Termites start working for – rather than against – us?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Have you ever read any of the muckrakers? Ida Tarbull, or Upton Sinclair? I have. Sinclair’s “The Jungle” is in my top ten, ever. The book is so old that it’s entered the public domain, and I’ve been thinking about doing a find/replace text project and releasing an appended version for modern audiences called “La Jungla.” I’d search for all instances of “Lithuania” and replace the word with “Mexico.” Same thing with turning “Jurgis” to “Jorge.” It’s a surprisingly modern day story, and speaks to the fact that not much has fundamentally changed in American Society since the late 19th century. Culturally, we seem to be in a rut. Superman is still large and in charge, and he’s been around since the Great Depression. Another Batman movie is in the theaters, and he’s a Depression era eidolon as well. The Marvel crew are all Cold War and 1960’s cultural icons. What’s come along since The Beatles? Since Star Wars? Wait… the Cold War is back on again?
Fire hydrants of the type pictured above are welded onto the water pipe that feeds them. If a vehicle was to allide with a hydrant of this type, the water would flow freely and the DEP would have to shut off the block’s entire water line and dig up the street in order to fix it. They’re replacing this hydrant model, citywide, with one that is flanged onto the buried pipe and incorporates a localized valve into the operating system. The hydrant is filled with drinking water, just like your toilet is, as a note.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Free car storage,” that’s the Bicycle Advocacy Lobby calls street parking. A humble narrator gets particularly annoyed at scenes like this one which seem to escape their notice, where a private outfit involved in the yellow cab game takes over entire blocks to store their inventory. Nearby this spot, you’ll also notice that the NYC DOT and other City Agencies have set aside parking spots for their own exclusive usage. As a matter of fact, due to ongoing work on the Queensboro Bridge, DOT and it’s contractors have recently seized 80 additional parking spots in LIC for free storage of their vehicles over the next 24 months. In the midst of the City of Greater New York’s quest to ameliorate climate issues, the question as to why municipal employees don’t take the train or a bus to get where they’re going to never seems to come up. Hypocrisy abounds.
One dreams of abandoning it all, moving to some Third World Jungle, and inventing his own race of Atomic Supermen. That’s step one. Next up is insect control, then getting some sort of lock down in place on the Penguins and Geese. Their perfidy has gone unanswered for too long.
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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.
it shines
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dutch Kills, and my little tree of paradise. I check in on this tree about once a week these days. It would absolutely break my heart if I showed up here and it was gone. Eventually, it will affect the structure it adjoins and will be removed, or it will be hydrologically undermined by the waterway and fall into the water. I understand this.
Saying that, gosh do I hope this thing continues growing and thriving in these horrific circumstances, along the Long Island City reaches of the fabulous Newtown Creek. These shots were captured in mid February, I should mention.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The thick plate of ice which Dutch Kills had been encased in was “rotting” away as I was moving around the zone. The polka dots effect was fascinating. I’ve had a few people ask me if this was due to some environmental factor, but I think it’s just what happens in a tepid tidal situation involving brackish water.
The extreme cold of early to mid February typically creates icing along the tributaries of Newtown Creek and in isolated sections along the main part of the waterway. Saying that, it has to be fairly cold for a protracted period of time for the “main stem” to get fully frozen over.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What I found kind of interesting was the presence of these snowflake shaped ice holes closer to the boundary between liquid and frozen. This particular spot is always lurking under the Borden Avenue Bridge.
As far as you seeing photos from February, with today being the Ides of March, one has been lucky enough to be a couple/three weeks ahead of schedule here at Newtown Pentacle for most of 2022. I’ve got some cool stuff coming your way, including another Amtrak based day trip to America’s consolation prize – Philadelphia. Also, I’m cooking up a few “in person” Newtown Creek events which I’ll be announcing soon.
More tomorrow, 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.
harmless stupidity
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Scuttling, always scuttling, camera in hand, filthy black raincoat flapping about, shoes scraping the concrete. That’s my life. Wherever I go, there I am. Nothing ever changes, nothing matters, nobody cares. Everyday, it all starts over again. Sometimes it snows.
Frost bitten and friendless, there I was at Dutch Kills as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself rose in the dawn sky. One hoped for the boughs of that little tree to be laden with snow, but this too was denied.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, due to a series of reasons that I don’t really want to get into, the decision to walk over to a nearby collapsing bulkhead before heading back to a heated room in Astoria was arrived at. All ten fingers were numb, but only six of them were reporting. So too did a couple of my toes go offline. The tip of my nose was similarly missing without leave. It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit, with a steady wind.
This isn’t the coldest I’ve ever been. There was that negative 37 time in Vermont, and that time I had to ride a boat up the East River at 5 in the morning in January with my old pal Bernie… I’ve been cold before. Saying all that, it was pretty uncomfortable being out. It’s taken weeks for my fingertips to recover. Good news is that in the interval, I’ve been able to pinch out candles with zero discomfort.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As far as 29th street, and the collapsing bulkheads along it go, my pals and I at Newtown Creek Alliance have recently been working the channels of “officialdom” and got sign on’s for immediate action from Congresswoman Maloney, Senator Gianaris, Assemblywoman Nolan, Borough President Richards, and Council Member Won along with a few other powers and potentates, as well as a few local business owners. It’s still a developing situation, down there in LIC.
Back next week with more numbed finger action, 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.
perilous disposition
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Remember that insanely cold day back in middle February when it was twelve degrees? That’s the one where a humble narrator got frostbitten, when he decided to be at the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City at five o’clock in the morning. I remember it well, since I’m just now starting to get the feeling back in my fingertips. Literally weeks later.
It’s felt like I’ve been wearing a band aid over my right thumb ever since, and it’s only in the last few days that the nerve damage from the frost bite has ameliorated sufficiently to perceive texture again. You have to suffer for your art, they say. Well, here’s what it looked like while I was sustaining an atmospheric temperature induced injury.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dutch Kills was thoroughly frozen over. A plate of ice several inches thick sat over the water. One was awaiting the arrival of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself in the vault of the sky, with the camera set up on its tripod. What that meant was that I was standing still with my feet in a six to eight inches of snow and a solid fifteen miles an hour wind hitting me. I needed to pee, but was afraid that if I “whipped it out” to do “that,” “it” might freeze and crack off.
Yes, I was wearing gloves. In fact, a layer of thermal underwear AND a long sleeve sweatshirt would have been found under my normal clothing. Additionally, a fleece sweatshirt would have been observed under the filthy black rain coat by the staff at the coroner’s office after being defrosted. On my left hand, I actually had two gloves on. On the right, there was just one so I could still operate the camera. Cannot tell you how difficult that is when you numbness has set in. Cold is my kryptonite.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One had left HQ at about 4:30 in the morning and hopped in a cab for the journey to Dutch Kills, which I normally just walk to. Man, oh man was it cold.
The entire purpose of the exercise was the hope that my favorite little tree of paradise, pictured in the first shot, might have some snow on its bows. No such luck. Since I was already on site, I decided to just tough it out and wait for the morning light to arrive. That interval is what resulted in frost bite. It wasn’t “British explorer” frost bite, mind you. There was no discoloration or blistering, just a bit of nerve damage.
“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.
expiring orb
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One really hopes that this critter was playing possum, but given that this shot comes from the corner of Queens Blvd. – I don’t think it was pretending to be dead. Shame, it seemed nice.
Despite the blistering cold, one felt an obligation to migrate over to the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek in Long Island City’s Degnon Terminal section and check in on the collapsing shoreline situation along 29th street.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yup, still collapsing. You probably wouldn’t be surprised at how difficult it is to build up a sense of urgency in officialdom regarding this dangerous situation. They have lots of budgetary options available to them once the street collapses and somebody gets hurt, but very few dollars to spend prior to that happening. Let’s hope that whomsoever gets mortally wounded here is a really sympathetic victim. Homeless mother of three? New immigrant supporting a family by working nights driving a truck? BIPOC Trans bicyclist recently recovered from Covid and interment in a North Korean death camp for distributing condoms and bibles? That Opossum from the first picture?
I really, really hate the world right now. Everyone is focused on what can happen rather than what is happening and that causes bad things to happen.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Dutch Kills canal has been more or less frozen over for the last few weeks of January and half of February, with a stout plate of inch thick ice croaking and creaking against the bulkheads and shorelines. When it warms up, and the frost heaves begging to melt away, I’m pretty sure something bad is going to occur on 29th street.
Thing is, nothing matters and nobody cares.
“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 