Archive for the ‘St. Michael's Cemetery’ Category
Archives #036
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These archive posts are reaching into Newtown Pentacle’s backups, and are pulling posts that went public on this date, in their respective years, going back to 2009. This practice will continue until I’m back on both feet full time, and new photos and stories can be gathered. For anyone who hasn’t heard the news, I broke my left ankle at the end of September.
One of my notions, when I lived in Queens, was that the abundant grave yards along the Brooklyn Queens border which form the so called ‘Cemetery Belt’ are fantastic places to stretch your legs and get some exercise. Few or no cars, lots of trees and birds… just stick to the roads and paths. If you see a path nearby a fence… definitely walk that way, never know what you might find and it very well might involve extinct North American elephants.
In 2010 on November 25th, ‘Things you learn from being a ghoul’ published, describing a walk through St. Michael’s Cemetery in Astoria that proves the point I always make about paying attention to little things.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As the story goes, I was on my way to some midtown bar for a friend’s birthday when a powerful thunderstorm roared through the City. I had my trusty old Canon G10 with me, which at the time sported a magnetic tripod mount. I clanked the thing down onto a fire hydrant as an ad hoc tripod, as the sky displayed a meteorological phenomenon called Mammatus Clouds. The light was unreal for about a minute. I got lucky.
2015’s ‘or depend’ was actually a Thanksgiving week archive post, so double boomerang on this one. Incidentally, the photo above is my most pirated shot – ever.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Famously, if I’m ‘out and about,’ I’ve got the camera deployed and ready.
Have to take a subway somewhere? Why not get a shot of it? All of those meetings I used to have to attend, in all of the bizarre places they were held, often brought me to visually interesting areas. Sometimes, I’d go ride the trains for ‘shits and giggles’ when I was physically compromised or the weather sucked.
2019’s ‘wholly allied’ saw me riding the 7 train corridor at night.
Back tomorrow.
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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.
Archives #022
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another archive post today, which pulls prior postings that were published on this date in their respective years out of backup. I’m still recovering from my broken ankle, but will definitely be voting today. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing ads on TV which aren’t political as of today. This election cycle has been going on forever.
I used to spend a LOT of time walking around the cemeteries of Western Queens, where I’d often notice weird things going on. To wit, 2010’s ‘pounding on the rocks’ offered observations about a ritual site at St. Michael’s cemetery in Astoria on November 5th of that year.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve shot a LOT of press conferences and public events over the years, and have photos of a lot of famous people in my archives. Some are terrifying.
2013’s November 5th ‘olden king’ post talks a bit about the exit of Michael Bloomberg from City Hall, and foreshadows my (100% correct) intuitions about the incoming administration of Bill De Blasio. I hadn’t yet coined the term ‘Dope from Park Slope’ when this post was published. I was stoked when that somehow went mainstream and Curtis Sliwa ran with it during his Mayoral campaign (which I had nothing to do with, btw).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I hate people. Thereby, I prefer taking photos of large machines doing things, as large machines generally don’t promulgate political theories which have no basis in observable reality.
In 2021, a post about Pittsburgh was published on this date – dubbed ‘luckily attainable’ – which laid out a particular ‘place’ that my psychology had gone in the months following the end of COVID.
“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.
being wakeful
At Astoria’s edge, in today’s post.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sunday last, a humble narrator checked the weather forecast and realized quickly that this was likely going to be a fairly ghastly week as far as weather goes, and so packed up the night kit for an evening walk. My destination was not too far from HQ, a pedestrian bridge over the Grand Central Parkway which also overlooks St. Michael’s cemetery.
The shot above looks eastwards from the pedestrian bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the pedestrian bridge pictured above. While I was shooting this, a bus discharged one of the families staying at the Westway Hotel homeless shelter on the other side of the parkway. They had a kid who couldn’t have been more than five who was absolutely fascinated by what I was doing, although mom and dad couldn’t have cared less that their kid was talking to strangers. Nice kid, I have to say, and I felt bad for him that his family was in the circumstance that they’re in. At least they landed in a shelter based in a neighborhood that has supermarkets and small businesses to find work in, unlike Blissville.
I wished them a happy Easter and got back to my business.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As per usual, I was wearing the high visibility vest, before you ask.
There’s a sidewalk along the local access road alongside the highway (looking westwards above) which is scary as hell to walk down. The crash barriers stop on the other side of St. Michael’s driveway, and then you’re walking down an increasingly narrow sidewalk which in some places is no more than two feet in depth while traffic shoots right past you at speed. I did actually walk it the other night, which in retrospect was kind of a stupid move.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking down on cemetery property, lit by street lamps and passing vehicle lights.
The last time I took a shot from this location, probably about five years ago, that grave with the disturbing subsidence and the two safety cones was in precisely the same condition as it is today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of a longer shot looking south across a row of mausoleums at St. Michael’s. There’s a famous 20th century Mafia Don buried in one of those marble temples, as a note. The actual inspiration for “the Godfather” Vito Corleone, Frank Costello. In 1974, a rival named Carmine Gallante was alleged to have to have detonated explosives at Costello’s grave to settle an old score and announce his return to “the syndicate” after a long jail sentence.
Of course, there’s no such thing as the Mafia.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back towards the Grand Central, eastwards towards the East Elmhurst neighborhood.
The Grand Central is one of the arterial roads built by Robert Moses back in the 1930’s to guarantee high volume usage of the Triborough Bridge’s toll plazas. His engineers carved a trench through Astoria to carry the Grand Central, forever dividing the community into the Ditmars side on the north, and the Broadway side to the south.
Upcoming Tours and Events
April 14 – Exploring Long Island City – with NY Adventure Club.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail?
Tickets and more details here.
April 15- Newtown Creekathon – with Newtown Creek Alliance.
That grueling 13 and change mile death march through the bowels of New York City known as the “Newtown Creekathon” will be held on that day, and I’ll be leading the charge as we hit every little corner and section of the waterway. This will be quite an undertaking, last year half the crowd tagged out before we hit the half way point. Have you got what it takes the walk the enitre Newtown Creek?
Click here to reserve a spot on the Creekathon.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
shapeless nemesis
It’s all a plot, I tell you, nothing is accidental and the whole world is “on purpose.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Feeling particularly powerless, depressed, and isolated of late – the only solution for one such as myself is to kick his feet about and scuttle around. Persecution and possible prosecution of a humble narrator is always in the forefront of my mind, as it were, so it’s best to just keep moving. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid the “tells” that my movements have been anticipated by some shadowy cabal of possible occultists, if you know how to read the streets. One also grows a bit dizzy when spinning around on his heels to check if any enemies might be coming up from behind.
It’s best to remain vigilant, always. Look at the signage on the food cart above… who ever heard of a halal chili dog? Gotcha, shadowy cabal, you’re not as smart as me – I can spot you people at fifty paces.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here in Astoria, I noticed back in the first and second weeks of September that a bright beam of light was emanating into the sky from lower Manhattan. There’s a cover story for this propagated by the government, but I know what’s really going on and so will you when a race of extraterrestrial lizards arrives in flying saucers. Of more immediate concern to me is my so called neighbor, which presents itself as an elderly woman who hordes cats. I know what its really up to, and I’m betting those aren’t really cats either.
There’s always one of her so called cats in her window, pretending to be asleep.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Don’t ask me to tell you what’s really going on in Astoria’s St. Michael’s Cemetery. The answer, and its occult implications involving an extra dimensional race of non human intelligences who were the former and are the future wardens of the Earth, could spark off a new dark age and return mankind to the status of shivering cave dwellers and ape like savagery were their presence here known generally. It is best that in these places where they walk about in the dark of night, these elder things, that they do so alone and that the only evidence of their travels are piles of swept aside granite.
It is also best for the rest of you to argue about verbal manners and behavioral mores, and leave the occult reality of things to ones like myself who can actually handle the truth that lies beyond your gaze. There is no “safe space” when “they” are discussed, as our specie are as ants to them. On the earth, only that thing with the three lobed burning eye which dwells in in the cupola of LIC’s sapphire megalith can spy them, and even then only dimly.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
jutting promontory
Witches, or Warlocks, are at work in Astoria.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For several years, your humble narrator has been documenting an odd usage of St. Michael’s Cemetery here in Astoria. An adherent to a presumptively afro-cuban syncretic faith has been performing rituals in Section 10 since at least 2010. The phenomena is discussed at great length in the November 2010 post “pale garden.”
By 2012, things had quieted down a bit here. Perhaps the postings alerted the cemetery management to the situation or the magick worker him or herself might have come across them and realized someone was watching.
The other day, one had an afternoon to fill, and scuttled over to St. Michael’s to see if any new developments might be observed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, upon arriving at the graveyard, one observed a crew of groundkeepers hard at work. This meant that any evidence I might find would be disturbed by the actions of lawn mowers and weed whackers, but I headed over to section 10 anyway. That’s where the main “altar’ is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On the ground, as expected, there was naught but grass clippings and the odd piece of wind blown litter. On the ‘altar” there was a small metallic chalice.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It seemed to be made of fairly common materials, possibly a cheap alloy given the cosmetic qualities of brass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Inside was ash. A particulate and grainy sort of ash.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By the way, there’s two cool Working Harbor Committee events going on this weekend you might want to attend.
Saturday, the 30th is a Port Newark excursion onboard the Circle Line with Captain John Doswell, Ed Kelly of the Maritime Association of Port of NY/NJ and Maggie Flanagan – Marine Educator South Street Seaport Museum. The boat boards at 10:30, sails at 11, and returns at 1:30. Click here for more info and tix.
Sunday, the 31st is the annual Great North River Tugboat Race and Competition. 10:00 AM – Parade of tugs from Pier 84 to the start line. 10:30 AM – Race starts – From South of 79th Street Boat Basin (near Pier I) to Pier 84. 11 AM – Nose to nose pushing contests and line toss competition. Noon – Tugs tie up to Pier 84 for lunch and awards ceremony. Exhibits, amateur line toss, spinach eating contest 1 PM – Awards ceremony. Tugs depart at about 2 PM.
For tix on the spectator boat, click here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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