Posts Tagged ‘Sunnyside Yards’
rational position
Avoiding the topic Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One likes a good materials handler, and there one was at the Sunnyside Yards on a recent evening. The Amtrak people are mid way through tearing down a century old building nearby the Honeywell Street truss bridge, which is the sort of thing that draws me to it the manner that a fly is drawn to shit.
Again, many kudos advanced towards whomsoever it is at Amtrak that’s in charge of fence holes just large enough to stick a camera lens through. You’re a hero.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My scuttling on this particular night was abbreviated, involving a short walk from Astoria to Queens Plaza and back. My feet carried me along the dark section of Jackson Avenue, under the elevated trackage of the Brighton line Subway.
What fun.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Y’know, it’s not that easy picking a visually interesting pathway through one of the most densely populated sections of these United States, during a pandemic, which ensures that you encounter virtually no other humans. Somehow, I’ve managed, but these corridors of mine have been visited time and again and I never get tired of actuating the camera shutter here in Western Queens.
It may be crowded, but it really is something to see, this place called Long Island City.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, November 2nd. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
flaming violet
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is taking a break this week, as his anxiety and or stress levels have become absolutely maxed out. Also, I’m working on something rather time consuming that requires 100% of my attention this week since learning the nuances of a new software package is involved. Thusly, you’ll be seeing single shots and regular postings will resume next week.
Pictured above are two 7 line subways going to and from Manhattan at Sunnyside Yards in the Long Island City section of Queens.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 26th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
waddled in
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another night, another day. Another walk with the camera through the hinterlands of Long Island City. Another conversation about thwarting the ambitions of the EDC, or the Real Estate People, or the deeper meanings of what some elected official or candidate has just said. Another phone call to somebody to try and get them to help somebody else who has troubles. Another comment offered to the Government people on some plan they’re concocting, another opinion email sent, another night and another day and another walk around LIC with the camera. Another night spent developing photos, another day spent writing, another phone call asking me to do or say something I don’t want to do.
I’m in a rut, and due to the damned pandemic roaring back to life it’s only going to get worse. Ireland just locked down again, and their total death toll since March doesn’t even approach the number of people dying of this bug every single month in the good old U.S. of A.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Anxiety, that’s what I’m experiencing right now. One has made it a point of discussing this fact, which violates several social norms. You’re not supposed to talk about your feelings, especially negative ones that might connote weakness. Mental health is no different from the conditions affecting the rest of your body, in my view, and keeping quiet about it when you’re feeling anxious or scared makes it difficult for others to admit they’re feeling the same sort of insecurity and fear. That’s why I’m making it a point of being open about what I’m experiencing. One of my little mottos is “Say what you do, do what you say.”
I’m not looking forward to the next couple of fortnights.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What can you do to prepare for the winter of discontent we’re all about to experience?
The only answer I can come up with is to charge the camera battery, put on my hiking shoes, and get ready for yet another walk through Long Island City on yet another afternoon or evening. I can try not to hurt anyone, intentionally or unintentionally. I can aspire to try and help people when they need help. What else can you do?
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 19th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
bleak emptiness
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, one of the things which NYC still has money for is to employ a vast crew of laborers to demolish the concrete of Astoria’s Broadway corners and then replace them with new concretetized corners. Random and unannounced arrivals of demolition crews at 7:15 in the morning during a pandemic, using jack hammers mounted on the arms of backhoes that shake the foundations of the century old building you’re sleeping within… this far exceeds the value of hot cup of coffee for waking you right the hell up.
This has been a classic Queens operation. First, back in August – they milled and repaired the street. In September they showed up and painted in the street markings and so on. Then in October, a crew comes through and tears the whole operation back up again. Now, I get to moan to 311 and the Community Board people about all the asphalt and concrete which found their way into the sewers until DEP sends out a team to free up the grates.
Flooding is nice. Who doesn’t want to live by the water?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For most of the last week, time has been somewhat limited and my walks around LIC have been primarily about “cardio” and exercise. Saying that, I’ve always got the camera with me and am ready to record the cool stuff encountered along my path. My new favorite fence hole at Sunnyside Yards continues to shine.
Those are Amtrak trains, if you’re curious. In between duty shifts, the coach yard side of Sunnyside Yards handles the needs of this rolling stock. I’ve seen workers doing custodial work on the trains, others monkeying around with various exterior features and devices, and there’s all sorts of mechanical tasks that get attended to while the trains are overnighting in Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another one of the hydraulic work lifts, which I fantasize about turning into my personal vehicle, was encountered on Skillman Avenue when looping back towards home recently. The one I showed you yesterday was green and small, this one is orange and bigger. Variety is the spice of life, huh?
This is a fairly busy week for old Mitch – tonight, Queens Community Board 1 will be virtually gathered for our monthly meeting. On Wednesday, the Newtown Creek Community Advisory Group will also be meeting virtually. For information on how to attend these public meetings – click here for Queens CB1 and here for the Newtown Creek CAG.
Also coming up – Tonight is the fund raiser Gala for the Working Harbor Committee, and October 29th is the Tidal Toast fundraiser for Newtown Creek Alliance.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 19th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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.
twilight amorphousness
Friday, all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few Friday odds and ends are on offer today. I had an event to attend in Hunters Point recently, and on the walk there I found myself frozen in Queens Plaza by the palpable spectacle of it all. What an incredible spot, thought I, and with all the new residential towers – how reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” or the cinematic Gotham City from the Batman franchise Queens Plaza is.
Seriously, the notion that people “want” to live here in Queens Plaza still mystifies me, but there you go.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Construction of the waterfront complex of luxury towers in Long Island City’s Hunters Point section continues apace. Phase 2 of this buildout is nearly complete. I know what’s coming next for phase 3, and it’s going to make the current waterfront seem like a small village in context.
There’s a whole group of people in LIC who deceive others, eat shit, and describe themselves as “YIMBY’s” as in “Yes, in my back yard.” Unsurprisingly, most of them make their money as cogs or wheels in the Real Estate Industrial Complex. Shit flies like lots of shit, as they feed on shit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
“Not in my back Yards” is my motto. We’ve driven several nails into the coffin of this plan prior to COVID here in Western Queens, with the virus delivering what’s likely the final one required. Oddly, NYC no longer has $22 billion to drop on this crazed ideation of the Dope from Park Slope.
When I’m talking to all the characters from City Hall “behind the scenes” instead of in front of the cameras, I like to remind them that the history of NYC teaches that bubbles burst. You get 15-20 year long stretches of time where the municipality is solvent, followed by 30-40 year long stretches where belt tightening and shrinking budgets are the order of the day. Luckily, the current political establishment embraced residential luxury tower development during this last one, rather than building infrastructure or funding the modernization of our 1950’s era electrical and telecommunications systems.
Good work, Economic Development Corporation, good work. I look forward to the RICO investigations, hopefully sometime soon.
Note: I’m writing this and several of the posts you’re going to see for the next week at the beginning of the week of Monday, October 5th. My plan is to continue doing my solo photo walks around LIC and the Newtown Creek in the dead of night as long as that’s feasible. If you continue to see regular updates here, that means everything is kosher as far as health and well being. If the blog stops updating, it means that things have gone badly for a humble narrator.
“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 