Friday, February 12, 2016
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Beach Day!
The snow storm that was supposed to be 4"-8" turned out to be the second biggest snowstorm in NYC history, dumping almost two feet on us. So while everyone digs out, I post this sketch from August. Robert Moses Beach.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Ziggy Moustache
I saw David Bowie once. Not in concert, but in real life.
I was the facilities manager at a theater downtown. We had a
group renting the theater for a children’s show. One afternoon, I was in the
lobby as the audience let out. One family stood out because the mother was a
very tall African woman. I looked at her and thought, “Is that Iman?” I looked
at the father. He had this enormous moustache. As he passed closer, I looked at
the upper half of his face. Sure enough, it was The Man Who Fell To Earth
himself.
I have no idea why they brought their daughter to that show.
It didn’t have much press or buzz or anything, and I remember it seeming like a
particularly un-fun and un-appealing children’s show. I have never seen a
picture of David Bowie with a giant moustache, so it seemed to me that it was a
disguise. It made me laugh to think that he would put on this huge, fake,
ostentatious moustache in order to protect his anonymity, so he could walk the
streets of New York with his giant, famous supermodel wife.
RIP David Bowie
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Anaconda Water Tower - Hastings-on-Hudson
This 80' tall, 75,000 gallon water tower overlooks the Hudson River from the east bank in the village of Hastings-On-Hudson, in lower Westchester County. It is one of the only remaining structures of the Anaconda Wire & Cable Company.
In its heyday, the Anaconda Company was a major industry in the area, producing wire for electric cable (and ammunition during World War II) on 27 acres of land from the end of the 19th century until 1975. Unfortunately, in those pre-EPA days, it was one of the worst industrial polluters on the Hudson, and that's saying something. The land and riverbed are severely contaminated with PCBs, copper, lead, and zinc, and is a Superfund site.
Most of the rest of the site was demolished by BP, the current landowner, in 2010, and environmental clean-up began in 2013. There are different ideas of how the site could be redeveloped, although the flooding that occurred during Superstorm Sandy has called a lot of those plans into question. One study recommended that the tower be preserved, but it would have to be disassembled and moved since remediation would involve excavating the soil around and beneath it to a depth of 12 feet to decontaminate it. I rather suspect that sooner or later, it is going to join the rest of the Anaconda Company in industrial Valhalla.
In its heyday, the Anaconda Company was a major industry in the area, producing wire for electric cable (and ammunition during World War II) on 27 acres of land from the end of the 19th century until 1975. Unfortunately, in those pre-EPA days, it was one of the worst industrial polluters on the Hudson, and that's saying something. The land and riverbed are severely contaminated with PCBs, copper, lead, and zinc, and is a Superfund site.
Most of the rest of the site was demolished by BP, the current landowner, in 2010, and environmental clean-up began in 2013. There are different ideas of how the site could be redeveloped, although the flooding that occurred during Superstorm Sandy has called a lot of those plans into question. One study recommended that the tower be preserved, but it would have to be disassembled and moved since remediation would involve excavating the soil around and beneath it to a depth of 12 feet to decontaminate it. I rather suspect that sooner or later, it is going to join the rest of the Anaconda Company in industrial Valhalla.
Monday, December 14, 2015
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