I posted this on FaceBook yesterday so thought ……why not here?
Location: Museum Mile and E. 81st St., NY. near the Metropolitan Museum.
Month: November 2016
Film Crews in Gowanus
As odd as it may seem, film crews do a lot of shooting around the Gowanus Canal. This set took up quite a bit of space, with catering and support vehicles and all. There is still a graphic book available, called It Came from the Gowanus Canal, for $5. which makes sense, but a film setting seems a bit weird. Usually there is always filming done in Brooklyn Heights, a much more scenic place in Brooklyn. The series Point of Interest was always shooting in Brooklyn Heights, it seemed.
Anyway, I included the image of the church steeple across the canal, closer to Carroll Gardens and this corner shot, as well.
In Distress
Gowanus Canal: Two ways of looking at the Superfund Site.
The Gowanus Canal can be a very picturesque place or, depending on the light and your vantage point, it can be a pretty sketchy place with an aroma you will never forget.
Red Hook, Brooklyn
Street and waterfront views of Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Found Advice
Spotted in the Lower East Side ( Manhattan) a couple of weeks ago.
Gowanus Street Art
A few examples of street art seen while walking around Gowanus, between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens.
NY Assortment
The Metropolitan Museum, path in Central Park, Katz’s Deli and Brooklyn Bridge.
Various iconic places in NYC.
One More Look at the Gowanus Canal ( for now)
Debris barge in action. Mural across from the Whole Foods Market and a very large Faux fire hydrant. I think it is made of plastic and placed here for the benefit of dogs and their owners.
Shining a Light
Location: Park Slope, Brooklyn. On a bright, sunny day the park lights were one, which made for an interesting glow. In the right, from the 3rd St. bridge in Gowanus Canal about three blocks from where our son and family live, is a view of the new, luxury apartments build right on the EPA Superfund site of Gowanus Canal. I’m not sure how the developer wrangled a green light to develop on this site, but since this is NYC, I would imagine some money exchanged hands and all was good. The Canal has been designated a Superfund site since 2007 and only the week I was visiting were they starting the first pilot debris removal from one section of the canal called “the turnaround ” adjacent to the Whole Foods store that just went in a few years ago ( that’s another story). What may look like an idyllic location in this image is actually a very toxic ( heavy metals, tar oil, etc) waterway which, on heavy rain days, raw, untreated sewage flows into. Then there is the smell, something you would never forget. On hot days the canal becomes this stagnant, heated cesspool that has an odor you would never forget. On this day it was pretty mild, but still can be shocking to non-residents walking through. I have read that the starting rents on the one bedroom apartments is $4500.00 per month! One more dynamic to consider: during Superstorm Sandy the area flooded. The water came up over the banks of the canal and ran uphill about one block, which would put the first floor apartments at risk in the event of another big storm. You can see some videos of Gowanus and the storm on YouTube. Very crazy.
Rail Spur
Location: South of Ellensburg, WA. Deserted building along a rail spur in Eastern Washington.
Mondays Floral Offering
Did a shoot for a wedding reception last Saturday night; one of my wife’s nieces. A working/fun event, as it was the first time I had shot a formal, but fun, event such as that. I loved the floral arrangements on each table, so I incorporated them into my ‘work’ for the evening.
Past and Present
Two iconic buildings in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Public Library and The Old Stone House in Park Slope right across the street from where our son and family live.Both of these images were taken on my iPhone. Every Saturday there is a Farmers/Saturday Market in front of the Library and entrance to Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza , a confluence of interesting sites to visit. The morning we were at the Market a man with a green flag ran up the steps leading to the library entrance and started waving this flag. I have no idea what it was about, but someone was videotaping his actions. ??
Two Bridges
The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Taken while in Brooklyn last week.
Canada Gallery
A family reunion of sorts at the Canada Gallery, Lower Manhattan, NY. I rarely post an image of myself but this was a rare occasion, visiting the Canada Gallery and meeting with Lily. The last time we were able to connect was in 2012; a few hits and misses in the interim . Lily has been painting most all her life, when not traveling with her best bud, Chloe Sevigny. Her work has been getting a lot of attention the past couple of years. She has done shows in the US and Europe, which always sell out. Currently her paintings sell in the $10K -$15K range, but will probably go up. She keeps an apartment in Port Chester, NY, but is rarely there. Most of her time is spent in Upstate NY, living and working in a large old house that was once a boarding house. Peace and quiet in the countryside, rather than the non stop noise of NY City, etc. More space to do her work. I’ve known Lily since she was a wee lass, holding our months old son on her lap. Like many artists, she is very unique in many ways; her approach to life, time, work is on her terms.
The opening ended up being very crowded, although it was a miserably wet night outside. I found out, while there, that I had been put on a list to go out to dinner in Tribeca with the gallery folks and the artists represented by Phil, the gallery co-owner. However, I passed on the invitation and slogged my way back to Delancey and Essex St. to catch the subway back to Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Note: photos were taken with my iPhone.
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