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The east end of Queens Plaza.

The Ozone Park Ramp Up Junction

In Ozone Park, Queens, there is a junction that can be the point of much confusion endured by JFK bound tourists and casual A Train riding NYC residents alike.  It is a common occurrence that commuters bound for JFK Airport will mistakenly board a Lefferts Blvd bound A train and scratch their head when they never make it to the Howard Beach station. This piece of infrastructure is the first of two sequences where A Train, while retaining the same route designation (A) splits in to multiple terminus points.

This next section reveals a small, but complicated piece of NYC Transit lore.  Some of the terms used here may seem somewhat esoteric to people who aren't familiar with the basics of New York City Subway system history.  There is a series in the works in which I will discuss, in further detail, some of the fascinating history of the system and its development.  But until then, all that really needs to be communicated at this point is that much work has been done over the last several decades to try to unify the subway system.  In many ways, however, the system is still a hodgepodge of of different lines created by competing and conflicting interests.
One doesn't have to look very hard to see evidence of this.  The most conspicuous clues that are readily evident  are details like how the system is separated into an A Division (fomerly IRT, Routes with numbers) and a B Division (formerly IND, BMT, Routes with letters), which have completely different train sizes.  Or some of the awkward ways in which transfers are made within connected stations.  The junction above, however, is more subtle, and is resultant from dual contracts, and deconstruction and reconstitution of old transit lines.

This junction is where the 1) IND Rockaway Line,  2) IND Fulton Street Line, and 3) BMT Fulton Street Line.

1. IND Rockaway Line:  Originally part of the Long Island Rail Road System (more on that at a later date), which was rehabilitation and adapted to fully connect the Rockaway Peninsula into the subway system.

2. IND Fulton Street Line: Originally part of the Independent Subway System, beginning in downtown Brooklyn and went to East New York.  Much of it was built during the 1930's and 1940's.  In the late 1950's, this line was connected to this junction.

3. BMT Fulton Street Line: Formerly an elevated line which was operated by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corp., that spanned Fulton Street.  Most of it was demolished however, and the only remaining section runs along Liberty Avenue From 80th-Hudson Street  to Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd, which was integrated into the IND Fulton Line via this junction.

In short, any peak time Brooklyn/Queens bound A Trains all travel the same route along the Fulton Line until it reaches this point, after which one train may continue along the even older, elevated Fulton Line, or it heads to the Rockaways.  I really enjoyed talking up this single photo, and I hope you, the reader enjoyed it as well.

The 45th Degree

   (61st and Roosevelt, near the subway and LIRR stations)

Welcome to the continuation of the Queens infrastructure marathon, to ensure diversification enjoyment, I managed to make it out of Astoria and appear in nearby Woodside.  What would have made this shot really awesome, is if some retro cars would have happened to have been parked here on Roosevelt Avenue.  I really can't complain, the rusty steel girders and rivets are satisfying in their own right.

Transportation Sandwich

 (The foot of the Hellgate bridge and the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd Subway Station in Queens)

A nice tasty transportation sandwich in on the menu here in Astoria.  Fixings include 31st Street on the bottom, N and Q Trains in the middle, and topped with Amtrak.  New York and many other cities along the Eastern Corridor frequently enjoy similar sandwiches, if only the entire country would develop a taste for them.

Late Night Airport Run

Like the bus above, I've been tracking quite a but of miles in this area as of late.  The reasons are all self evident for I was leaving work at night, which leaves me less time to diversify the locations in which I  photograph.  Looking down Hoyt Street and Grand Central Parkway towards the Triborough Bridge in Astoria, Queens.

Sunday Minimalism

"Post no bills" may be in full force, by there are always loopholes.  Stenciled hearts on deep blue plywood temporary walls, sidewalks and wide-angle lenses, and mild summer weather all went into this post today.  Its should be noted that this was photographed in Queens, not Boston.

Steam and Burning Plastics, The Astoria Truck Fire of 8/16/2012

Here I am, walking through Astoria on my lunch break, trying to decide what would be pleasing to the pallet, when I detected a stench most foul.  I look up and spot several firefighters tending tending to an engulfed,  parked NYC DOT utility truck.  Many of the pedestrians in the area were trying to decide whether to gawk or escape the acrid aroma of auto parts in last stage combustion, with camera in hand, the choice for me was clear, souvlaki would have to wait.

By the time I got to the other side of Astoria Blvd, the fire department had made short of the blaze, but were still charged with having to pry open every smoldering nook and cranny.  With the heat and stench, imagine the fun they must be having on a hot summer day.

I say with admiration that these guys do a job that I, and most people, are not at all cut out for.

In Competition With Vices

(Taken on Astoria Blvd, near 31st Street.)

There are vices and then there are vices.  The vices illustrated above are functional in character and while may cause harm to a sufferer in the long term, one can still perform their day to day duties.  My personal vices are of a similar type and  include (but are not limited to) donuts and Star Trek; while these vices have been known to affect my social life from time to time, I've never been compelled to sell my first born or live in abject squalor as a result.  As for coffee and cigarettes?  I never touch the stuff.

Best Value Shopping // Low Clearance

Personally, I find tiny, interlinkable minutiae to completely irresistible  If there were some kind of desire in play to lure me into an ambush, all one would have to do is stage an elaborate scene that could be sandwiched into a title.

This area we are looking at here is 61st and Roosevelt in Woodside, Queens, a significant transit location.  Transit options include the LIRR, 7 Train, multiple bus lines, and is only two stops away from the larger Jackson Heights-Roosevelt station at 74th, providing access to all the Queens Blvd trains (E,F,M,R) and more bus routes.

Blue Sky Astoria

 My 10mm wide angle lens has been sitting idle for way too long.  I began to image it pleading from my gear bag, "please take me to Queens with you".  My options were to either  (a). grab the lens or (b). seek the services of a psychiatrist.  Option (a) was decidedly the more economic and convenient choice.  So here is my blue sky neuroleptic substitute for today, a scene from 31st Street in Astoria.

I, Standpipe

I am sentient.
I am self aware.
I might save your ass one day.

Although a ubiquitous feature within the subway system, this specific one was encountered on the G Train platform of the Court Square station in Long Island City.

A Fertile Mother by the Sea

Its impossible to determine how much of these are actually hers.  Equally impossible to determine (for me at least) is if she isn't in fact a he, but that possible revelation doesn't mesh well with this post's title, which I'm unduly proud of.  So here she is, the hardworking, dedicated mother of (x)^n chicks.  Taken in the Edgemere area of The Rockaways.

Haunted by the Ghost of Dead Bedbugs

They are amassing and large quantities of gelatinous substances a forming under the streets.  A hideous painting laying in wait in a Manhattan museum is being tapped for its havoc wreaking services.  Bedbugs strike chords of tension in even the most jaded New Yorker, but they haven't seen anything until a fog of ectoplasmic nymphs descend upon us all.

This is a photograph taken near Queens Plaza with a new experimental technique I've been testing.

Long Island City, Fast Tracked

  (Original neighborhood structures overshadowed by Citi Tower and other large scale construction)

Not in the too distant past, Long Island City was considered to be an industrial and working class neighborhood, but with its excellent access to transit, proximity to Manhattan, and relative affordability, its undergoing rapid transition.  One doesn't need to dig very deep to view this transition first hand, just take an N or 7 train to Queensboro Plaza and you can see the high rise structures going up and much investment in public spaces.  Public transit options tend to play a significant role in how these neighborhoods develop and its no coincidence that  most of the heaviest  development is focused in the areas between Court Square and Queens Plaza.  Subway access in this area is more accessible than some areas of Manhattan; Court Square (7,E,G,M), Queensboro Plaza (7,N,Q), Queens Plaza (E,M,R), 21st-Queensbridge (F).  Development however, is also moving north of the Plaza.

 (Queens Plaza at night)

If one were to continue up north past streets like 21st or Crescent Streets, it would be clear the development  is in its earlier stages when compared to the neighborhoods southern section.  They would see large amounts of light industry like auto repair shops, a large bakery that makes the entire area smell like a hot loaf of  bread, and of course, Queensbridge, the largest public housing complex in the United States.  One would also notice the large amounts of newer, more affordable, hotels that have been constructed, who's rates can be  more than half that of hotels in Manhattan.

Squalid

Pigeons and many other of its avian brethren do indeed make fabulous, dysfunctional hoarders.  So much so, that they can rival humanity's ability to do so.  I will say that there are many rewards that await you if you just look up and around every now and then as you walk.  This is not one of those, but there is always inherent risk in any endeavor.  Taken in Queens Plaza.

Signs of Life

Native to Newtown Creek, this fish, the Graffitus Anoxicus has made many leaps over the decades an can now survive in concrete.  Taken under the Pulaski Bridge on the Queens side.

Ghosty Train Traffic

These behemoth girders for the ascent of the railway that spans the Hellgate Bridge in Astoria.  These tracks carry the traffic of Acela, standard Amtrak stock, and freight.  This is but one piece of the Northeastern Corridor infrastructure, which in turn is one of the only viable interurban commuter rail networks in the United States.

A Sun Sets on Queens

A beautiful sunset descending upon the city as I left from a late day at work, luckily, I decided to bring my camera along.  Racing the sunset through Astoria and Long Island City using the N Train to gain different perspectives is only one of the things I will do to get my photographs.

Queensboro Plaza and Bridge.

Astoria Blvd Station looking toward Long Island City.

The Triborough Bridge and Grand Central Parkway.

Generic rooftop silhouettes and the sky.

Fusing of Alternate Dimensions

How about that?  More trains!  As I attempt to continue a regular blogging frequency, much of my work has been captured along the paths in which I commute, hence all the photos emphasizing transit.  I'm can't complain though, I enjoy photographing trains.  Light and fun on Saturday, surreal on Sunday.  A double exposure of sorts of a 7 Train departing Queensboro Plaza to Flushing.