Since the virus frightened me and everyone else into their homes, I've not had many places to go, or that I wanted to go. I still won't get on the subway, and any other enclosed space with a lot of people in it makes me very anxious. So, I go out walking around my end of town as much as I can. It's a habit that gets a little hard to maintain since I don't have a destination or a reason to go anywhere right now. Because the weather lately has been so beautiful, I regularly go to my favorite local spots to behold the urban grandeur, I usually go to the new Domino Park that occupies the site of the old Domino sugar mill. It's right under the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge.
When I go walking, I usually take my trusty little digital camera that is about 12 years old now and has constant problems with dust getting into the inner lenses. As a result, I have all these nice photos with a lot of schmutz that I can't remove. The camera has to go into the shop to be cleaned, and all the shops are closed for the epidemic. I desperately need a new camera, and I'd like to get a better one. But, it will be about 2 years before I have enough money to spare between debt payments to buy something new and a little better.
So, I do the best I can with what I have. I'll never get tired of the Roman grandeur of the Williamsburg Bridge. Roman, but even bigger in size and remade in steel beams and rivets with an arched span that the Romans never dared or imagined.
Here are some photos I made of the Bridge from down below in Domino Park where it really looks grand. I made these over a couple of days.
The base of the Brooklyn Tower with downtown Brooklyn and the Navy Yard on the left, and the East River with downtown Manhattan on the right.
Looking under three bridges to the Statue of Liberty and the Inner Harbor.
The Statue of Liberty with the giant cranes of the Bayonne docks in New Jersey seen under the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.
The underside of the Brooklyn end of the bridge.
A splendid view of the whole bridge from Domino Park looking across the East River to Manhattan.
Under the Manhattan tower.
The Brooklyn tower.
The hollowed out ruin of the Domino Sugar Mill.
The tallest tower so far on the waterfront in Williamsburg, 260 Kent Avenue, a 45 story building that would make Albert Speer blush. Plans are in the works for an even bigger one next door that will put this one in the shade.
The Empire State Building with boat traffic on the East River.
The World Trade Center from underneath the Williamsburg Bridge
More boat traffic on the East River.
My favorite photo of the Bridge. But for all the dust on the lens, I could be proud of this picture.
The span of the bridge from another part of Domino Park.
Today, I walked across the Williamsburg Bridge for the first time since at least early March. The weather was perfect for a long walk.
Attached to the fence is a sign of the times.
The Empire State Building from the Bridge
The climactic shootout from one of my favorite movies, Jules Dassin's The Naked City, was filmed in 1948 on this staircase on the north side of the Manhattan tower. I always think of it when I pass under the tower.
The approach on the Manhattan side.
Delancey on the Manhattan end of the Bridge. My studio is off to the right on that first cross street in the picture (Suffolk Street).
The Delancey Street entrance from Manhattan as recently rebuilt.
Some beautiful decorative iron work on the Bridge that I doubt many people notice.
The Manhattan tower.
On the way back from the Bridge, I encountered current events; a protest moving up Driggs Avenue. Both protesters and police behaved well.
George Floyd
The protesters on Driggs near the Russian Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration.
"HANDS UP! DON'T SHOOT!"
The police never got out of their vans along the route.
It was exciting to see a protest march again. It reminded me of so many that I participated in going back more than 30 years, including at least a couple over police brutality. I enjoyed those things even though they could be arduous; not from walking, but from standing for hours waiting to march. Other than that, protest marching can be an exhilarating experience as it was for me on many occasions. I almost envy the young their health and strength to do these events the full length. These days, I have to pee after about an hour.
On the other hand, watching all the very young people in the crowd made me feel old; old and irrelevant.
My time for making history anywhere other than in a studio or a classroom is past. The present
moment belongs to these folks, and they will make the future. If necessary, I expect that they will fight courageously and tenaciously for that future. I wish them every success.
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