Photo Gallery: Sidestreet Scenes
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The top view looks north from Bouck
Ct. and the middle shot, south, one fine cloudy April 2001 morning.
Bouck Ct. itself is good for somebody's story, but it will have
to wait for one from me. West 3rd is the story here, where a
tribe of old mercury vapor lamps, 2 GE M400 "Disgusteds"
and a Westinghouse OV25 Silverliner "Cheerful", still
thrive after nearly 40 years. Hard to believe these things are
nearing 4 complete decades, huh? Where has all the time gone?
Actually, this 2nd generation Cheerful in the north view probably
dates from the late 60's, but the Disgusteds may have been here
since everyone danced the Twist and women wore giant bouffants
and beehives. To the north at the traffic light is Avenue X, where a couple of blocks to the right on one horrible 1981 evening, three black transit workers leaving the Coney Island maintenance yard, were jumped by a mob of around 40 white youth from the area. |
| To the south is Avenue Y, where the Quality gas station stands, with a typed over 1970's era Texaco sign. One block unseen to the right are the Coney Island subway maintenance yards from whence came the three unlucky transit workers in 1981. One, Willie Turks, was murdered that night. Less than a handful of the 40 animals involved were ever brought to justice. The towers forming the Trump Village and Warbass Cooperatives loom in the far background. The first aluminum lamppost after Avenue Y, stands at the corner of Dank Street. It replaced a SLECO pole that had sported a Silverliner, sometime in the last few years, so I don't take the long term survival of the remaining mercuries around here for granted. |
| At least the current survivors still work, proving that they are definitely not the Weakest Links. The night shot hails from late May 2001. Whereas the day shots were among the last of my film shots, the night affair was courtesy of my new digital. The pixelated sky is no doubt due to the heavy gamma radiation performed on what was essentially a total black picture, save for the lamp light, and no doubt a product of weak link imaging software as much as underexposure. As for film, in the words of current Spring 2001 icon Anne Robinson; "Goodbye!" |