Out in the Cold

These images were taken on Friday evening between 8 and 9 PM, when the combination of temperature and wind speed made it feel like it was about 4 degrees outside.

I had walked by the work site earlier in the evening as I hurried home to get out of the cold - but when I saw that the men were still working, on this very cold night, I decided to venture out again to capture a set of images for the blog.

What follows is a set of black and white images of men working at the TBM launch box site between 91st and 95th streets.



92nd, SE corner - looking SW

Standing besides Delizia's as a frigid commuter briskly makes her way home.

The crane in the background is dutifully removing bucket loads of recently blasted rock from the work area that is down below the street level.



btw. 92nd and 93rd - looking N

The work area, as well as the surrounding apartment buildings, were brightly lit by high intensity artificial lamps.



Load after load of rock is lifted and released into the waiting trucks.



btw. 91st and 92nd, looking E

I'd hate to be someone living in these buildings - with the sound and light from the active construction right in your apartment most evenings, like a visitor who has stayed too long.

On a positive note, the subway contractors can't work past 10 PM. It's expected that they will be finished excavating the launch box in about a month.



92nd, just east of the NE corner - looking SW

Another view of the zone. When you look at the picture, you can almost feel how cold it was on this evening.



same location - looking W



btw. 92nd and 93rd - looking NW



93rd - looking S



btw. 93rd and 94th - looking N

Looking down a sidewalk passageway that looks more like an uninviting corridor.



btw. 93rd and 94th - looking E

At a second location, soil (instead of rock) is being removed from the site by the truck load.



94th, NW corner - looking S

Trucks lining up, each waiting to receive its load of rocks or soil before rumbling off into the night.


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Here's a listing of the recent additions
to the right-hand column of The Launch Box

"Second Avenue Subway hit with lawsuit"
The Real Deal - 1/26/10

Second Ave. coop files suit over ventilation structures
2nd Ave. Sagas - 1/26/10

Monthly Project Report - Second Avenue Subway
MTA Capital Construction - 1/25/10

Vanshnookenraggen Blog


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A footnote:

As some readers may know, this blog was included in Roy Edroso's feature article "I Blog New York: Your Guide to Gotham's Best" in The Village Voice this past Wednesday. I feel both honored and humbled for being included as part of such a collection of worthy blogs.

When one steps onto the stage here in New York, your audience, if you will, expects nothing but the best. Since 2007 I have attempted to record and document, using this medium, the progress of this vast project.

I will carry on.

For your perusal, here's a complete listing of the other blogs that were featured by The Village Voice:

Art Fag City
Emdashes
Gerritsen Beach
Bushwick BK
Bronx News Network
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York
The Lo-Down
Queens Crap
Brooklyn Vegan
Forgotten NY
Faith and Fear in Flushing
Animal New York
The House Next Door
Second Avenue Sagas
New York Shitty
Food in Mouth
Ask Moxi


PS: I took another set of images on Sunday afternoon (1/31/10) and I hope to get them posted on Monday or Tuesday this week. So please stand by.