Atlantic and Court

“a passage of acheron-like solemnity and darkness.” Walt Whitman wrote about this tunnel in the Brooklyn Daily News in 1862. Unfortunately my camera cant really handle solemnity and darkness. Sorry.
(photo by Paul Younger)
Bob Diamond, the guy who rediscovered this tunnel in 1982, waits at the top of the entry stairs to warn of their uneveness. The tunnel is 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The walls are made with granite blocks from Manhattan, and the ceiling is hand laid bricks. The ceiling is perfect and looks scuplted. The tunnel is cold and damp, and the dirt floor is bumpy from where the railroad ties used to be. The walls are wet in some places, raising the ew factor a bit.
(photo by Paul Younger)
We walked east under Atlantic Avenue, where the steam engines used to plow through pedestrians, carriages and horses at 40 mph. It took 8 blocks for trains to reach a complete stop. The dismembering delays cost Vanderbilt a lot of money, and caused passengers to miss their ferry, which could only run at high tide. To avoid the manslaughter nuisance, Vanderbilt built this tunnel in 1844.

A perfectly elliptical sunlight hatch in the brick ceiling. Bob said the tunnel was built to connect New York passengers to Boston. After taking the ferry across New York Harbor, passengers took the train through the tunnel to the Long Island Sound Ferry, which took them to Connecticut, where they took the train to Boston. The trip took about 8 hours, a big improvement over the 2 day trip by steamboat.

The only way I can describe Bob Diamond is that he is truly in his element in this tunnel. His knowledge comes at you like one of those steam trains.

In 1861, the city paid the Litchfield Company to fill in the tunnel. This notoriously corrupt company (which sold land it didnt own to midwestern farmers) sealed off the entrances and pocketed what would have been spent to fill it in. And there it sat, officially not existing despite rumors of a mafia distillery, German nerve gas labs, and 5 foot rats, until Bob came along with an old map and a hunch about a weird manhole.

Bob used this chain ladder to reach the bottom of the tunnel after convincing Brooklyn Union Gas to let him open the abandoned manhole in 1982. He found neither rats nor Germans, but evidence of a distillery.

The tunnel is also rumored to be haunted. When the overseer of the tunnel building project declared that the workers (all Irish) must work for free on Sundays, he was shot dead on the spot and buried behind the wall.

The evil overseer? No, thats just Paul Younger, who remembered to bring a headlight.

After 2 1/2 hours under Atlantic Avenue, (did I mention how much Bob likes a captive audience?) I was never so happy to be standing in the middle of traffic in Atlantic Avenue. But I’ll let Walt Whitman express that below.
(photo by Paul Younger)

“dark as the grave, cold, damp and silent. How beautiful look earth and heaven again, as we emerge from the gloom! It might not be unprofitable now and then to send us mortals, the dissatisfied ones at least- and thats a large proportion- into some tunnel of several days journey, we’d perhaps grumble less afterward at God’s handiwork.”
-Walt Whitman, part of “Brooklyniana,” an essay series published in the Brooklyn Daily News 1861-1862.

This 11 ton anchor from the USS Austin arrived back home at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where it was born in 1963.

In addition to the USS Austin’s crew, some shipyard crane operators, and the staff of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, other creatures that might have seen this anchor up close are:

A Nudibranch. (Caribbean Sea) A tiny colorful sea slug whose name means “naked gills,” which are exposed in a branchlike structure on their backs.
In the 1970′s the Austin spent some time in the Caribbean, including Guantanamo Bay, and engaged in training operations such as “Exotic Dancer,” “Rum Punch 76,” and “Exotic Dancer II.” I would be most interested to learn more about the names and natures of such “operations.”

An Octopus. (Mediterranean Sea) A super smart cephalopod with 3 hearts, a beak, and two thirds of it neurons located in its arms.
1983. While stationed in the Mediterranean outside Beirut, Lebanon, the men aboard USS Austin provided support after a terrorist drove an explosive laden truck into Marine Headquarters, killing 241 men.

A Seamouse. (North Sea) A rare worm covered with iridescent hairs.
In the mid-late ’80′s, the Austin sailed to the North Sea to train with NATO forces in “United Teamwork Effort 84.”

A Guitarfish. (Persian Gulf) A bottom feeder in the ray family.
Not Much info on the Austin’s involvement in the Iraqi War other than engaging in MSO: maritime security operations. Pretty sneaky, sis.

my blog

Lift off.

Great Egret hunting lizards.  Not sure what the neck wobble is all about.

The Anhinga has to dry its wings from diving for fish.   The mullet occurs during mating season.  Nice ‘do.

The Pelicans wait for the fisherman to return with snacks.

Sorry for the shakiness, I was in a kayak. The iguanas on Star Island in Miami.

Tamiami Trail

Me on the Truck with the Anchor

This anchor was trucked up to the Brooklyn Navy Yard from a ship scrapping yard in Brownsville, Texas.  Originally manufactured in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the 1963, it belonged to the USS Austin, an amphibious transport ship.

The ship mostly participated in training exercises in the Caribbean, including “Operation Exotic Dancer II” and “Operation Race Run,” and assisted with recovery of Apollos XII and XV.  Fun fact for the day:  An Apollo XII astronauts pasted Playboy pictures in his colleague’s lunar checklist.  The USS Austin also toured the Mediterranean, hanging close to Beirut in the ’80s.

Shipyard

The anchor will be installed in the lobby of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Museum, currently in development.

11 tons is 22,000 pounds.  Other things that equal 22,000 pounds:

Cranberry Sauce sold at Union Sq Whole Foods during Thanksgiving week,

Chocolate sent to troops in Afghanistan by American volunteers last year,

$33,862.92

Paul the Photographer

Im currently editing footage to be included in the permanent exhibit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Stay tuned!

Drives the cat nuts.  In a good way.

Valentine on the Highline

I met Lady Valentine on the Highline yesterday.   A little wiki told me that we honor Saint Valentine for marrying people who weren’t legally allowed to marry- Christians.   I smell irony.

Another little wiki told me Valentines Day hijacked the day of Lupercalia, a Roman festival honoring the she wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, where women present themselves to be smacked with the skin of a sacrificed goat to ensure fertility and reduce labor pains.

And then there are the antivalentinists who might observe Single Awareness Day (SAD), or get a card with a picture of Neptune suggesting we “sea other people.”

We all like chocolate, so lets just leave it at that.  Thank you Valentine Lady.

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Avocado Plant

New Video!  Snowpocalypse from St John’s Street in Brooklyn.  Schools were closed preemptively and there was a run on sleds.  NYC could see 19 inches by the time the storm is done.  Other things that are 19 inches include lawn mower blades, baking dishes, and infants.

I got to help my friend Robert who shoots human interest stories for a Long Island TV program.    We drove out to Port Washington to shoot the Long Island Hurricanes, a women’s ice hockey team.  Ages on the team range from 20′s to 60′s.  Most of the women are Moms- one’s a grandmother- and they all totally kick ice.   Here are some quick shots and video sketches I managed to grab with my Cannon Elph.

Kiss for Grandma

Team Leaders

Ref jumps out of Grandma's way

GKA

If I lived on Long Island and could skate,  I would love a few lessons with Coach Lilah.  Check it out:

http://www.pwskating.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=10

Im looking forward to shooting at Riverside Church this weekend.  I wont be shooting where Dr King and Mandela (or Castro) spoke, but pretty close.  If Im lucky they’ll play their carillon- the worlds largest.   74 bronze bells.  100 tons. Nothing less than the best for Rockefeller, who bought the land and built the church in 1930.  There are some terrific carvings and stained glass that will make for great b-roll.  Unfortunately, the circumstances of the shoot are quite sad.  May the family find peace and comfort in the service.  Im honored to record the event.