May 29, 2006
Memorial Day
Today as we grill out and enjoy the nice weather, we need to remember the fallen, who have given their lives protecting this country from forces both foreign and domestic. Memorial Day has changed through the years, but the history of remembering is deeply rooted in our Union:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Have a good Memorial Day.
See what other people are up to on Flickr by checking out these two tags: Memorial Day & Memorial Day Weekend.
May 14, 2006
President Al Gore on SNL
Heh, Al Gore on SNL... Lockbox... funny.
May 3, 2006
Super Mario Kill Bill
I can't believe I haven't seen this yet - Kill Bill overlaid with Super Mario Bros soundtrack. Possibly NSFW - Tarantino violent, so be warned.
The Remains of the Greenpoint Terminal Market
The Remains, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Here's an aerial from Live Local highlighting the area which seems to have been destroyed as of this morning during the Greenpoint Terminal Market fire. I Will update this montage as more reports come in.
I've noted photo locations of some of my (and other's) photos.
May 2, 2006
Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse Fire
Fire @ the Warehouse, originally uploaded by plemeljr
One of my favorite buildings in Greenpoint, the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse is on fire. I was able to get right down to Oak and West Streets and the air was noticibly hot. There wasn't much for the firefighters to do: the building was unstable and when I was there a large portion of the exterior masonry walls fell:
Fire @ the Warehouse, originally uploaded by plemeljr
It is a shame that these building had to go like this; there was talk by the uniforms about a "developer fire," but right now this is just speculation.
Holy crap! It went to a Seven alarms fire - I thought it stopped at 5!
Well, look at this, look who is a partial owner of the site:
Going south from Greenpoint Avenue, a 14-acre parcel is rumored to be slated for development by developer Joshua Gutman, who owns several buildings in Dumbo, and who declined to comment for this article.
Immediately south of Gutman's parcel is land owned by B & H Photo, Vance said, and a few smaller lots where various owners have no plans that have been made public.
Joshua Gutman is the notorious developer who owned 223 Water Street which suspiciously caught on fire two years ago (pdf). Two fires in two years? This guy can't be that lucky, can he?
Update @ 13:12
Holy crap - the fire is up to 9 alarm fire! If a 5 alarm = 200+ men, then there are upwards of 300+ men figting what the fire department says, "is the largest fire in New York City in 10 years, not counting the World Trade Center disaster."
From Flickr Thread:
Also called Mary Habstritt of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. She explained that these mills were built to burn slowly, to give workers time to escape and fire crews time to arrive. Fire was an ever-present hazard in mills full (in this case) of thousands of bales of jute and hemp. It looks like this fire had some "help" getting going. Although these are an old, abandonned buildings, they still should've burned slowly.
Mary said she's seen a lot of fire in historic buildings that being renovated. The "help" that gets these fires started sometimes comes from construction crews doing demolition. Sparks from their tools can ignite something very small, which then grows into a bigger fire after workers leave for the day. There were crews at the AMC doing clean-up work (removing windows, etc).
She also quoted a fire dept contact who told her that 20 years ago crews taking down the piers that used to be on the Hudson got paid a premium if sites were fire-damaged. As a result there were many, many fires set by crews in order to collect the premium.
Anyway, it's much too early to know what started this fire. It's just heart-breaking for me to see it go. Apparently these buildings are held up by their wooden internal structure. Once the roof trusses burn, the walls will cave in. Certainly looks like that's what's going to happen next....
Check out the Perkins Eastman designs for the renovation. Looks like they have a tabla rasa now.
Update @14:55
If you wondered how much equipment does into a 9 alarm fire, then FDNY Dispatch Policy is for you:
Fifth alarm (signal 5-5)
- 20 engines
- 11 ladders
- 5 battalion chiefs
- 1 rescue
- 1 squad
- 1 deputy chief
- 1 RAC unit
- 1 satellite
- safety battalion
- SOC battalion
- 1 tactical support unit
- field comm
All subsequent alarms, add:
- 4 engines
- 2 ladders
So that would be the following minimum equipment on site:
- 36 engines
- 17 ladders
- 5 battalion chiefs
- 1 rescue
- 1 squad
- 1 deputy chief
- 1 RAC unit
- 1 satellite
- safety battalion
- SOC battalion
- 1 tactical support unit
- field comm
With 6 men per apparatus that works out to around 370 men on site. That's pretty insane.
More to follow...