Red Hook Grain Terminal
One such bout of fixation brought me to the Red Hook Grain Terminal, a place that, after attempting entry, I learned was guarded like a fortress. I returned, befriended a construction worker, by taking some photos for him, and asked if he had ever been to the top. He chuckled and said that he had, but that you need a good reason, and not even the cops or fire department are let up there. I asked, somewhat jokingly, if he was ever allowed to bring guests. He evaded the questions, and laughed it off.
I text him the photos, restating the desire to get inside the terminal. He does not reply.
A month later, I try texting him again. He calls me, at first not remembering me, but upon reminder of the photos I took for him, recalls. He jovially tells me that he's bad at texting, but that if he ever doesn't reply "to just keep calling him."
I do.
After several months of texting this man on a weekly basis, he replies: "How's this Saturday?"
I cancel all my day plans and he takes me to one of the strangest places I have ever been.
The pictures below chronicle that day.
Floyd Bennett Field
Right before the Rockaway Peninsula, lies Floyd Bennett Field, an abandoned air field.
Fences prohibit the use of cars on the former runways, leaving them open to bikers and pedestrians willing to make the trek out here. What results is a feeling of silence one rarely encounters in the bustling metropolis of New York City.
And excellent opportunities for photos.
The Boat Graveyard
Staten Island is perhaps the borough with the hardest reputation. Its most famous attraction is obviously its ferry: where one rides over to Staten Island only to ride back.
But the borough has lots of hidden gems, including but not limited to the Arthur Kill Boat Graveyard.
Along the Hudson sit the iron leviathans, where beginning in 1930, ships no longer in use were to left to rust. It remains a place where I take my camera whenever i am feeling wayward.
