On the northeast border of Astoria, there is a forest covered urban mountain whose origins are shrouded in mystery. This would make a great location for a very unique new park. Unfortunately though, this forest and ‘mountain’ may be bulldozed soon.
Category: Nature
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The abandoned Willow Lake trail, in Flushing Meadow Corona Park.
(Scroll down for the complete report) – with update!
You’re probably asking yourself why The LTVSquad, a group & website dedicated to sneaking into abandoned buildings and tunnels – is featuring a post about an abandoned park trail in Queens. Why would we spend our time at such a place? The answer is simple: we’re looking for the money, and we’re looking for answers.
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‘Queensway’ – So much for democracy?
Map of proposed park Here is a story that will frustrate anyone who has ever been tasked with trying to get to JFK airport from anywhere in NYC. Instead of reusing a branch of the LIRR which was shut down back in the 1962 (when LIRR was the red-headed stepchild of the Pennsylvania railroad – which looted its cash), the current governor of New York is backing a plan to convert the tracks into a park.
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Freight Rail ‘detour’ in Queens: A Bad Idea.
Over the last few years a group of NIMBYS in central Queens have been basically advocating for the eradication of rail freight through Queens. The people behind this campaign seem to live close to Fresh Pond Yard (which has been a rail yard since at least 1906). After years of freight rail decline and the lost of the large ‘Yard A’ classification yard in L.I.C. (which will become a passenger rail yard in support of the ESA project) the LIRR outsourced its freight operations to a small startup railroad (New York & Atlantic) which has aggressively and successfully marketed its services. The growth of their business has made Fresh Pond yard busier than it has been in the last 20 years.
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Hurricane Sandy Part 1
On the one hand you could say these are not ‘exploring’ photos. On the other hand there is the fact that they were nearly all taken in Rockaway just after the sun rose on the Tuesday morning after the super-high tide brought in by Hurricane Sandy caused so much destruction. At the time, NYPD was blocking all non first responders from entering the peninsula. Quite literally we had to sneak onto the peninsula when there was a momentary shift change at the bridge checkpoint.
What we found you can see in the photos above, though photos can never grasp the smells of still smoldering fires, the eerie silence only being broken by harsh gusts of wind tossing debris through the streets and the sirens of fire trucks racing to and from the main land to refuel.
Rockaway, as we knew it, is no more. What reminds is a flooded out mess. Residents will have to decide if it’s worth the thousands of dollars to fix each home, in face of the scientific fact that the ocean is rising and global warming will eventually put the entire peninsula under water – perhaps sooner than later.
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Post-Sandy Ft. Tilden exposes old WW2 Relics
As a thank you to veterans I offer this photo: what you’re looking at is most likely a very very old (WW1) machine gun placement I stumbled across today at the old Ft. Tilden (on Rockaway) – This concrete foundation has been under sand for decades, and Hurricane Sandy washed away all of that sand covering it. It lasted through the storm (along with all the other old bunkers) even while the road along the beach crumbled away and is now completely destroyed. The dune that separated the road from the beach has also completely washed away.
As for this gun placement – let’s just say it was built to last by men that didn’t compromise.
This gun placement was one of two, connected to the bunker seen in the above photos – and was known as ‘Battery Kessler’. We’ll be posting a whole lot about Ft. Tilden sometime in the next year.
The bunkers at Ft. Tilden also survived, all very much intact. As you can see one of them (directly behind the gun turret) now has trees stuffed in it from the water that flowed through.
The storm also up/uncovered a long stick of railroad track. This likely came from somewhere on the Tilden property, given how old it looks and the fact that Ft. Tilden once had it’s own military railroad. In different areas this long buried track is also now exposed, revealing rotted out cross-ties and rusted railroad spikes.
More on that in the coming months when we give a deeper dive into Ft. Tilden history.
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Reading Viaduct
RIP Define…. 
Side of the former Reading substation later used by Septa until very recently when they built their new one nearby 
Through the former substation towards the Goldtex. Former Urbex playground being turned into lofts (pending future union induced delays that is) 
Toward the Willow Street Steam Plant, now abandoned…. 
Pill Poppin…. 
Looking North. The Spring Garden Street station straight ahead. 
Rusted Rusto…. 
This was the passage that exiting passengers used to get to the street 
Inbound platform has been demolished exposing the areas underneath, the station building here has been converted into lofts. 
Probably the best of the graff…. 
Straightaway…. 
Former northbound platform
Chartered in 1833, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was constructed to provide service between the two namesake cities following roughly parallel to the Schuylkill River. Full service to Philadelphia began in 1839 operating out of a depot near Broad and Cherry Streets. This was replaced in 1859 with a new terminal at Broad and Callowhill. As the railroad grew in the late 1880’s, expanding to Harrisburg and leasing lines that allowed connections to New York City, the P&R was in need of yet another new terminal.
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Pigeons
When you go places around town that most people don’t ever get to see, you see the most basic aspects of the city on a whole different level. This post about pigeons is a good example.
Recently I took the above photo. I never realized that pigeon parents actually hung out together, mated and raised offspring ( which only takes about a month). You’d never know this as they nest in nooks around town on rooftops where we can’t see them.
I’m not a huge fan of these birds, but I do find it a little harder to hate on them after finding some cuddled up waiting for eggs to be dropped.
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Barn Owls: More UE than You.
While out for a stroll in Gateway park we came across this delightfully creepy sign.
Let’s go down the checklist: Noctural behavior, hording tendencies, and perchance for spending a lot of time in abandoned building. Sound like anyone you know? The Barn Owl is about as ‘explorer’ as you can get. Not only that, but it is also known as the ‘Demon Owl’ or ‘Death Owl’, making it a prime candidate for honorary SPU local 666 membership.
So here’s to you, Barn Owl…
