McGolrick Park
Also at McGolrick Park, this statue commemorates the 1862 battle of the Monitor and Merrimac, the first-ever meeting of two ironclad warships in combat. The Monitor was built at the Continental Iron Works here in Greenpoint.
In case you can't tell, the images in those two circles are the reverse and observe of the Great Seal of the United States. Weird!
I was trying to photograph the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (from the other side) when a fire engine came zooming into frame. Thanks to my camera's rolling shutter, objects in motion (e.g., the fire engine) become skewed, as you can see here.
According to a neighbor, an older Japanese man with a long white beard lives in this building. He can often be spotted running around Greenpoint, and he regularly participates in the NYC Marathon.
People here on Hausman street started flying American flags in the aftermath of 9/11, when one of their neighbors was killed in the collapse of the twin towers. Almost every building on the block has a flag now: I counted 59 of them as I walked down the street today. Bob McErlean, one of the residents of the block, has made it his job to maintain the flags, replace them if necessary, and properly dispose of those that are no longer suitable for display. A woman I met on the street told me that she just has to call him up if she has a problem with her flag, and he'll come over and take care of it. All of the fire hydrants and sign poles on the block are red, white, and blue, as well, but she says Bob had nothing to do with that — somebody else decided to paint them for the annual summer block party.
