Date: 2006-08-12.
Tags: glenwood, industry, new york, powerstation, subway, usa
We skirted the building and ducked behind the turbine hall. Peeking inside we caught a fleeting glimpse of two people crossing into the boiler house so ventured into the adjacent admin building until we could determine wtf they were up to. We lost sight of them and figured they'd either left or weren't going to cause us any problems. How wrong we could be. The admin building was virtually gutted, leaving only opportunities for Dobi-esque minimalist pictures (none of which turned out acceptably). We braved a rusted, crumbling walkway 4 stories above the ground which dropped us right into the turbine hall and control room. This cavernous space is layered with moss and graffiti, softly illuminated by the light streaking through the translucent roofing and long narrow banks of windows.
Basically if it's made of metal, it's rusted and broken. The stairs, handrails, window frames and floors are all collapsing. The turbines are long gone. Any metal of value has been stripped and scavenged. All that remains is the massive interior space. Sitting high in the turbine hall, two voices filtered in from the adjacent boiler house. We poked our heads in to see the people from earlier busily taking metal samples and checking the stability of the structure. Explorers are rarely nerdy enough to sport hardhats - now we had to play ye olde dodge-the-workers game. We stepped across into the boiler house and snaked up through the gantries and ladders that crisscross above the coal bins and around the massive brick chimneys. Like cartoon cat burglars we crept across the metal grille walkways, cringing as the old metal squeaked in protest.
Of course as we moved up, the workers crossed below us into the turbine hall unknowingly cutting off our escape path. We flattened ourselves upon the roof, watching as they wandered one floor below our hiding spot to survery the structure. The powerhouse has been empty so long that trees have taken root upon the roof, bringing with them all matter of creepy crawly little bastards who took it upon themselves to bite, gnaw, gnash, munch and crunch upon a rare foreign delicacy - us. We sat tight for almost an hour, spying, waiting and getting eaten until the workers vanished onto a lower level. Rising slowly we edged along a narrow strip of concrete with sits atop the rim of the turbine hall void. In a crouch we sped across the roof below the low rise of the perimeter wall and gingerly decsended the crumbling staircases. The workers were nowhere to be seen so we made good our escape. So far nothing in NY had gone smoothly, but hey it makes things fun right?
Oh yeah, we teamed up with NYCExposed to brave a looong night in the subway. Like the worms in a corpse we ate up all the goodahness we could find as we burrowed through the tunnels that honeycomb NYC. Nothing like crouching face down in the dirt as express trains fly past you. *sigh* good value all round. More to come :)
Fresh from conquering the Amtrak tunnel, full of confidence and arrogance we got some more advice from Steve and jumped the metro north out to Yonkers in search of powerstations. I mean powerhouses, this is the US afterall. Glenwood powerhouse sits quietly beside the Hudson river, slowly surrendering to mother nature. The vines creep across the bricks and small plants sprout from the cracks in the mortar. We had a quick chat to one of the locals as he pulled his crabpots from the river then made our way towards the crumbling building.
We skirted the building and ducked behind the turbine hall. Peeking inside we caught a fleeting glimpse of two people crossing into the boiler house so ventured into the adjacent admin building until we could determine wtf they were up to. We lost sight of them and figured they'd either left or weren't going to cause us any problems. How wrong we could be. The admin building was virtually gutted, leaving only opportunities for Dobi-esque minimalist pictures (none of which turned out acceptably). We braved a rusted, crumbling walkway 4 stories above the ground which dropped us right into the turbine hall and control room. This cavernous space is layered with moss and graffiti, softly illuminated by the light streaking through the translucent roofing and long narrow banks of windows.
Basically if it's made of metal, it's rusted and broken. The stairs, handrails, window frames and floors are all collapsing. The turbines are long gone. Any metal of value has been stripped and scavenged. All that remains is the massive interior space. Sitting high in the turbine hall, two voices filtered in from the adjacent boiler house. We poked our heads in to see the people from earlier busily taking metal samples and checking the stability of the structure. Explorers are rarely nerdy enough to sport hardhats - now we had to play ye olde dodge-the-workers game. We stepped across into the boiler house and snaked up through the gantries and ladders that crisscross above the coal bins and around the massive brick chimneys. Like cartoon cat burglars we crept across the metal grille walkways, cringing as the old metal squeaked in protest.
Of course as we moved up, the workers crossed below us into the turbine hall unknowingly cutting off our escape path. We flattened ourselves upon the roof, watching as they wandered one floor below our hiding spot to survery the structure. The powerhouse has been empty so long that trees have taken root upon the roof, bringing with them all matter of creepy crawly little bastards who took it upon themselves to bite, gnaw, gnash, munch and crunch upon a rare foreign delicacy - us. We sat tight for almost an hour, spying, waiting and getting eaten until the workers vanished onto a lower level. Rising slowly we edged along a narrow strip of concrete with sits atop the rim of the turbine hall void. In a crouch we sped across the roof below the low rise of the perimeter wall and gingerly decsended the crumbling staircases. The workers were nowhere to be seen so we made good our escape. So far nothing in NY had gone smoothly, but hey it makes things fun right?
Oh yeah, we teamed up with NYCExposed to brave a looong night in the subway. Like the worms in a corpse we ate up all the goodahness we could find as we burrowed through the tunnels that honeycomb NYC. Nothing like crouching face down in the dirt as express trains fly past you. *sigh* good value all round. More to come :)
If you liked this try...
