Chemical Lane + Tugboat Graveyard
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Photos by Nate Dorr. Rossville.
In 1964 the Witt Marine Scrapyard opened in the crook of Staten Island's western shore, an area now known as Rossville. Rapidly acquiring a full armada of condemned ships to be harvested for scrap, Witt's reach apparently exceed their grasp and the vast majority settled into the mud to rust and decay into worthlessness. Well, worthlessness beyond their striking value as a sort of unofficial nautical history museum, filled with tugs, barges, ferries, and at least one fireboat (in fact a veteran of the General Slocum disaster almost a century ago). Of course, it's a museum connected by shaky planking and potential pitfalls of rotting wood, so few get to see it up close.
The rest of the neighborhood is pretty interesting too. Just down the street on the fittingly named Chemical Lane loom a pair of massive something-million gallon storage tanks. Besides being the billboard for Bob's love for Lauren and a driving range and apparently once holding a very large quantity of natural gas, the tanks are a major landmark that can be seen from most of Rossville. Those weirdly pale green hills on the other side of the tugboat graveyard? Old grown-over landfills.
Click to jump to images of Chemical Lane.
Rossville
Chemical Lane
![[Fellow Impose photographer Sam Horine.]](http://cdn.imposemagazine.com/__data/chemical-lane--tugboat-graveyard.172.jpg)
[Fellow Impose photographer Sam Horine.]
Posted on April 01, 2008
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the rare Andean un-gay llama, lama glama heterosexualus
— david on April 01, 2008
hey d, didn't i see on the interwebs that you had sprouted a llamas body since late february?
— f.trainer on April 01, 2008
haha - how could always right possibly be wrong? my pics from the trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiveoftoast/sets/72157603954276496/
— f.trainer on April 01, 2008
so easily confused with it's peruvian cousin, llama slama rectumio
— f.trainer on April 01, 2008
Nate and Sam are gayer than llamas -cues "dueling photographers" music-
— david on April 01, 2008
this was all cool and then BAM! What I can only assume is Nate's gay lover. Picturesquely looking over the rubble, he contemplates the next rotting boat romp. It also looks like a nice place to dump a body.
— always right on April 01, 2008