Nearpara Rubber Company: From Tire Reclaiming to Toxic Brownfield

Image
The Last Days of Nearpara Rubber I smelled it before I saw anything worth photographing. That warm, faintly sweet bite of old rubber, the kind that hits you somewhere between a tire shop and a summer highway, drifted through the first building the moment I stepped inside. The structure was burned out, charred and broken, rubble underfoot. But the smell was alive. And then I saw the pile. In the corner of the room, faded brown and heaped maybe two feet high, was a mound of baby bottle nipples. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of the small rubber tips, just sitting on the floor of a collapsed industrial building in Trenton, New Jersey. I stood there for a moment, genuinely confused, and then kept moving. Nothing like the smell of warmed-over rubber. Twenty minutes later, I understood even less. Through another door passage, I found the main source of the smell: six open metal trailer containers, still loaded with bagged baby bottle nipples, sitting in open air. Bags of them, mountains of bagged n...
Post a Comment

Abandoned Camp Rock



When one spot is a failure you move on to the next.






I had my sights on this spot for a long while. It wasn't until Sunday that I was in the area after exploring a previous spot to check out its theater and bowling alley. After pulling away from another spot that was quite open and risky to access and explore I ventured here. Pulling through the back I butted up on a deer who just stood to stare at us chewing on its cud before a loud CSX train passed by with the loudest sound I've ever heard from a train as it dashed away into the bushes.



Pablo the Deer


Building One Exterior 


Building One Interior






Squeezing through a gap in the fence we came upon four boarded-up buildings lined up neatly surrounded by heavy vegetation. Nothing special or of note was found inside any of the buildings. One building to the far left looked like a stable for cows. The center building was locked and seemed to hold unknown items in storage and the first building on the right was completely empty. This was the only building that still had electricity running to it.  All in all, not a bad site. Even the not-so-interesting spots can be small but still significant. A and I would never have met that friendly deer or built those rocks alongside the small water management stream behind the residential houses.















Building Two



Building Three - The Barn


Updates: As of May 2023, satellite activity picks up the renovation or reuse activity on the property. A revisit soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Samigon 35mm f/2.8 - Sample Review Two

Image
I started trying to see what this lens can really do in sunny conditions today. I was a bit disappointed in how it renders the background considerably softer and not very sharp. Outside is very bright and I opened it all the way to f/2.8. This lens is very soft. You can see that with soft areas of the picture with my bicycle handle and the background. (I should park my bike out of the way sometimes) It is not really a good wide-angle lens to use. I feel this lens is more adaptable for up-close shots rather than wide shots. I think I will try that today and maybe tomorrow and come back with a couple review shots to determine if I should keep this lens in my camera bag or return it to fleBay. I am going to do some more research on this lens because it seems this copy or glass isn't very good. Well off to test this alternative lens some more. Lens info: Samigon 35mm Auto Wide F/2.8
Read more

Nearpara Rubber Company: From Tire Reclaiming to Toxic Brownfield

Image
The Last Days of Nearpara Rubber I smelled it before I saw anything worth photographing. That warm, faintly sweet bite of old rubber, the kind that hits you somewhere between a tire shop and a summer highway, drifted through the first building the moment I stepped inside. The structure was burned out, charred and broken, rubble underfoot. But the smell was alive. And then I saw the pile. In the corner of the room, faded brown and heaped maybe two feet high, was a mound of baby bottle nipples. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of the small rubber tips, just sitting on the floor of a collapsed industrial building in Trenton, New Jersey. I stood there for a moment, genuinely confused, and then kept moving. Nothing like the smell of warmed-over rubber. Twenty minutes later, I understood even less. Through another door passage, I found the main source of the smell: six open metal trailer containers, still loaded with bagged baby bottle nipples, sitting in open air. Bags of them, mountains of bagged n...
Read more

Inside Yonkers' Abandoned Glenwood Power Plant (Photos & History)

Image
A former coal-fired power plant in Yonkers sits quietly by the waterfront, its redevelopment ambitions repeatedly running aground against community resistance and logistical hurdles. Once an industrial hub, the site has spent years in limbo, tangled in unrealized visions of transformation and contention with local stakeholders. The most recent development proposal called for a 157,000-square-foot mixed-use office space. However, the Yonkers Planning Board faced strong pushback from residents. Parking became a flashpoint, with the community voicing concerns over how the new project would accommodate vehicles. Efforts by the developer to secure parking access at nearby Trevor Park and the John F. Kennedy Marina were met with such resistance that the plans were scrapped altogether. Adding to the tensions, critics took issue with the property owner's financial contributions to the city. Many residents felt the developer had been avoiding paying a fair share of Yonkers' property tax...
Read more

Inside the Abandoned St. Michael and St. Edward Church in Brooklyn

Image
For weeks, I had been orbiting the perimeter of the impending demolition of the Church of St. Michael and St. Edward, a once revered church in the heart of Fort Greene, like a moth drawn to a flame. The neighborhood, a patchwork of tight project housing, seemed indifferent to the fate of this historic edifice. The intel I had received suggested that entry was as simple as scaling a wooden fence, yet the timing had never felt right. Until one day, it did. With a mission in New Jersey looming, I knew it was now or never. The demolition was advancing at a startling pace, the church's twin steeples already reduced to rubble. The skeletal remains of timber beams and rusted steel frames peeked out from the ruins, a testament to the relentless march of progress. Summoning a surge of courage, I seized a moment of quiet in the bustling housing project and vaulted over the fence. My heart pounded in my chest as I slipped unnoticed into the church grounds. The once grand entrance now stood as...
Read more

Exploring the Abandoned Aerosol Techniques Factory in Milford, CT (Photos)

Image
When I arrived at the former Aerosol Techniques factory, I was filled with a mix of anticipation and curiosity. Meeting a group of new friends for a day of urban exploration in Connecticut, we had a lineup of intriguing abandoned sites on our agenda. Our itinerary included the hauntingly beautiful Seaside Sanatorium, a former hospital, along with a few other potential spots that we were less certain about. We chose the factory as our starting point, mainly because it offered easy access and was conveniently situated next to a Lowe's hardware store. Walking along a well-trodden path, our group made a seamless transition onto the property. The sense of camaraderie was palpable as we embarked on our adventure with eager enthusiasm. The factory grounds, long deserted, were a canvas for countless graffiti artists. Every inch of the building was adorned with vibrant and eclectic street art, each piece telling its own story. This rich color and creativity set the perfect stage for our imp...
Read more