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I found it necessary to flee Commack
after high school, and only after a significantly lengthy self-exile was
I able to appreciate some of the town's features.
The word "charm" can never apply. The word "town"
barely applies--this is the original suburbia, the 50's nuclear age, white-flight,
dream/ nightmare. There is no center of town (the intersection in photo
01 is the town's historic and geographic center). Everything is spaced
out to make the ownership of a car, or better yet, an SUV, absolutely necessary.
Sidewalks are scarce, even in residential neighborhoods. It is a place
defined by repetition: parking lots and strip malls; pizza joints, bagel
joints, supermarkets, Chinese takout.
Like most of Long Island, segregation reigns. My high school of about
1700 students had maybe 5 African-Americans (Note: To be
fair, there were a number of East and South -Asian-Americans. Also, Long
Island 'whiteness,' which is largely of Jewish, Italian, and Irish descent,is
a bit different from that in the Midwest and elsewhere). Then Central
Islip or Brentwood, just a town or 2 over, has large black and Hispanic populations.
Commack is about 40 miles from Manhattan--a 1hr ride on the LIRR (you
will of course need a car to get to a station, since Commack doesn't have
its own). I knew kids growing up who had never been to Manhattan. What's
more, I recall hearing some of my more progressive teachers lamenting that
THE
COMMACK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT DISCOURAGES FIELD TRIPS TO NYC, THE COUNTRY'S
LARGEST CULTURAL RESOURCE.
For
shame. The predictable result of all of the above is an insular, unadventurous,
and unsocial community.
That said, going to college in the Midwest and then living in Chicago
has taught me to appreciate things like NY pizza, bagels, 24-hour
diners (see Places), the Atlantic ocean,
LI sound, and proximity to NYC. And even Commack has some claims to
fame, or at least notoriety: The Commack Motor Inn, where Joey Butafucco and Amy
Fischer would shack up like many LI couples next to White Castle; Commack HS alumni Bob Costas
and Rosie O'Donnell; the Hamlet pro-tennis championship place or whatever
it is; the infamous sniper shooting of a patron at the Diner around the
corner from my house, etc. But most importantly there honestly are many
great people in Commack, who have shaped my life in positive ways, many
of whom I miss, good friends, a handful of teachers, neighbors, my supportive
and wonderful family, my aging pets, etc.
Before moving to Chicago after college graduation, I was back home for
the summer, and tried to take a bunch of photographs to document my conflicted feelings
of the town. The project, like many I've had, fizzled out. I wanted to
depict how mundane and un-photogenic the place is, but had so much success
it was just too boring. Nadar and Daguerre talked about Nature drawing
itself through their spectacular new devices. Commack draws itself with
frank honesty, and there is nothing to see.
02. In Paris a street's terminus might be a plaza
or cul-de-sac. In Commack it is the ass end of Mayfair shopping center.
While taking this picture I had 2 separate angry citizens come outside
to question my motives. One man thought I was going to mess up his car,
while a woman across the street mistook my tripod for a civil-engineer's
leveling device, and expressed her fear that I might rip up her lawn to
build a sidewalk.
03.
Ground Zero Commack: Jericho Turnpike and Commack/Townline Rd
(bad scan, but there's not much to see anyway. Jericho Turnpike is a great
name for a road, though, especially if you take it to Babylon. Or Hicksville).
04. The secret shortcut--3 strip
malls in one swoop. Did you know that you can drive behind Blockbuster
in Commack Corners, traverse the entire shopping center from behind, enter
the parking lot of the neighboring Macy's shopping center, pass through
it, pass Hollywood Video, and access the entire Target/Borders/King Kullen
Supermarket/Sports Authority complex? Amazing!
05.
Commack Corners, the empty center, and not in any Buddhist sense
06. I started taking a lot of pictures in 10th grade, since we were
able to take a photography course and use the darkroom. Mayfair
Shopping Center was my muse, for behind it was a goldmine of decrepit
suburban refuse--rotting garbage, bashed in doors, graffiti, and rusted
barbed wire--all just around the corner from its consumers' eyes. It has
since been rennovated and is much nicer, which is too bad for the current
generation of discouraged neighborhood teenagers looking for angsty suburban
scenery to photograph. This photograph is a night shot of the Mobil station,
which has been torn down. Look at Suffolk PD go.
08. more Mobil station
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