………………………………..

 

As you may know, I take on various, self-imposed, neighborhood photo projects. Sometimes, they’re directly outside my living room window, which is pretty convenient.

One such project is the other end of a demolition of a small bank and drive-thru last year that happened a block away from me. Currently on that space is the construction of a 6-story apartment building.

So now I can be just as lazy as I was last year and cover most of the activity without leaving home, save for an occasional walk around the perimeter to photograph some things that aren’t visible from my living room. This also lets me say a quiet “yes” when my cardiologist asks if I’ve gotten in any good-for-the-heart walking.

What I’m starting off with here is a picture I took from home on June 4, 2025, which shows a portion of the construction site and a tall cement pumper (NOTE: THIS IS NOT A POST ABOUT CONSTRUCTION!). The photo also shows the trees east of me in full bloom, PLUS two small sections of flat (and distant) Foschini Park (separated by a tree) in Hackensack:

Fairly boring.

 

Twelve days later (June 16), as I was following another construction crane from my living room, I noticed something very different in those small park sections that I had never seen before in my 37 years here and zoomed in:

What the heck is all that?

 

I did a “Foschini Park” search and found this on a Hackensack PD Facebook page:

 

I max-zoomed in on those two park sections on June 18:

The first one was kind of “eh”, but that massive guitar neck and headstock sure got my attention! (as did the five tuning pegs).

One thing (project) leads to another…….that’s also the name of a good song by the Fixx, who I photographed at the Meadowlands Arena in 1983, opening up for Supertramp (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHYIGy1dyd8&list=RDJHYIGy1dyd8&start_radio=1 if you wanna hear the song).

 

The carnival was going to open that night (June 18), but I wanted to shoot what’s there closeup in daylight, sans crowds, so I headed on over.

Fencing was EVERYWHERE! I could not park close and did a LOT of walking to get to the actual site…………..but I could not enter the site because of lots more fencing……and there was no one in authority to talk to to get in.

FINALLY, a gentleman driving a L.E.A.D. pickup truck pulled in near me. I got his attention, explained who I was, why I was there and what I wanted to do (shoot the scene without crowds)………….and he said, “Sure!”

I followed him in and he turned me loose.

 

(NOTE: a LOT of these pictures are panoramic. Be sure to click on each one to see if it enlarges. Some may need a second click to fully-enlarge)

The first thing I saw was a row of 6 modern, blue Port-O-Johns…………..or so I thought from a distance:

Oops! This is where you paid to get in. Some were for cash payments and some were for credit.

 

Here’s my initial, widest-I-could-get PANO:

BTW – the gentleman who let me in is shown walking toward a table of co-workers (I’m guessing).

 

Various and sundry rides and attractions………………

 

Get on the Sky Race and be the first to fly over to the turkey legs stand:

 

This site was not hurting for food and drink options:

 

 

As cute as the bumblebees were, I only saw one mother and child ride them when I came back on Saturday:

 

You’ll see one young girl getting face-painted on Saturday at a different location:

 

Steering wheels in the back seat?

 

I think I see something familiar over on the right:

 

Yep – it’s the Zipper, which I shot at the Holy Trinity Carnival last month (and for many years before that):

 

And here’s its friendly neighbor, the Fun Slide – also seen at Holy Trinity:

 

And here are 3 rides/attractions I know nothing about:

 

This is where that girl got face-painted three nights later:

I don’t know what the “Circus” aspect was about:

 

Other angles:

 

The few games of chance I saw opened on Wednesday afternoon featured a lot of animalistic prizes:

 

This is one huge ride that I didn’t get to see in use either day:

(almost looks like another “Fun Slide”)

 

The Wednesday/opening day (night) only – fireworks (as shot from my living room):

 

All the smoke from the finale heads south (taken right after the fireworks ended)

If you look closely, you can see the Empire State Building.

 

Here are the final 4 minutes of the fireworks, including the finale:

(as with my photographs, my videos are equally copyright-protected, so imagine a ©Bob Leafe on each of them)

 

On Thursday, the 19th, I took a couple more shots from home:

VERY sharp, considering the distance……

 

Rather dull……..

 

I’m surprised that I can make out 4 people on the guitar “body” from here.

 

 

On Friday evening (June 20), I wanted to see what kind of shots I could get from the site’s perimeter (fence), because I didn’t want to pay to get in (as I would have to do on Saturday).

Pickin’s were indeed slim and only this shot passed muster:

 

 

The Saturday night shoot

Paid my 5 bucks entry fee because I knew it was going to be worth it (PLUS, it’s for a very good cause!)

 

Here’s that girl getting face-painted:

 

This can be a fun (and loud) ride if you can get those seats filled:

 

Water pistols, stuffed animals, photo booth and the Zipper (fun times 4):

 

Speaking of the Big Z:

 

These poor people……..they had SO much stuff, but they were stuck in a “second row” behind other vendors with tons of stuff and the public never seemed to make it to Row 2:

Powers That Be: Please put them in Row 1 next time.

 

It’s not easy getting the whole “guitar” in a close pic when it’s moving:

Then it dawned on me that another interesting angle might be from the Rock Star’s front seats during a ride.

I didn’t know how much it cost (you have to get tickets from machines in another location). So I walked over to that location, but still couldn’t tell from what I saw what the price was.

Then a very nice young lady who worked there tried to help, but she spoke in “ride credits” and I spoke in dollars and was never given the conversion factor. She then said, “I’ll be right back”.

When she returned, she gave me a ticket that she said would put me on the Rock Star ride………….but still never mentioned the cost or the conversion factor from ride credits to dollars.

After some more friendly back-and-forth, it dawned on me that she was GIVING me the ride.

“You paid for this?”

She smiled and walked away.

What a sweetheart!

But I still don’t know how many credits equal one dollar (or vice-versa).

Things were pretty busy by that time, so I continued my Saturday Night Shoot.

 

The Fun Slide (again), this time in a not-so-flattering pinkish-purple:

 

More of the same “color” on the Super-Himalaya:

 

How’s this for fine Carnival eatin’? Turkey legs, roasted corn and pickles, all washed down with lemonade:

I like turkey legs, so I looked around for something that indicated the price. How much could they be………..four or five bucks each?

I’m not sure, but I think I saw a small sign that said $20 per!

See ya!

 

More food and Zipper……………

 

I wonder what this guy’s eating……………pickles and lemonade?

 

I don’t think this place offers enough choices………….

 

That poor dog can’t get away from the sounds of the screaming kids on the Zipper:

 

Inflatable hammers (for pounding your inflatable nails):

 

RIDES!

Hey – GOTTA video some rides, right? Here are 5 of them:

 

And you KNOW I have to finish up with the Rock Star (I sound like I’m back in my old career……….maybe I should add this video to https://bobleafe.com

 

OK – I think I’ve had enough…………I’m running out of things to shoot and the Rock Star has a long line, so maybe I’ll have to pass on that free ride that cost some complete stranger an unknown amount (a “complete”…….”unknown”? Hey, I could write a pretty decent song with those lyrics…………….and maybe even a movie script!).

Lotta work to do on Sunday………….all those pix and vids to edit from last night.

After dinner, I settled in to watch some TV, but I kept thinking about that Rock Star ride I never took…………that I still had the ticket for………….and that tonight’s the last night I might ever be able to use that ticket (assuming that it’s still usable the next day).

I didn’t want to be thinking “what if” forever and I really had no other pressing business that night.

It was pretty hot outside, so maybe the crowds might be thinner………and all the ads say it’s open until 11pm and it’s now almost 9pm and I’m willing to pay the extra $5 admission just to do this……………..so off I went just after 9pm.

I caught a red light at an intersection by the western entrance to the park and saw an electronic sign that alternated an arrow and a message directing you to the carnival. I took about 10 seconds of video of the sign before the light turned green and later got a decent still of both electronic messages from that video, put one on top of the other and got the image that leads off this post. Just thought you’d like to know where that came from.

When I got to the site, parking was pretty easy, so maybe the heat DID keep people away.

This just might work!

As I walked in, I couldn’t find any of the people who guide you to those Porta-payment machines. Is this a heat freebie?

But as I got further into the site, the only people I saw were tearing things down. I walked over to the Rock Star ride and asked some grumpy worker what was going on.

“CLOSED AT 9PM!”

“But the listed hours for Saturday and Sunday say 3pm-11pm.”

“9PM!!!” he snarled at me. I got the impression that he wasn’t up for any more questions.

 

Oh well……………..I tried.

 

Maybe next year (if my ticket’s still good).