

Photo by Chris Arnade

Photographer Chris Arnade has been documenting the faces of addiction in Hunts Point for quite some time, and recently was there with... his telescope. He writes, "I have forgotten how wonderful it can be to show someone the rings of Saturn for the first time. Or the craters in the moon. I had my telescope in my car and Takeesha and Deja had seen neither. Sometimes people are disappointed, growing up seeing images from the space telescope. Not these two. They loved it. We got the oddest looks."

He told us this morning that "Takeesha was particularly excited, especially about the rings of saturn. Honestly was not much different from anybody else who I have shown who is smart and curious. I found the reaction of the johns more interesting. They would slow down and just stare out their cars. Takeesha would shout at them, 'Hey, you want your dick sucked or you want to look at Saturn?' She has a great sense of humor that way."

Arnade also noted that he used to be an "astronomy nut," with a small telescope guiding him through the sky from a cow pasture... "what an odd journey to end up in Hunts Point with a much larger telescope." He'll now be setting it up there "about twice a month, to show the neighborhood kids, adults, etc."