Photographer captures eerie 'pyramids' in New York City

These sand dunes are the result of the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy, the deadly superstorm that swept through the New York area in October. While the storm has long since passed, many signs of its devastation remain. Photographer Stephane Missier, aka Charles le Brigand, captured these images of the otherworldly mounds on the Rockaways in Queens. By Claudine Zap

 

Believe it or not, this image, captured by photographer Stephane Missier, aka Charles le Brigand, was taken in New York City. The Brooklyn-based photographer, who keeps his camera on him at all times, came across the eerie landscape while biking to the Rockaways in Queens on Dec. 30, 2012.

 

When crossing the Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge by bike, the photographer, who had been documenting the area devastated by Hurricane Sandy, spotted the sand pyramids in the parking lot at Jacob Riis Park in Queens. He told Yahoo News in an email, "I knew the city was using the parking lot as a debris transfer site, but I wasn't expecting such an eerie landscape."

 

The photographer noted the odd shape of the sand dunes that reminded him of the "dark side of the moon," the Sahara and pre-Columbian pyramids. All of this, in New York City."

 

The 18 dunes, measuring about 30 feet tall, were made from sand from the surrounding streets that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. After taking shots of the striking sight, he was spotted by a sanitation officer who "asked me politely to leave."

 

The dunes are just one more sign of the magnitude of the cleanup involved in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

 

The storm ravaged the Rockaways, a peninsula that sits between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay.

 

Wind created wavy lines in the 30-foot sand dunes in the parking lot of Jacob Riis Park in Queens. 

 

The city is using the parking lot as a debris transfer site. Le Brigand noted, "There were all kinds of construction and hauling trucks on the site as well as generators, watch towers, and pole lights, so I really had the impression of being on another planet."