The MTA has taken its share of criticism from the community for not informing people in advance of asbestos work. Yesterday, it actually circulated, via the office of Council Member Bill de Blasio, and advance notice about “manhole abatement” work that will take place at the Fourth Avenue F Station after Labor Day. We assume […]

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This is one of many photos that hit our inbox yesterday of a horrid mess at 40 Berry Street in Williamsburg, where construction activity seems to have ruptured some underground oil tanks that were being removed. By yesterday afternoon the state Department of Environmental Conservation had checked out the spill, whose exact parameters are unknown. […]

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It’s always interesting to remember the heavy-duty industrial past in Williamsburg and the accidents that sometimes came along with it. A reader sent along a link to this 1908 New York Times story about a huge oil tank explosion at N. 13 and Kent that “resembled an earthquake…shaking houses for several blocks around” and “creating […]

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As we noted yesterday afternoon, the MTA sent out a reply via its Government and Community Relations staff downplaying the asbestos removal work that upset many Carroll Gardens residents over the weekend. The agency said that the work was done in a safe manner and that air monitoring showed acceptable levels of airborne contaminants. It […]

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New test wells have been drilled on N. 11th Street in Williamsburg across the street from the Roebling Oil Field. The latest wells are in front of 213, 215 and 217 N. 11th Street, which is across from the Roebling Oil Field/Roebling Oil Buildling. In July, the Department of Environmental Conservation hired a contractor to […]

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Have you ever wanted to call a place succulent? Well, now you can. Perhaps you’ve read about the Green Wall in Williamsburg. It was covered not long after installation in Dwell. Well, we figured we’d post these photos of the exterior wall of the new Williamsburg bar called Oulu, which is on N. 4th Street […]

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Here for your Sunday viewing pleasure are the vbs.tv Toxic Brooklyn episodes in one handy, easy-to-use embedded YouTube player. In case you haven’t seen them or want to see them again. All of the VBS “toxic” shows–on Brooklyn, Alberta (Canada) and West Virginia–are always available by clicking here.

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From time to time, we’re going to be checking in on our old, close friend, the Roebling Oil Building (formerly known as the Roebling Oil Field). Construction progress has been swift. There are buildings in Williamsburg that stay in the excavation and foundation stage for a year or more. Not our friend, however. This is […]

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We didn’t know there was a Wikipedia entry on the Roebling Oil Field until we got an email telling us that it had been deleted. So, we only know that an entry called “Williamsburg Oil Spill” is gone. What we find amusing, though, is some of the logic for killing it that was voiced by […]

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You may know the site next to the Ikea under construction in Red Hook that’s a former industrial area been partly reclaimed by wetlands vegetation. Harriet Zucker, who saved the Revere Sugar dogs, sent along these photos of an egret there, noting that the area “has become an urban sanctuary.” She wonders if anything can […]

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The Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced this morning that it is taking RFPs from developers interested in building on the extremely polluted Public Place site in Gowanus. Public Place will be a mixed-use development that will include at least 400 units of mixed-income housing, commercial space, community facilities and open space, including landscaped […]

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Thanks to Z. Madison for bringing this to our attention, as it had escaped us entirely: There is an E-Waste Drive going on in Carroll Gardens this weekend that has been organized by City Council Member Bill de Blasio. It’s another opportunity to dispose of unwanted computers, VCRs, cell phones and other unwanted electronic gear […]

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