A lot of photos from the Conflux Festival in Williamsburg have make their way onto flickr. Amusingly, a photo of street art pictured above was sent to Curbed yesterday along with an email saying that its placement was dangerous and that it was “dark, negative art.” In fact, the developer asked why it couldn’t be a “bright yellow sun and blue birds singing.” In any case, you can find 1,132 “conflux” tagged photos posted to flickr by clicking here.

Okay, so it’s not signage, per se. Nonetheless, this walk/don’t walk signal that we found hanging at Kent Avenue and Metropolitan was certainly deeply compromised. Must have been quite the bad turn by a truck that caused it, although it certainly looks like they were unscrewed.

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 do an independent investigation to identify the source of oil contamination. Officials still aren’t certain of the source of the oil, although it is believed to be “localized.” Preliminary test results that are known have shown that “free product” is still present underground.

Residents and neighborhood activists have complained of difficulty obtaining information from DEC and of getting any of the consultant’s environmental reports, including test results from wells that have been previously drilled. GL obtained a Department of Environmental Spill Report dated June 13 that summarizes DEC’s oversight and interactions with the PW Grosser environmental consulting firm that has been hired by the developer to oversee the problem and the cleanup and to conduct testing. (The Department of Environmental Conservation has not done any direct testing.) Among other things, the report showed that two gallons of “product” was recovered from one of the test wells previously drilled, indicating continued presence of oil underground near the McCarren Park Mews condo development. In addition, on May 10, “BTEX,” which is an acronym that stands for Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes was found in test wells on Roebling Street, although the concentrations are not indicated. (The test wells have been drilled in the street and sidewalk around the Roebling Oil Field/Roebling Oil Building.) The report also indicates that, in April, water from a rainstorm from the contaminated site was pumped directly into the sewer system although a state official noted that “no sheen/evidence of oil was observed during my visit.” No testing has been conducted to determine if vapors associated with oil or gasoline are present in the basement of neighboring buildings, including a condo across the street.

Meanwhile, Department of Environmental Conservation officials at one point this summer were themselves complaining of difficulty obtaining information from the environmental consultant. In mid-June, an official noted the department was having “a hard time” getting test “official” test results.

No word on when more test results or those from the brand new test wells will be available or available to the public.

We went over to the Roebling Oil Building, aka 204 N. 11th Street in Williamsburg, yesterday morning to get some photos of new test wells that have been drilled. As a bonus, we discovered a Sunday Construction Symphony coming from inside. (For a long time last fall, as the builders rushed to get the building into the ground, Sunday work was so commonplace we assumed the building had a Sunday work permit–which it does not.) No workers were visible from the street yesterday, but we certainly heard them and the fruits of their labor, and so can you, below.

[Photo courtesy of Klopaze/flickr]

An estimated 10,000 people came to the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday to stroll around the booths set up by publishers and book sellers, let alone take in the readings and panel discussions. We’ve posted a photo above from Klopaze’s photoset posted to flickr. You can check out a all the Brooklyn Book Festival tagged photos here. There’s also a story about the Fest in today’s Metro. McBrooklyn also has a report and, we’re certain there are more blog posts to come later today.

You can set your watch on Sunday to the start of construction work at 525 Union Avenue in Williamsburg. It as reliable as the church bells ringing at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church next door. We will give the construction workers credit for being more quiet than usual this weekend, but they were out there again. Needless to say, 525 Union does not have a permit for after-hours work. Also, needless to say, the Department of Buildings had shown absolutely no interest in stopping Sunday work at the building. At least one local resident has told us multiple times that calls to DOB officials about the problem have been ignored and messages have not been returned. Hint to DOB inspectors: Go to 525 Union Avenue on any Sunday morning. Go after 1030AM. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. On the other hand, we don’t know why the Department would show interest in this particular building as it seems to have utterly no interest in the problem of illegal Sunday construction work anywhere in Williamsburg or Greenpoint. The problem is widespread. For instance, like the work going on at the Roebling Oil Building, a couple of blocks away.

Every neighborhood has some special spots that attract an inordinate number of taggers. One of Park Slope’s is a building at the corner of Prospect Park West and Ninth Street. Not the entire building, mind you, but some stairs on Prospect Park West. They’ve been tagged and repainted and tagged and repainted and…well, you understand the cycle. The latest tagging, which has accumulated after a repainting from white to gray over the summer, has taken a turn for the satanic. We’re unclear as to when the next paint job is scheduled so the taggers can start from scratch again.

The image upon which you are gazing is 149 Newell Street, which is in Greenpoint near McGuinness Boulevard. It was taken and filed by our Greenpoint correspondent, who noted that this lovely structure is doing wonders for the quality of life on the block. “This place has been derelict for months,” she write. “Could you imagine having to look at this eyesore every day? Looking at that gutter just hanging there unnerves me to no end. YIKES!” The building has left a trail of complaints at the Department of Buildings, the most recent of which is just a few days old. It complains of “inadequate suspension scaffold” and “cable and ropes hanging” and that “contractors are building condominiums and the site is abandoned. Left abandoned about several months ago.” The property is owned by Green Real Estate Development and the building permit expired in June.

Here’s a little before & after action at the corner of Bond and Union Streets in Gowanus. The building is still on the market, we believe, for $12 million, but it’s currently occupied by the Iyyun Center for Jewish Enrichment, which accounts for the makeover. Very striking shade green they selected. Ariella Cohen had a story in the Brooklyn Paper a few weeks ago on the new tenants. The building is on a prime site for development after Gowanus is rezoned.

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images.

• Brooklyn Book Fest [Metro]
• Society for Clinton Hill General Meeting on 9-20 [No Land Grab]
• Skate Park Could be Part of Steeplechase Plaza in Coney [NYDN]
• Coney Island Lager Video [Kinetic Carnival]
• Advertising Affordable Homes (in Georgia) in Brooklyn [AYR]
• Cranberry Street Fair Needs You [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
• Dumbo Weekly Links [Dumbo NYC]
• Weedy Gowanus Lot [Velvet Sea]
• Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Invite [Pardon Me for Asking]
• The Old Neighborhood [Erica’s Blog]
• Gerritsen Beach Blog Turns One [GerristenBeach.Net]
• Big Brooklyn Windows [Big Sky Brooklyn]
• End on One Hicks Street, Beginning of Another [Esthetic/Aesthetic]
• Brooklyn Hate Crime Trial Starts Today [Sun]

If you want to get the lowdown on what’s going on in Gowanus and find out what some very involved residents are thinking about it, then we recommend the monthly meeting of Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, aka FROGG. FROGG’s having its monthly get together on Tuesday, 9/18. It takes place at the restaurant Smith & Vine, the wine shop, which is located at 268 Smith Street. The meeting starts at 6:30PM.

These “It’s the Law, Clean Up…” signs, which are quite old, provide endless material for photos of really messed up street signage. On some, like this Williamsburg specimen, you can actually see layers of tags and stickers from over the years.

Yes, the weekend’s just over, but here’s a music fest to put on your calendar for next weekend. It’s the Brooklynbretta Music Festival, which was started in 2006 by White Shoe Records and Brooklynbretta, the scooter shop. It will take place on Saturday, September 22 from Noon to Nine at 644 Sackett Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenue. Click on over to 423 Smith, which posted all the details last week.

In a move that is certain to change the activity patterns of hundreds, if not thousands, of Park Slope children, parents and nannies, the Third Street Playground is closing for long-planned renovations tomorrow. The renovated playground will have new safety surfaces, improved drainage and new water features. The work was actually originally planned for spring and summer; it is expected to be completed in late fall or early winter. The playground is near the Third Street & Prospect Park West entrance to the park.

The playground is one of a number in the park getting overhauls. Renovations were recently completed at the Parade Ground Playground, which is at the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Parade Place near E. 16th Street. A redesign of the Vanderbilt Street Playground, which is located at the Vanderbilt Street & Prospect Park SW entrance is currently in the design stage.

This week’s Brooklyn Craigslist Missed Connection comes to us from Bushwick. It’s got a certain something:

mckibbin lofts roof party the cops broke up – w4m – 22

NYU Philosophy student! I was talking to you on the upper roof deck Friday night. I threw a beer can before climbing down. I’m a girl (duh), shortish brown hair, recent Columbia grad, trying to be a writer. The fucking cops got me and I had to follow them downstairs to get my bullshit summons. You seemed nice and I thought you were cute. You must be smart too, cause you got away from the goddamn police. Email me!

We usually only pick one Missed Connection a week, but we’re going to toss in this runner up. We didn’t select it because it’s not strictly a Missed Connection, but it did get a ha ha out of us:

Alexei the Russian who I found passed out on a car… – w4m

I lent you some shoes after I took you home and let you sleep on my couch. You had no idea where you lived, and already had your shoes, watch, and phone stolen…I was a good samaritan…GIVE ME MY SHOES BACK!!!!!

You were supposed to call me and arrange to drop them off…

SHOE STEALER!

And, now, we are complete.

We knew there was something odd about the street art that popped up around the building going in next to 55 Berry in Williamsburg last week. Something about it told us the material on N. 10th and N. 11th Streets wasn’t a standard installation of street art, but we had no idea what it was and did not have time to check it out, so we put the pics aside. Now, thanks to Jake Dobkin at Gothamist, who is one of the Number One authorities on the city’s street art scene–and what’s legit and what’s not–the mystery is solved: the developer paid artists for the work. You can draw your own conclusions about whether it’s an attempt to make the scaffolding look nice or to get some coolness points from the art. You can read the full explanation over at Gothamist.

Every week, we take highlight a few comments left behind by GL readers during the previous week. Here are this week’s choices:

Subway “Potty Time” on the Way to the Park Slope Food Coop “Would she do the same with her incontinent grandmother? When my bundle of joy arrives, I do solemnly swear that the little squirt will NOT be wagging his willy in public no matter how urgent the need. I also swear to NEVER use “just wait ’til you have kids” as an excuse. Personally, I’m OK with public nudity. It’s the urinating that, er, pisses me off. What if that cute red bowl were to spill if the subway lurched as she was holding the kid?” [Dope on the Slope]

Subway “Potty Time,” Continued “wait, can someone explain to me why he couldn’t just go in his diaper, which was about to be changed anyways? and who the fuck carries around a portable toilet in their bag? guess she’s never heard Erykah Badu’s ‘Bag Lady.” That being said, some of us are NOT too ‘self-absorbed’ to notice this kind of behavior. If the child is still wearing diapers, that’s the only place he should be pissing. Save the portable potty business for your home.” [Anonymous]

Gowanus Whole Foods Delayed Until ’09 “to HELL with the green shit already, let them build so I can buy their gosh damned food!!! The site is a shit hole–you want to keep it that way?” [Anonymous]

Carroll Gardens Developer Addresses the ‘Scarano Issue’ “When a position doesn’t pass the ‘sniff test’, responsibility should clearly be borne by both the architect and developer. When a ‘3 story’ building clearly looks like a 6 story building, alarm bells should ring. The regulatory failures he cites, are incorrect as they were caused by Scarano’s ability to self-certify, which have been revoked. Mr. Stein is doing the best job he can, defending someone who has caused untold harm to the industry, by being the most egregious culprit of advantage-taking and rule-bending.” [Anonymous]

Brooklinks is a daily selection of Brooklyn-related information and images.

• Life at the Park Slope C-Town [NYT]
• Peregrin Falcons in Cadman Plaza? [A Brooklyn Bachelor]
• Bed-Stuy Eyesore No One Cares About [Bed-Stuy Blog]
• Awful Murder-Suicide in Bay Ridge [NYT]
• Bay Ridge Residents Call for End to War [Right in Bay Ridge]
• Bushwick Apartment Roundup [Bushwick BK]
• The Flatbush Frolic Is Today [Living in Victorian Flatbush]
• Sustainable Flatbush at Flatbush Frolic [OTBKB]
• Weekend Construction Site Du Jour: 90 Guernsey [newyorkshitty]
• Recchia Rising? [Brooklyn Streets]
• Clinton Hill Gentrification in 1987 [Clinton Hill Blog]
• Weekend Open Houses [Kensington Brooklyn]
• Skittles^© Infused Vodka? [Brooklyn Nester]

Here are a few vids from the Conflux Festival from the YouTube, which continues in Williamsburg today, with our event to watch being the Slow 5K in McCarren Park starting at noon. Only one or two of the vids are from this year’s fest so far.

On a Rainy Day, Brooklyn
[Photo Courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studios]

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

We are in deep debt to our Greenpoint correspondent for this image, which certainly captures a certain something about the flavor of the weekend that is in progress. This comes from the Fur Suit Portrait Paint-Off last night at the Jack the Pelican gallery in Williamsburg. It is but one of the many interesting images that will no doubt be available, given that the Conflux Festival is also going on all weekend. Ah, the weekend.

Brooklyn neighborhood groups are upset that the state has not followed through on a number of promises concerning the Atlantic Yards development, even though site demolition and preparation work are moving forward. Prime among the complaints is the fact that an ombudsman to handle problems has not been appointed. So, the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, which was involved in doing some of the most comprehensive analysis of the massive environmental review documents of the project, is going to be holding a media event on Monday, Sept. 17 at Pacific Street and Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights to demand the state Empire State Development Corporation “honor the promises it has made and answer crucial questions about the safety of the residents of Prospect Heights during the Atlantic Yards project construction preparation.”

The Council’s Eric McClure, a founder of Park Slope Neighbors, says that “132 days ago the ESDC pledged to hire an Ombudsman to represent Community concerns and problems during the Atlantic Yards preparation and construction…What’s the holdup on keeping their word to the Community?”

According to an email blast from the Council, “The ESDC has repeatedly rebuffed offers from the Community to participate proactively. They haven’t responded to numerous complaints about problems that have already occurred. What, exactly, is the problem? Given the recent track record of ESDC projects, including the disastrous fire at the Deutsche Bank building in lower Manhattan, these are life and death questions.”

We will simply note that there has already been one structural collapse on the site for which the developer has been faulted and that, overall, construction problems that threaten public safety and that violate quality of life exist at epidemic proportions at developments throughout Brooklyn and New York City.

[Photo courtesy of Tracy Collins/flickr]

The 7th Annual Coney Island Film Festival is coming up soon, from September 28-30. It will take place at Sideshows By The Seashore and The Coney Island Museum, which are located at W. 12th Street and Surf Avenue. The opening night screening is American Scary at 7:30PM on Friday, Sept. 28, followed by an opening night party at 9:30. Here’ some of the PR from the festival organizers:

Documentaries about New York Mets fans, The Cinema of Transgression, Indian Larry, Horror Film TV Hosts, Cult filmmakers, Coney Island Circus Sideshows Scott Baker!, The History of Vaudeville, Circus Amok, the amazing 1977 documentary Coney Island Cyclone plus more!

A special Screening of The Warriors!, Horror films, a hip hop program, music videos, animated films, dramas, experimental films, films shot at Coney Island, comedys, family films!

The Coney Island Film Festival is as diverse as the neighborhood it represents.

And of course you don’t want to miss our opening night party featuring burlesque, sideshow performances and an included open bar (booze and beer) for only $25 dollars (21 and over) You never know who might show up at this party…

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE TO AVOID SHOWS SELLING OUT. There is no extra ticket charge fee (like Ticketmaster etc.) for advance ticket sales. Most screenings are only $6!

The entire schedule can be found by clicking here and you can go here to buy tickets.

[Photo courtesy of Gary Mirabelle/Mirabelle Studio]

Photos:

• Gowanus Autumn Standard View [Bluejake]
• Bay Ridge Freight Line Heavy Metal [Gowanus/flickr]
• Red Hook Grain Terminal and Baseball Game [seriously excited!]
• Goodnight Astroland Desktop [Brit in Brooklyn]
• Fire Hydrant Fun [Park Slope Street Photography]
• Splinter [Lex’s Folly]
• Greenpoint Coffeehouse [Erin Sheehan/flickr]

Not Photos:

• Nets CEO Predicts Arena Groundbreaking in Next Two Months? [AYR]
• A Tree Dies in Brooklyn [No Land Grab]
• Save Coney Island Meeting [Kinetic Carnival]
• Housing Sales Starting to Fall in Brooklyn Sub-Prime Neighborhoods [Crains]
• Help Us Find the Siding-est Street in Greenpoint [newyorkshitty]
• At Least It Wasn’t Kiddie Poo [Brooklynometry]
• 18 Bedford Gets Interesting [A Test of Will]
• Five New Myrtle Restaurants in Five Weeks [Myrtle Minutes]
• Third Street Organic Grape Harvest [OTBKB]
• Local Yokel [Greenpointers]
• Brooklyn Surrogate Judge Race Gets Hot [NYT]