Earlier this week, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would do some testing at sites along Newtown Creek that could lead to Superfund status for some cleanups. The agency would have to find high enough levels of contaminants to make the determination. Habitat Map has created a simple map that shows the three sites that will be tested: a National Grid property that was the site of a Manufactured Gas Plant, the location of a former Phelps Dodge Copper smelter and the site of the massive Exxon-Mobil oil spill. There are many other fascinating maps on the site if one looks around.

The latest Brooklyn raccoon sighting report (yes, we realize, there are a great many) is of interest because it comes from the Pacific Bears Garden, which and located at Pacific and Flatbush Avenue and would be a neighbor of the Atlantic Yards arena. Here’s an email on the Boerum Hill Group:

This from the Pacific Bears Garden (Pacific and Flatbush)…this last Saturday, just as things were winding down, we had a very special and unusual guest… A RACCOON!!!! No really, it wasn’t just the lushness talking, the critter tried to walk right in the Pacific Street gate!! We startled him, he ran down Pacific toward Flatbush then dashed through the fence into the garden. That’s a first.”

Maybe the little guy was looking for directions to the Target just up the street? (As a follow up, someone noted a backyard encounter with a raccoon on Warren Street between Bond and Nevins.)

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

· Beloved Brownsville Video Store Owner Killed in Robbery [NYDN]
· Bed-Stuy School Has 60 Parking Spaces, 47 Teachers [NYP]
· US Open? These Bed-Stuy Courts are Closed. [NYDN]
· Murdered Marine Park Lawyer Couple Were Broke [NYP]
· Does Six Mattresses Tossed Out at Once Mean Bedbugs? [McBrooklyn]
· A Documentary About Williamsburg’s Pigeon Keepers [Gothamist]
· Fourth Avenue Radusky Starts to Rise [Brownstoner]
· Will 360 Smith Developer be Jeered at Meeting Tonight? [Lost City]
· Annabelle is Very Cute & Needs a New Home [Bad Advice]
· I’m 50 Today (Happy Birthday) [OTBKB]
· Green Church Update [Bay Ridge Journal]
· IKEA = Bad IDEA? [NIMBY Brooklyn]
· The Old Stone House 222 Years Ago [Brooklynometry]

“Our bills are always astronomical because we have a huge poorly insulated wooden house; if the bill from BUG/Keyspan/”National Grid” arrived saying “One gazillion dollars,” we would just sit glassy-eyed and pay it. HOWEVER, on a related topic, a neighbor reports that her husband was almost menaced by a nasty Grid representative IN PERSON bitching about their paying their bill late (which they hadn’t) and threatening to turn off their gas. Anyone else heard of thuggish collection tactics from the Gridsters? Under Keyspan, all that happened if you paid your bill late was that you got a second notice with a little pink reply envelope instead of the usual blue one…”–Gas Pains: Are “Insane” National Grid Bills a Fluke or Pattern?

Remember the A&S Pork Store, which we first reported on July 14 appeared to be on the verge of closure because its rent was going up a lot? The closure took on extra meaning because it’s the last surviving butcher shop in Park Slope. Well, the store is going to survive. A Special GL Correspondent found the sign in the window in the photo above that had been put so recently that the tape still wasn’t fully adhered to the glass. It would appear that the joy of sausage fans could be the pain of martial arts fans, as the address listed for the new location is that of a martial arts academy between Second Street and Third Street on Fifth Avenue. That sound you hear? It’s fans of A&S Pork rejoicing because a neighborhood store they know and love isn’t going extinct for a change. You saw & heard it here first.

The Red Hook Vendors will be celebrating the long weekend by staying open on Labor Day. We got an email from Ceasar Fuentes asking us to help spread the word, which we’re glad to do. Mr. Fuentes writes: “I wanted to share some last-minute good news with you in advance of our broad public announcement later on! The Food vendors have decided to extend their operation through Labor Day Monday, Sept 1st.” Monday could be a very nice day for a trip to Red Hook.–GL Inbox

The march of the new buildings on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope and Gowanus continues. This is 455 Fourth Avenue, a building which has a little bit of an interesting history. It was originally supposed to be a Robert Scarano building, but the embattled architect was eventually replaced by Armand Quadrini of KSQ Architects (who also replaced Mr. Scarano on the controversial 360 Smith project (which has a Dead of August hearing before a Community Board 6 Land Use Committee meeting as part of the developer’s planned appeal to the Board of Standards and Appeals). In any case, this building at the corner at Carroll and Fourth Ave., which is across the street from a tall and thin rental building from Bricolage Designs and Henry Radusky is will clock in at 12 stories with 41 units. It has been going up pretty quickly.

Click through to see the Scarano & Quadrini rendering side-by-side.

“The Argyle condo on Fourth Avenue in Gowanus is finally starting to look like building. After a slow start, Argyle has added floors in both the front and back and has reached eight floors. In recent weeks, has actually become visible above the lower buildings around it….It bills itself as being in Park Slope, and its sales office is on Fifth Avenue in the Slope, but it is resolutely on the Gowanus side of the Fourth Avenue Dividing Line. Streeteasy shows 15 units, priced from $475K-$965K still on the market, and 33 as having been sold.”–Curbed

This Obama poster has been up a couple of times on N. 6 Street in Williamsburg and was returned most recently after having been badly torn up and tagged up. It’s part of our own little Brooklyn angle on the Democratic Presidential Nominee’s acceptance speech.

A long time ago, when developer Joe Sitt bought the Revere Sugar Plant property in Red Hook, it was said that the plan was to build a BJ’s Wholesale Club there. It could be coming to pass. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says the developer and the big box retailer are very close to an agreement on the property that used to be the site of the iconic Revere Dome. The land is adjacent to the new Ikea and has been used for overflow parking. BJ’s would require a rezoning which could, in turn, lead to an interesting rezoning fight.–Brooklyn Paper

[Photo courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn]

This wall mural in the Atlantic Yards footprint in Prospect Heights has been up for a while, but given that today is the today that Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination and that GL Contributor Adrian Kinloch tossed it our way, we think it’s pretty on topic for 28 August, 2008.

If you answered “a Robert Scarano-designed condo” you win the prize, even though, to us, it sounds like the name of a scary bug. Alvora is in Prospect Park South and one of the buyers there has started a new blog called 34 Crooke Avenue to write about the building, neighborhood and other subjects.–Curbed

[Photo courtesy of weenieart/GL Flickr Pool]

This is Mr. Softee up close in a photo taken at an undisclosed location in Brooklyn.

Outside the Brooklyn Weather Observatory the sun is shining, but there could be a lot of clouds around today at points. The forecast calls for variably cloudy skies and a high of 77. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low of 64.–Accuweather

This really cool artwork is currently appearing on an old industrial building between N. 9 and N. 10 Street on Roebling in Williamsburg. We’re not sure about the artist, but have faith that someone knows.

Is it us, or are the Park Slope Street Couches that we encounter often in much better shape than their Williamsburg, Greenpoint and other counterparts? In any case, this tan leather beauty that was hauled out as trash comes from Sixth Street near Prospect Park. There was a box spring sitting next to it, but we all know about street beds. Well, street couches too, for that matter.

The former storefront on Seventh Avenue that we reported on a couple of weeks ago via a Special Neighborhood Correspondent is going to be a Brooklyn branch of the footwear mini-chain Eric. The main branch is on Third Avenue at E. 76 Street. And so, the former Seventh Avenue Block of Death between Second and Third Streets, which had four empty storefronts this winter and spring is or will be occupied by Barrio, Carmen’s Exclusives for Children, Kids Rx and Eric. Case closed until something else closes or moves.

This is what Bay Ridge’s Green Church, which is being demolished so that condos can be built, and the old building replaced with a new one, looked like yesterday afternoon, after removal of stained glass windows started. Bay Ridge Journal, which has been following the story closely, writes of the photo above, which it posted: “the stained glass window lights above the doors were removed today and replaced with sheets of plywood cobbed together.” The blog adds: “All of these changes occurred today, and confirm that interior demolition is underway at the Green Church. It is expected that work will resume tomorrow morning. According to Committee sources, DOB has not issued an interior demolition permit for 7002 Fourth Avenue.”

These two curious neighbors on N. 8 Street in Williamsburg, at 203 and 205, between Driggs and Roebling have either been moving slowly or not at all since last year. Number 205, which is to the right, would be a six-story building with five units and we’ve found the trailer the building has had since last winter an interesting touch. Meanwhile, number 203 would be a seven-story building with nine units. It’s had a Stop Work Order since January, which was partially lifted to do “exploratory soil investigation,” which sounds rather ominous. We can’t recall exactly when work on the buildings started, but it was sometime within the last 12-24 months.

Here’s an interesting email that we found on the BoCoCa Parents group concerned what the writer alleges are dirty conditions at a local spot for kids called the NY City Explorers located at 388 Atlantic Ave. Here is the email:

This has been bothering me for quite some time since I emailed the owners to inquire about the cleaning schedule and standards at NYC Explorers and got absolutely no response.

I had been there for a birthday party once before and had fun, so I recently purchased a 10-pack play pass. I took my son over a month ago on a weekend to play, and a childless girlfriend of mine tagged along. The place was absolutely filthy, so much so that my friend commented on it. You could feel the grainy floor beneath your bare feet, which felt like it hadn’t been swept/Swiffered/mopped/whatever in weeks. Needless to say our feet were black with dirt when we left! There were a ton of broken toys (including 2 out of 3 strollers), dolls, pillows and carpets that looked completely ragged and dirty, and stained chair upholstery in desperate need of a shampoo.

What’s more, broken toys are not safe.

Yes, the Pool Parties are McCarren Pool are but a memory (and about 100,000 Flickr photos), but the final Missed Connection they produced may be the best. It’s so good, we can’t let it sit until the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend when so many people won’t be paying attention:

Orville Redenbacher IV at Yo La Tengo show – w4m – 20

You: A cross between Orville Redenbacher and a Little Rascal. Clad entirely in white and bowtied. Tightly wound curls I’d like to sift through with my fingers. Maybe get them stuck in your locks. You rocked out to Yo La Tengo. Let’s rendezvous. I want your popcorn in my mouth. Let’s be popcorn rulers of Brooklyn.

It simply doesn’t get any better than that.

[Photo courtesy of brianvan/Flickr]

The residents of Carroll Gardens that oppose the current planned height of 360 Smith (aka Oliver House) are not going to let the building slip through an appeal to the Board of Standards and Appeals without a fight. The building was stopped when a “Narrow Streets” Zoning Text Amendment was approved this summer. Among other things it limited the height of new construction to 55 feet on narrow “place” blocks where the building is located rather than the planned 70 feet. The building’s foundation was not complete enough to be “vested” under the old zoning and so the developer is appealing to the BSA. The first step in that process is the hearing by the CB6 Land Use Committee, which will take place (as we have previously noted) during one a week when many people are out of town, right before Labor Day Weekend and on the night that Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination. While we don’t know why residents haven’t protested the timing of the meeting, although many are angry about it. One suggested to us that the timing was deliberate to try to diminish community opposition that might exist if the hearing were held after Labor Day, and complained that notification of the meeting was especially short given the time of year. Nonetheless, residents are doing their best to makes sure that the people that are around find out about it. (They also circulated a letter people could send to voice their opposition to granting the building an exemption.) The photo above comes from one of our devoted special correspondents helping us keep a late summer eye on goings on around Carroll Gardens.

[Photo courtesy of nycrouge/GL Flickr Pool]

The Brooklyn Bridge Park “Pop-Up Park” on Pier One, which opened in June when Olafur Eliasson’s waterfalls were turned on, will be open for an extended period:

More than 140,000 have visited Brooklyn’s latest hot spot for its café, picnic tables, benches, sandbox, and magnificent views of New York Harbor and “The New York City Waterfalls.” The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy are pleased to announce the extension of Summer ’08 @ Pier One! Since opening to the public on June 26, more than 140,000 people have visited the temporary park on Pier 1, located in the future Brooklyn Bridge Park. Due to its success, this summer’s interim park, which includes spectacular views of New York Harbor, will remain open to the public through September 28.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation will begin actual park construction of Pier 1 after the closing of the interim “pop-up” park. This new section of Brooklyn Bridge Park will include over 1,200 linear feet of new waterfront promenade along the East River, 6 acres of lawn with spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge and New York Harbor, plus a new children’s playground…The 26,000 square foot site, designed by landscape architect Susannah Drake’s dlandstudio, extends 315 feet out onto the East River and offers picture-perfect views of the Manhattan skyline. Visitors can also observe construction of the larger Brooklyn Bridge Park through a transparent safety fence at the western edge of Pier 1, and renderings and descriptions illustrating the future park’s design which are displayed throughout the site.

So, another month left.

The mural that a group of young people from Groundswell have been painting this summer at Fourth Avenue and Sackett Street is completed and the scaffolding has come down in the last day or so. The mural is about water conservation and the environment and is painted on the side of a building adjoining a city water station. The use of the property is a longstanding community issue, but the plan is (eventually) for a community garden. The property is an access point to critical water tunnels that are beneath it. The Creative Times blog had a nice post earlier in August about the young people creating the community mural.

We didn’t know that someone was making a Save Coney Island documentary, but now we do. We came across this trailer on Kinetic Carnival. The wording on YouTube, where it was posted on Monday, says: “When Thor Equities, an infamous real-estate company, threatens to build condominiums on Coney Island’s core amusements, Amos Wengler, the troubadour, must keep the spirit of Coney Island alive with a song before all the memories fade forever. The life, spirit and essence of Coney Island explode on the screen as the film explores the inter-dynamics of Coney Island’s social life. Enjoy the trailer and check out the music video.”