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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent an update to residents in the Vinegar Hill area announcing that the “site characterization of a former manufactured gas holder station”, located on Front Street will begin in the fall of 2010.

According to the mailer (PDF alert 1.3mb), the former holder station is located on Front Street in the block bounded by Front, York, Bridge and Gold Streets (map above):

Site Description
“The Site was operated as a gas storage and distribution facility from the late 1800s to the 1930s. No gas was manufactured at the Site. Gas was manufactured at other facilities in Brooklyn and delivered to the Front Street Holder Station through a network of underground pipes. The gas was provided to homes, businesses and industries and used in much the same way natural gas is used today.”

Site Characterization
The principal contamination targeted by the site characterization is coal tar, which is the primary by-product associated with manufactured gas sites. Coal tar is a brownish to black liquid with an odor similar to driveway sealer. It contains a variety of environmental contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX).

Background
In 2007, National Grid (then KeySpan) entered into a consent order with the NYSDEC that requires Natioanl Grid to investigate, and where necessary, remediate former gas manufacturing and storage sites. The former Front St. site is one of the storage sites that are included in the consent order.

In the fall of 2010, National Grid will begin a site characterization to determine whether any contamination related to the former gas storage operation exists in the soil or groundwater beneath the Site. Site characterization activities will include drilling of soil borings, installation of groundwater monitoring wells, and collection of soil and water samples for chemical analysis. All work will be done under the oversight of NYSDEC and the NYSDOH.

The area includes addresses such as 206 Front Street, 218 Front Street (Joy Foot International Inc. Import/Export/Wholesale business warehouse), 181 York Street and 185 York Street (pic).

Additional information on manufactured gas is found at dec.ny.gov/chemical/8430.html.

{181 York Street Rentals On the Market, 11May2010}
{181 York Street Update, 16Feb2009}
{New Residents, How’s 206 Front Street?, 20Jul2007}

(Photo credit: Jane Kratochvil)

Two Trees Management and Dalzell Productions announced that artist Sean Capone is the Grand Prize winner of this year’s Dumbo Arts Festival for his work, Floral Wall: Skull & Void (photo above), a video installation at the Tobacco Warehouse. Mr. Capone received a donated studio in a building owned by Two Trees, free of rent, for one year, and was presented with a $1,000 dollar check, both courtesy of Two Trees Management Co.

(Photo credit: Josh Derr)

Additional winners were Seth Wulsin, who won $1,000 cash prize for his work, Animas (photo above) and artists Ann Gilman and Dana Levy, who each received $500, splitting a prize for their open studio work.

Congratulations to the winners!

When: Saturday, October 2, 4-6pm
Where: Main Street between Water and Plymouth Street, Dumbo Brooklyn

Below are a few images from this past weekend’s Dumbo Arts Festival 2010 by contributors to the DumboNYC Flickr pool.

(Photo by Josh Derr)

(Photo by Josh Derr)

(Photo by Greg Vision)

(Photo by Jane Kratochvil)

(Photo by Josh Derr)

(Photo by ad454)

(Photo by Jane Kratochvil)

Thank you to all who contributed to the DumboNYC Flickr pool! Add your photo(s) to the pool.

In addition to The Dumbo Arts Festival (today is the last day – studio hours generally until 6pm), the Atlantic Antic Street Festival is today, Sunday, from 10am – 6pm on Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue. Also, don’t forget about the Dumbo Dance Festival at John Ryan Theater (25 Jay Street) through today.

The following are selected links from this past week on blogs and websites with discussion about Dumbo (and its neighboring areas):

• TONY on Brooklyn Heights, 24Sep10, Ink Lake
• Q & A with Artist CAM, 23Sep10, MindBodyGreen
• Q & A with Joan Zimmerman of FFLA, 20Sep10, TRD
• Dumbo Guide in Time Out, 23Sep10, TONY
• Walking Around the Dumbo Arts Fest, 26Sep10, Dumbo Books
• Dumbo Arts Fest, 26Sep10, blambloozers
• Brooklyn Economy Doing Great, 21Sep10, Brownstoner
• Brooklyn Bridge Park’s First Summer, 22Sep10, Brownstoner
• Dumbo Arts Festival For Families, 21Sep10, A Child Grows
• Bailout Boosts Dumbo Arts Festival, 21Sep10, NYO
• DUMBO Hosts Annual Arts Festival, 24Sep10, NY1
• Angelo Dance Project Debut at DUMBO Dance Fest, 23Sep10, CultureMob
• The Skinny: DUMBO Arts Fest Brings Art/Music/Dance, 23Sep10, HuffPost
• Miami Ad School’s New Dumbo Location, 22Sep10, MediaBistro
• Galapagos to host “Brooklyn’s Got Character” Sept 27, 22Sep10, BKPaper
• ‘New Brooklyn Cookbook’ To Launch in DUMBO, 24Sep10, BK Eagle
• Fest visit a no-brainer, 24Sep10, NYP
• Brooklyn Bridge Park Housing?, 22Sep10, NYP
• Driving Around Metrotechto Get Easier, 24Sep10, Brownstoner
• NYU Local’s Recommendations in Dumbo, 22Sep10, NYULocal
• DUMBO Arts Fest bigger, better than ever, 22Sep10, YourNabe

Starting today, Friday, Sept 24, the Dumbo Arts Festival begins its annual three day celebration of music, art, dance, and media (in Dumbo Brooklyn, of course). The neighborhood-wide event is the largest festival of the year for Dumbo where artists use every area of Dumbo as a canvas to display their artwork. This is the 14th year of the festival.

According to the event organizers, the neighborhood will be open to visitors from around NYC and the world to showcase over 500 artists, 100+ artists’ studios, 50+ galleries and stages, and 100+ programming partners. There are too many to list here, but please see dumboartsfestival.com for the listings and information about the event.

As in past years, the best way to experience the Dumbo Arts Festival is walking around the neighborhood and explore the streets, lobbies, storefronts, galleries, the river front, and participate in the interactive art exhibits. Newly added this year are kid-specific events and activities for families. For more info on the family events, go to dumboartsfestival.com/family and mommypoppins.com.

{2010 Dumbo Arts Festival Announced, 10May2010}
{DumboNYC Archives for Dumbo Arts Festival}

With inspiration drawn from the classic 1920’s New York City infused with the new beat of 2010, the night will feature work from local artists, a live brass band, a burlesque act, jewelry giveaways, dancing and drink specials!

What: The Brass Underground (Speakeasy Friday)
When: Friday, September 24th from 10pm to 4am
Where: No. 1 Front Street, Corner of Front St & Old Fulton, Brooklyn, 11201

Art gallery featuring local artists…

• Gene Davidov (Custom Jewelry)
• Genesis Tramaine (Painting)
• Danny Tinajero (Painting)
• Thomas Beddoe (Painting)
• Janet Gonzalez (Photography)
• Charly Joaquin Dominguez (Painting)

Live music performance by Underground Horns. A burlesque act by Voodoo Onyx and “her shimmy potion!”

Dance tunes provided all night long, courtesy of DJ Henry C!

Absolut Vodka and beer specials with a FREE bottle of champagne for parties of 10!

WHITE WAVE’s DUMBO Dance Festival (running concurrently with the Dumbo Arts Festival) includes performances from 87 choreographers and 450 performers at John Ryan Theater (25 Jay Street) from September 24th-26th. All performances are presented FREE/pay-what-you-will.companies all weekend.

In addition to Main Stage performances at the WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater, the Festival will include site-specific performances throughout DUMBO including shows at different spots at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1. More info on scheduling and performance sites can be found here.

WHITE WAVE (www.whitewavedance.com)
25 Jay Street, Suite 100, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Filming today and tomorrow (9/23-24) between 8am (Thursday) and 6am (Friday) is a commercial for the video game, Rock Band 3, due for release on October 26, 2010 (the game, not the commercial). The filming is on Plymouth Street (between Adams and Jay Streets), Pearl Street (between John and Water Streets), and Adams Streets (between John and Plymouth Streets).

As mentioned in August, Washington Street a new sewer was being installed as part of the overall renovation project in Dumbo. Since it’s been 5 weeks since work on Washington Street began, we contacted the Community Construction Liaison who provided this update:

“The contractor has completed the installation of the sewer on Washington Street almost to York street and is in progress backfilling the street. The contractor still has to tie in the sewer across York Street, which will start tomorrow. I don’t know exactly how long that will take, there is a lot of traffic through that intersection…Because of some unforeseen field conditions, this work has taken longer than was anticipated. Estimated completion time now looks like around the 15th of October if no more unforeseen field condition arise. I will keep you posted if there are any changes. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Meanwhile, the excavation and installation of the new 15″ sewer and 36″ trunk water main on Water Street between Main Street and Washington Street is ongoing. The September/October 2010 Reconstruction Newsletter can be downloaded here (pdf file).

Previously:
{Asbestos Abatement Project, 27Aug2010}
{Washington Street Construction Update, 13Aug2010}
{Construction Around Dumbo Through 2011+, 10May2010}
{Notice: Cars Parked on Dock Street, 12Apr2010}
{Water Street Reconstruction Update (Mar/Apr 2010), 10Mar2010}
{Water/Washington St Reconstruction Project Update, 03Dec2009}
{Belgian Block Reconstruction to Begin, 04May2009}