North 1st Street, 12:50.

While havoc was raining down in Turtle Bay, it was just a normal Saturday in Williamsburg. A walk through the Northside early yesterday afternoon showed over half a dozen active construction sites.

At 80 Metropolitan (above), North 1st Street was blocked as workers loaded material. No flagman was present. Urban Green was pumping concrete on North 5th Street (below). Again, no flagman (but at least traffic could pass). Workers were also banging away at 154 Berry Street, as well as at a host of other smaller projects.

Of course, I have no idea if any of these projects had a variance for weekend work. By wading through the payment history for 5 different permits at Urban Green, we can say conclusively that they probably had a variance (it appears as part of one of many Alt-2s). We decided not to wade through payment histories on the others. Nor do I know why DOB would issue so many variances (assuming they did) within a four-block radius.

Just another sunny Spring Saturday in Williamsburg.

Urban Green, 13:00.