Googa Mooga

Well this is embarrassing: the event organizers behind last weekend’s controversial The Great Googa Mooga food and music festival in Prospect Park announced today that they will be offering a full refund to those who purchased “Extra Mooga” tickets for $250. They’re even refunding the $17 service fee.

Perhaps even more surprising is that Superfly came right out and acknowledged the event’s largely negative feedback on the event’s website. “To those who had a frustrating experience on Saturday – we are sorry,” the organizers write. “We truly regret the first year glitches and really appreciate your patience as we worked to smooth them out.” Interesting that they only mention issues happening on Saturday.

There doesn’t appear to be any info on the event site about the refunds, but Superfly released the following statement to the press: “We promised you a terrific Extra Mooga experience this past weekend and we didn’t deliver, particularly in providing an adequate amount of food and beverage on Saturday…To officially extend our apology, we’re offering you a 100% refund of your Extra Mooga ticket price, including handling fees.”

You can submit a request to refunds@googamooga.com.

florence wang's flickr

This morning we asked readers if they survived this past weekend’s The Great Googa Mooga festivities in Prospect Park. And from what I’ve read online and heard from coworkers, few did. People complained about issues like insanely long lines for beer and food, food running out, and logistical problems (no added cell reception or public transportation). Even those who bought the $250 tickets left dissatisfied.

I made it to the event at noon on Saturday and I remember thinking how much space there was to move around compared to other festivals I had been to, like Bonnaroo. I had lunch at 1pm after watching Fort Lean perform and waited in line for only five minutes before getting food (Num Pang Sandwich Shop). I even stood in line with a friend at a second place and waited only three minutes there (DuMont Burger).

Things changed however when we were done eating and went to get beer. The midday crowds were starting to flood in and the issues with logistics were quickly becoming apparent. There were too many separate lines (one for ID checks, another one for beverages, others for food) which faded into one another, made getting from one place to another nearly impossible, and each lasted at least twenty minutes. Event workers at an ID check tried to move things along by checking IDs for some people at the middle of the line, but that made things more confusing. It was 3 p.m. by the time we finished our first beers (not slow drinkers, just slow lines) and by that time the lines had grown so long that we would have had our second ones at 4:30.

I felt like I got what I paid for with those free tickets. But food blogger Joanne Wilson describes her negative experience at the Extra Mooga section: “I can’t believe that I paid $250 a head for this. A complete rip-off. I am not the only person out there yesterday who wanted their money back. The experience, considering the food amount, was worth about $50 at best…We left the show starving.”

Countless Twitter users echo these sentiments (although most didn’t get to enjoy the brief calm like I did). “Going to #googamooga was the human version of what my cat must go through when she runs frantically into a room & forgets why. Ate nothing.” “1000s starving, stranded in the heat, standing on endless lines for food.” “Our Katrina.”

Leave your horror stories in the comments.

Miyakawa's site

People speculated – somewhat facetiously – that Friday’s bomb scare on Bedford Avenue must have been an art project because, after all, it is Williamsburg. Turns out they were right. 50-year-old artist and Brooklyn resident Takeshi Miyakawa was behind the installation and has since been arrested.

Police apprehended Miyakawa on Saturday when he was putting up another installation at the intersection of Bedford, Lorimer, and Nassau and charged him with planting false bombs. He was arraigned on Sunday and will be put through a 30 day mental health evaluation.

The objects – “I Love New York” bags that contain LED lights and battery packs – were for NY Design Week and supposedly would have come down today. An artist who works with Miyakawa described him as “polite, calm, and presentable.” The New York Times states that the artist intended the installation to be “a display of his love for the city.”

According to his website, Miyakawa was born in Japan and has been living in New York City since 1989. He mostly designs furniture, some of which is priced at $20,000.

Gothamist

The weird neighbor in American Beauty may have called that floating plastic bag “the most beautiful thing in the world,” but the NYPD, FDNY, bomb squad, and anyone trying to get down Bedford Avenue yesterday would have just called it a huge nuisance. Gothamist reports that cops shut down Williamsburg’s main drag midday yesterday from North 4th to North 6th streets for a suspicious package. Tipsters initially described it as “a shopping bag with wires coming out of it taped to a tree.”

Turns out it was just an “I Love NY” bag strategically placed on a metal rod. Police reopened the street at around 12:38 p.m. and so far no one has come forward with any information about the bag. More photos on Gothamist.

via Sprudge

We’ve been pretty quiet about HBO’s much buzzed about new show Girls because, well, every single other blog has written endlessly about it. But the show’s protagonists live in Greenpoint and today the gang is at Café Grumpy on Meserole filming for the second season.

Twitter

The café appeared in the most recent episode of the show as Ray’s place of work.

The weather is going to be beautiful later this week and you’ll want to be outside, probably drinking. You might as well do it for a good cause. Just across the river on a swanky NoLIta/SoHo rooftop is a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There will be music, drinks, and raffles (including a chance to win tickets to Brooklyn’s The Great GoogaMooga Festival). Check out the details after the jump. (more…)

Jason Persse's flickr

Jane’s Addiction, Die Antwoord, Counting Crows and others are the latest to join the waterfront concerts LACOSTE L!VE Williamsburg Park Concert Series lineup, organizers announced today. Counting Crows will perform with We Are Augustines, Field Report, and Kasey Anderson & The Honkies are on July 17th. Jane’s Addiction and Die Antwoord are on August 17th. Tickets for both shows are on sale this Friday.

This summer’s lineup so far includes Cake, My Morning Jacket, Sublime, and Cypress Hill.

Curbed

At $3.79 million, this single-family townhouse on Berry may be Williamsburg’s most expensive home, according to Curbed. The newly constructed place is at 257 Berry and contains a 1,160 square ft. gallery space, four terraces, four bedrooms, a roof dock, and a loading dock.

More photos and a floor plan at Curbed. Via Brokelyn.

DiceyTroop's twitvid

Here’s a video of school children in Greenpoint protesting the recent decision to cut half of School Settlement’s 153 free after school programs in Brooklyn.

Hopefully the protest will be just as effective as it is adorable. Look at this colorful signs!

AJ Kandy's flickr

The New York Times has picked up on the War on Brunch taking place in our area, an epic battle between churchgoers and eggs benedict-eaters that has already claimed casualties, including Lokal and Five Leaves.

The article mostly covers what we know already, but offers up some choice quotes from borough president Marty Markowitz: “As many lifestyles as there are in the universe, we have them in Brooklyn and then some…You have the right to go to church and the right to sit outside people-watching and have bloody marys.”

But according to NYT, many locals involved in the church have no problem with brunch. “I like to see young people enjoying their Sundays and whatever they’re doing,” said one local pastor. Another said that “the integration has taken place very comfortably” between the neighborhood’s new school and old school communities.

A hearing on the issue will take place next month.