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Gowanus Canal (2018)

About

Explore Gowanus is a visual and audio pod walk available to the public that can be easily accessible via any smartphone. You will experience a unique neighborhood that is undergoing a great deal of changes. This pod walk will help you to explore some of the Gowanus grey and green infrastructure and its history, culture, and ecology. During this walk, you will find the contrasts between the old and new structures and the higher- and lower-income groups.

• Pod Walk Guide and Map (pdf)

Gowanus Canal

The Gowanus Creek was a tidal estuary flowing into the Gowanus Bay in New York Harbor when Europeans first landed in the area. The Lenape Indians occupied this area where they harvested oysters with gusto. Oysters were a major part of their diet intake, and, in fact, they decorated the coastline with empty oyster shells. These dumps for the oyster shells were called middens by archaeologists. When European settlers arrived on the land of the Lenape Indians, they were amazed by the great abundance of foot-long oysters in Brooklyn. Rich and poor folks enjoyed eating oysters, as it was easy to harvest as a free food source. Eventually, the oyster industry became a commodity for the European settlers. They began an oyster stand selling oysters. During the beginning of the 20th century, when industrialization was booming, the population was also booming. There were no sewage treatment plants, so raw sewage poured into the surrounding waters and eventually flowed into the ocean. The sewage waste contaminated New York Harbor and helped destroy oyster reefs, which then contributed to the loss of marshes and habitats for many other aquatic species.

Despite the historical damage done to the canal there are many efforts to restore the canal, such as the Gowanus Lowlands project.

Gowanus Community

The Gowanus Community is very diverse, with longtime residents of private homes, NYCHA residents, and business owners. The Gowanus is a part of Community Board 6, and there are many organizations that the community uses to let their voices be heard: Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice, and Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club.

New Development

The NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) launched a Gowanus Neighborhood Planning Study to figure out different approaches on future development of the remaining land around the Gowanus Canal. The plan focuses on priorities of community building in the Bridging Gowanus process of mix use property, affordable housing, investment in public realm, sustainability, resiliency, arts, and culture.

Connecting Sustainability

The Gowanus community has been combating environmental issues since the days of industrialization, hence why the canal is labeled as one of the most polluted waterways in the world. The EPA has identified this area as a Superfund Site with progression of the clean up since October 2017. Approximately 377 million gallons of combined sewage overflow is released into the Gowanus Canal. There are efforts being made with the help of NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to design and construct grey and green infrastructure to reduce and decrease the amount of raw sewage flowing into the canal. In fact, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy has partnered with several design firms to create several curbside rain gardens, bioswales, high-level storm sewer system, and two large underground sewage detention tanks.

Building Resilience

Building resilience is the only way to combat environmental issues. The ongoing construction of new infrastructure must take into account the potential nature and manmade disasters and disturbances that are yet to come. Therefore, it is important to incorporate long-term changes of our new infrastructure: buildings, landscape, communities, and regions to become more resilient. Without a doubt, climate change is not a myth, and we will continue to see sea levels rise, increased frequency of heat waves and regional drought, just to name of few. The Gowanus Canal community is helping to prevent these nature occurrences with the help of grey and green infrastructure projects.