Gowanus, Brooklyn



Gowanus is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. It is situated roughly between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens on the west and Park Slope on the east. Bounded by Butler Street to the north, the neighborhood runs alongside and surrounds the Gowanus Canal, ending with the Gowanus Expressway to the south where Hamilton Ave meets 17th street. Smith and Bond Street are generally considered the western boundaries, with Fourth Avenue as the eastern boundary. The neighborhood is marked by the elevated Smith-Ninth Street subway station.

The Gowanus area has been an active center of industrial and shipping activity since the 1860s. It is zoned for light to mid-level manufacturing (M1, M2, and M3). The majority of residents live in two NYCHA housing projects, Wyckoff Gardens and Gowanus Houses. Residential zoning is also found near the eastern and western borders. These areas consist of mostly frame housing, built prior to constructing the canal in 1860, in contrast to the brownstone homes found in neighboring Park Slope that were built from the building materials shipped in along the constructed canal. The residents of Gowanus are proud of their neighborhood and its name.

Gowanus, one of the few remaining manufacturing neighborhoods in Brooklyn, is having an industrial renaissance as it re-attracts new small manufacturing businesses, many owned by individuals who live in the adjoining residential neighborhoods and walk or bike to work. Demand for light-industrial space in Gowanus is on the rise as manufacturing districts in many other parts of the city are in the process of re-zoning or have already been re-zoned for residential use which has left innumerable businesses and individuals seeking available and affordable workspace elsewhere.

Recently, residential developers have been hindered by the industrial zoning and the problems of the sewage overflow through the canal water, but there have been rumors of rezoning by the New York City Department of City Planning.

History
In 1636, Gowanus Bay was the site of the first settlement by Dutch farmers in what is now Brooklyn. First settled by Dutch (1630) and English, an opening skirmish of the Battle of Brooklyn was held there. By the late 19th and early 20th century the area also became home to immigrants, then arriving from Ireland, Italy and Germany.

The ponds of the original Gowanus meadowlands served the power needs of the early settlers who used them to drive gristmills. The Gowanus later became an active center of industrial activity after the construction of the canal and the draining of the ponds began in 1860’s. After World War II, with the decline of shipping at the port of Red Hook and the decrease of manufacturing around New York City in general, the vibrancy of industry in Gowanus began to change as larger industrial users left the city. However, during 1980’s and 1990’s, many larger buildings were successfully adapted for smaller, industrial and creative users, which by 2000 was the largest growing segment within the industrial sector.

Environmental Condition
The water and much of the land along the banks of the Gowanus Canal have been severely polluted from a combination of CSO's (combined sewer outflows) along the canal designed to relieve sewage and storm water when the sewer treatment plant is overwhelmed as well as from decades of industrial use and extensive coal gas manufacturing during the late 1800's. The Gowanus Canal was also an alleged Mafia dumping ground. There currently are several public and private sponsored programs in development aiming to remediate the land around the canal as well as the canal itself. Among these are FROGG (Friends and Residents of the Greater Gowanus) and the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation.

Transportation
The F, G, and R trains run through Gowanus, as well as the B71 bus. Bike routes cross the canal on the Union Street and 3rd Street bridges.

Landmarks
The Carrol Street bridge is the oldest one of four remaining retractable bridges in the country. It was built in 1889. In 2004 the US Army Corp recommended the Gowanus Canal and the land along the banks for the National Resgistry of Historic Places. Several additional buildings are under consideration for landmarking. One already added to the NYC Landmarks registry is one of the first precast concrete buildings, located on the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue and the canal turning basin.