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Gowanus Canal
The Gowanus Canal (originally known as Gowanus Creek) is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century as domestic shipping declined. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs, and barges. It is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States.
Connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay, the Gowanus Canal borders the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Gowanus, all within South Brooklyn, to the west; Park Slope to the east; Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill to the north; and Sunset Park to the south. Seven bridges or viaducts cross the canal, carrying, from north to south, Union Street, Carroll Street, Third Street, the New York City Subway's Culver Viaduct, Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, and the Gowanus Expressway.
The canal was created in the mid-19th century from local tidal wetlands and freshwater streams. For roughly a century, heavy industrial use poured pollutants into the canal. Various attempts to remove the pollution or dilute the canal's water have failed. High ratios of fecal coliforms, deadly proportions of pathogens, and a low concentration of oxygen have left it generally incompatible with macroscopic marine life, although a variety of extremophiles have been observed in the canal.
Despite the canal's heavy pollution, its proximity to Manhattan and upper-class Brooklyn neighborhoods is attracting concerted waterfront redevelopment. This has restarted calls for environmental cleanup, and prompted concerns that adjacent waterfront economic development would be incompatible with environmental restoration and environmental risks. It was designated a Superfund site in 2009, and work to clean up the canal began in 2013.
The Gowanus Canal begins at Butler Street in the neighborhood of Boerum Hill, in the northwestern part of Brooklyn. The wastewater pumping station at 201-234 Butler Street, a terracotta structure dating to 1911, is located north of the canal's head. The canal then runs in a south-southwest alignment parallel to the local street grid. Its course is located mid-block between Bond Street to the west and Nevins Street to the east. Along the way it passes bridges at Union Street, Carroll Street, and Third Street from south to north. While the Union Street and Third Street Bridges are movable bascule bridges, the Carroll Street Bridge is a retractable bridge that can be rolled diagonally to let ships through.
The western bank of the Gowanus Canal hosts a boat launch at Second Street. The Second Street boat launch is located adjacent to a "Sponge Park", which absorbs pollutants from the western bank before they can go into the canal. At Fourth Street, the Fourth Street Basin splits off to the east, while the Gowanus Canal proper turns west. A walkway with seating, built as part of the construction of a Whole Foods Market, is located on the north bank of the 4th Street Basin.
At Hoyt Street, two blocks west of Bond Street, the canal turns south with two extra tributaries at the east: one 480-foot-long (150 m) tributary at Seventh Street, and another 700-foot-long (210 m) near Sixth Street. Shortly afterward, it crosses under the Ninth Street Bridge, a vertical-lift bridge opened in 1999. The New York City Subway's Culver Viaduct, a 90-foot-tall (27 m) fixed-span viaduct, crosses above the Ninth Street Bridge. The viaduct contains the Smith–Ninth Streets station, which is partially located above the canal and is served by the F, <F>, and G trains. There is a short tributary to the east, about 185 feet (56 m) long, connecting to the parking lot of a Lowe's home-improvement store to the east, and Hamilton Plaza: a shopping center located at 1-37 12th Street which formerly housed a Pathmark supermarket and a Dunkin' Donuts directly to the south. At this point, a walkway leads from Lowe's north to Ninth Street along the northern bank of the tributary and the eastern bank of the canal. Owing to its hidden location, the waterfront promenade has seen little use.
At approximately 14th Street along the eastern bank, Hamilton Avenue and the Gowanus Expressway cross the canal at a diagonal from southeast to northwest, connecting to Lorraine Street on the western bank. Separate movable bascule bridges built in 1942 carry both directions of Hamilton Avenue's traffic, while the Gowanus Expressway rises on a viaduct far above the canal.
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Gowanus Canal
The Gowanus Canal (originally known as Gowanus Creek) is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century as domestic shipping declined. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs, and barges. It is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States.
Connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay, the Gowanus Canal borders the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Gowanus, all within South Brooklyn, to the west; Park Slope to the east; Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill to the north; and Sunset Park to the south. Seven bridges or viaducts cross the canal, carrying, from north to south, Union Street, Carroll Street, Third Street, the New York City Subway's Culver Viaduct, Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, and the Gowanus Expressway.
The canal was created in the mid-19th century from local tidal wetlands and freshwater streams. For roughly a century, heavy industrial use poured pollutants into the canal. Various attempts to remove the pollution or dilute the canal's water have failed. High ratios of fecal coliforms, deadly proportions of pathogens, and a low concentration of oxygen have left it generally incompatible with macroscopic marine life, although a variety of extremophiles have been observed in the canal.
Despite the canal's heavy pollution, its proximity to Manhattan and upper-class Brooklyn neighborhoods is attracting concerted waterfront redevelopment. This has restarted calls for environmental cleanup, and prompted concerns that adjacent waterfront economic development would be incompatible with environmental restoration and environmental risks. It was designated a Superfund site in 2009, and work to clean up the canal began in 2013.
The Gowanus Canal begins at Butler Street in the neighborhood of Boerum Hill, in the northwestern part of Brooklyn. The wastewater pumping station at 201-234 Butler Street, a terracotta structure dating to 1911, is located north of the canal's head. The canal then runs in a south-southwest alignment parallel to the local street grid. Its course is located mid-block between Bond Street to the west and Nevins Street to the east. Along the way it passes bridges at Union Street, Carroll Street, and Third Street from south to north. While the Union Street and Third Street Bridges are movable bascule bridges, the Carroll Street Bridge is a retractable bridge that can be rolled diagonally to let ships through.
The western bank of the Gowanus Canal hosts a boat launch at Second Street. The Second Street boat launch is located adjacent to a "Sponge Park", which absorbs pollutants from the western bank before they can go into the canal. At Fourth Street, the Fourth Street Basin splits off to the east, while the Gowanus Canal proper turns west. A walkway with seating, built as part of the construction of a Whole Foods Market, is located on the north bank of the 4th Street Basin.
At Hoyt Street, two blocks west of Bond Street, the canal turns south with two extra tributaries at the east: one 480-foot-long (150 m) tributary at Seventh Street, and another 700-foot-long (210 m) near Sixth Street. Shortly afterward, it crosses under the Ninth Street Bridge, a vertical-lift bridge opened in 1999. The New York City Subway's Culver Viaduct, a 90-foot-tall (27 m) fixed-span viaduct, crosses above the Ninth Street Bridge. The viaduct contains the Smith–Ninth Streets station, which is partially located above the canal and is served by the F, <F>, and G trains. There is a short tributary to the east, about 185 feet (56 m) long, connecting to the parking lot of a Lowe's home-improvement store to the east, and Hamilton Plaza: a shopping center located at 1-37 12th Street which formerly housed a Pathmark supermarket and a Dunkin' Donuts directly to the south. At this point, a walkway leads from Lowe's north to Ninth Street along the northern bank of the tributary and the eastern bank of the canal. Owing to its hidden location, the waterfront promenade has seen little use.
At approximately 14th Street along the eastern bank, Hamilton Avenue and the Gowanus Expressway cross the canal at a diagonal from southeast to northwest, connecting to Lorraine Street on the western bank. Separate movable bascule bridges built in 1942 carry both directions of Hamilton Avenue's traffic, while the Gowanus Expressway rises on a viaduct far above the canal.