Gowanus Houses

The Gowanus Houses is a housing project of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), located between Douglass and Wyckoff Streets & Bond and Hoyt Streets in both the Gowanus and Boerum Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It sits on 12.57 acres (5.09 ha) of land, consisting of sixteen separate buildings. As of December 2022, the housing development accommodates over 2,600 residents in 1,139 apartment units. Buildings I, II, VI. VII, VIII, and IX has 6 floors, Buildings III, V, X, and XII has 4 floors, Building XI has 13 floors in both residential building parts, Buildings IV West and East, VI, VII, VIII, and IX has 14 floors, and Buildings XIII and XIV has 9 floors.

In 1944, NYCHA announced their plans to demolish the existing row houses on the blocks bounded by Hoyt, Bond, Douglass, and Wykoff Streets, to make way for a series of sixteen modernist towers, designed by William T. McCarthy, Rosario Candela, and Ely Jacques Kahn. By 1946, the land was cleared, however, due to a wartime restriction of materials, the project was delayed until 1948. In January of that year, NYCHA broke ground and the project was completed by June 1949. The development included a community center, playground, and public park.

This housing project was the setting for Spike Lee's 1995 film, Clockers, in which it was renamed the "Nelson Mandela Houses" for the movie.

In 2005, the Gowanus Houses Community Center was shuttered. However, following the recent rezoning & redevelopment of the Gowanus neighborhood, the community has secured the funds needed to reopen the center, along with other improvements.