It always hurts to see what the land in these neighborhoods looked like before European colonists entered the picture. I wanted to share this link also in case anyone is curious about some of the current efforts to transform that area to resemble a place more natural and inhabitable for wildlife https://gowanuscanalconservancy.org/
When I saw the painting from the old days, looking so natural and serene, I almost wept. It's impossible to hold both the unspoiled scene and today's conditions in my mind. Now I'm going to click on the link you provided, so thanks for that.
You’re the only person I know who can write so elegantly yet humorously on toxic waste! And the details - I could almost smell that crème de la crème black mayonnaise, but sure glad I can’t.
That poor creek, it got dumped on in all senses of the word, but was still the hero in the Battle of Brooklyn. This great nation owes a lot to it, if Washington lost or perished there, the USA could have become a commonwealth, like Canada and Australia. Although that doesn’t sound too bad . . .
. . . but enough hypothesizing on alternate timelines. So glad Gowanus Creek is getting cleaned up now. The apartments look quite nice, hope the people who will eventually live there will be fine, health-wise.
Thanks Raquel! For a small waterway it definitely played an outsized role in city history! Hopefully the clean up efforts (which have been going ever since canal was built) are finally successful!
The construction in Gowanus these days really is truly bonkers. I’ve been thinking about doing a story just on all the super makeshift sidewalk lunch vendors that have sprung up to serve the workers. It’s a real scene! I wish I spoke Spanish.
Thanks, but you’re right, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Or finding turds in a canal . Despite all its drawbacks it’s a dramatic and unique corner of the city.
Actually I am fibbing a little. I'm on the search committee for my meditation center looking for a building to buy and we got a tour of the Coignet last fall. I have some amazing photos of the interior if you're interested. It's such a great little building and has been on the market FOREVER. I was really bummed when my team decided the footprint wasn't right.
I could smell this newsletter coming. And going. I never knew anything about Gowanus until I read this. Hopefully the EPA can continue its work and the people who have no choice but to live there can live healthy lives. Seems a tall order in the face of reckless consumerism and greed and record lows in the perceived value of human lives.
Well if the past is any indication the amount of high end luxury apartments going up should ensure that at least some of the problems will be addressed.
I grew up in gowanus…… I wrote a comic book about Tony studo when I was in middle school. I think I sold copies of said comic book to raise money for the gowanus canal conservancy for my bat mitsvah tsedaka project. I was a very unusual child. I even convinced ample hills to donate some of the proceeds from their “it came from the gowanus” ice cream flavor to gowanus canal conservancy. When I was tabling for them, some wiseguy asked why it was called “conservancy” because that means keeping things the same, not fixing things, and I didn’t have an answer. Very surreal to see Tony studo mentioned here. Me and my friend who also grew up in gowanus called it the “go-anus c-anal.” We would climb under the bridges using the ladders and there would be baby raccoons down there. I would go to dance lessons next to a biker bar next to a tile factory that was also a synagogue…….. ahhhh gowanus
I live in Park Slope but very close to Gowanus, so of course this post was of interest! Knowing a bit of the history of area, it surprised me to see that photo of 4th ave flooding in 1922! Also, last year, I saw a huge school of tiny fish swimming in the Gowanus by the 3rd street bridge. I couldn't believe it. Took a few photos with my phone. Haven't seen a school of fish since.
I couldn't believe it either! I guess the fact that it's all a vast former wetland makes sense though. Wonder if those fish made it...I read a couple accounts of people who fish in the canal which does not seem like a great idea.
Loved this whole issue, especially the olfactory map at the end! In the spring I went on a Jane's Walk that explored the Smells of Bushwick. As a Bushwick resident, I'm already very familiar with the smells of the L train, the taco carts, and the one corner near the Burger King that always just smells like pee. We always think of the sights and sounds of places, but rarely the smells! (though in Gowanus' case, it might actually be safer not to smell things)
Olfactory maps! This is ingenious! Of course Gowanus is ground zero. Do you know of any others? Other naturals are the Fulton Fish Market/Hunts Point, Fresh Kills on SI, JFK Airport…though none has managed to generate the cachet or high rents of Gowanus. Great post!
Eden, are any of the breweries still there? I worked in Bushwick from 1970 to about 1976. There was a beer brewery next to where I was working. Oy, the stench!
Haha unfortunately(?) no, none of the original breweries of Brewer's Row are still around. Most had closed during Prohibition and you were probably there when the last breweries (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer) closed in 1976! If only you'd held out a bit longer, you could have been stench free.
Some new smaller breweries have actually opened in that area recently, but it's nowhere near as hoppin (teehee) as it once was.
Thanks Laurie! Such a great doc!
It always hurts to see what the land in these neighborhoods looked like before European colonists entered the picture. I wanted to share this link also in case anyone is curious about some of the current efforts to transform that area to resemble a place more natural and inhabitable for wildlife https://gowanuscanalconservancy.org/
Thanks Erika, I meant to share that link in the newsletter!
When I saw the painting from the old days, looking so natural and serene, I almost wept. It's impossible to hold both the unspoiled scene and today's conditions in my mind. Now I'm going to click on the link you provided, so thanks for that.
Yay! It felt very inspiring to see their vision with the “lowlands project”
You’re the only person I know who can write so elegantly yet humorously on toxic waste! And the details - I could almost smell that crème de la crème black mayonnaise, but sure glad I can’t.
That poor creek, it got dumped on in all senses of the word, but was still the hero in the Battle of Brooklyn. This great nation owes a lot to it, if Washington lost or perished there, the USA could have become a commonwealth, like Canada and Australia. Although that doesn’t sound too bad . . .
. . . but enough hypothesizing on alternate timelines. So glad Gowanus Creek is getting cleaned up now. The apartments look quite nice, hope the people who will eventually live there will be fine, health-wise.
Thanks Raquel! For a small waterway it definitely played an outsized role in city history! Hopefully the clean up efforts (which have been going ever since canal was built) are finally successful!
I’m sure the clean up will be successful. Not only because of the city’s efforts but mostly because it’s such an indomitable little creek.
“While the tanks have not yet been built, thousands of new apartment units have.” So funny!
Oh my god the rival undertakers! Priceless!
Six Feet Under plot line
The construction in Gowanus these days really is truly bonkers. I’ve been thinking about doing a story just on all the super makeshift sidewalk lunch vendors that have sprung up to serve the workers. It’s a real scene! I wish I spoke Spanish.
All you need to know how to say is “mas tamales por favor”
You made Gowanus look so beautiful. But then, it really is very beautiful. One of my favorite hoods in the city.
Thanks, but you’re right, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Or finding turds in a canal . Despite all its drawbacks it’s a dramatic and unique corner of the city.
I tried to buy the Coignet Building (not kidding!)
I need to hear that story! It just got a huge price cut if you’re still looking. NYC substack incubator?
Actually I am fibbing a little. I'm on the search committee for my meditation center looking for a building to buy and we got a tour of the Coignet last fall. I have some amazing photos of the interior if you're interested. It's such a great little building and has been on the market FOREVER. I was really bummed when my team decided the footprint wasn't right.
Where did you end up getting a building?
I could smell this newsletter coming. And going. I never knew anything about Gowanus until I read this. Hopefully the EPA can continue its work and the people who have no choice but to live there can live healthy lives. Seems a tall order in the face of reckless consumerism and greed and record lows in the perceived value of human lives.
Well if the past is any indication the amount of high end luxury apartments going up should ensure that at least some of the problems will be addressed.
Stunning photos. Thanks for mentioning the Maryland 400. America might not exist as we know it without their brave sacrifice: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-escape-from-new-york-part-e28
Thanks Yuri! Hope to dive more deeply into it when I cover Park Slope
I grew up in gowanus…… I wrote a comic book about Tony studo when I was in middle school. I think I sold copies of said comic book to raise money for the gowanus canal conservancy for my bat mitsvah tsedaka project. I was a very unusual child. I even convinced ample hills to donate some of the proceeds from their “it came from the gowanus” ice cream flavor to gowanus canal conservancy. When I was tabling for them, some wiseguy asked why it was called “conservancy” because that means keeping things the same, not fixing things, and I didn’t have an answer. Very surreal to see Tony studo mentioned here. Me and my friend who also grew up in gowanus called it the “go-anus c-anal.” We would climb under the bridges using the ladders and there would be baby raccoons down there. I would go to dance lessons next to a biker bar next to a tile factory that was also a synagogue…….. ahhhh gowanus
This is now my favorite comment ever posted to this newsletter.
Fantastic read! I want to go on a smell tour soon -- and thanks for including the black mayonnaise recipe, I was looking it up!
Everyday in the city is a new smell tour - especially in the summer!
Yes! And now I recall where I first heard about this: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-smelly-pleasures-of-exploring-cities-nose-first. A new section of your entries?!
I live in Park Slope but very close to Gowanus, so of course this post was of interest! Knowing a bit of the history of area, it surprised me to see that photo of 4th ave flooding in 1922! Also, last year, I saw a huge school of tiny fish swimming in the Gowanus by the 3rd street bridge. I couldn't believe it. Took a few photos with my phone. Haven't seen a school of fish since.
I couldn't believe it either! I guess the fact that it's all a vast former wetland makes sense though. Wonder if those fish made it...I read a couple accounts of people who fish in the canal which does not seem like a great idea.
To do what with the fish after it's caught??
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/11/3-eyed-fish-caught-in-gowanus-canal.html
people plan to actually eat it?? oh lord.
Fascinating, Rob. I watched the documentary for which you provided the link. Also fascinating.
This was an awesome issue to read!
Thanks Eric!
I like that poster which says “The world is too small for what I intend to do.” What spunk and energy!
Loved this whole issue, especially the olfactory map at the end! In the spring I went on a Jane's Walk that explored the Smells of Bushwick. As a Bushwick resident, I'm already very familiar with the smells of the L train, the taco carts, and the one corner near the Burger King that always just smells like pee. We always think of the sights and sounds of places, but rarely the smells! (though in Gowanus' case, it might actually be safer not to smell things)
I always wished there was a way to record smells, but then again…
Olfactory maps! This is ingenious! Of course Gowanus is ground zero. Do you know of any others? Other naturals are the Fulton Fish Market/Hunts Point, Fresh Kills on SI, JFK Airport…though none has managed to generate the cachet or high rents of Gowanus. Great post!
It looks like it's a thing! https://sensorymaps.com/?projects=summer-streets-smellmapping-astor-place-nyc
In that case, you should *definitely* visit The Rubin and check out their Mandala Lab because there is a smell-based activity!
Eden, are any of the breweries still there? I worked in Bushwick from 1970 to about 1976. There was a beer brewery next to where I was working. Oy, the stench!
Haha unfortunately(?) no, none of the original breweries of Brewer's Row are still around. Most had closed during Prohibition and you were probably there when the last breweries (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer) closed in 1976! If only you'd held out a bit longer, you could have been stench free.
Some new smaller breweries have actually opened in that area recently, but it's nowhere near as hoppin (teehee) as it once was.
My run group, runs through the Gowanus regularly. Can’t wait to drop some of this history on them.
Just as long as you don’t go on a hot day after a big rain storm!
Oh we went on a hot day a few weeks back and 🤢🤢🤢🤢
No description of NYC neighborhoods is complete without the Gowanus, the good, the bad, the ugly and the smelly, thank you Rob
A quintessential New York neighborhood! Thanks for reading!