The Gowanus Canal did not disappoint yesterday. The pictures here show the Big G about one hour before high tide yesterday evening. The photos show the canal overflowing its banks at Second Street (above)and at Sackett Street. The other photo shows it within inches of doing the same elsewhere an hour before the high water mark. Also bear in mind that during heavy rains like yesterday’s, raw sewage flows directly into the canal, so that what you are looking at is (almost literally) crap in the streets.
The Second Street photo is particularly noteworthy as it shows flooding at the location of what the Toll Brothers would like to develop as canal-side housing. The pictures were sent to us by Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG), which braved the rain and the unsavory water to take these photos. We don’t know if the Whole Foods site, which is surrounded on two sides by the Gowanus, was rendered a sea of dirty water or not. The Gowanus Whole Foods will be beneath street level, meaning that, well…use your imagination. (There was additional significant flooding on Ninth Street, but we don’t have photos.)
FROGG notes, “City Planning will be meeting with the community this Thu, April 19 to discuss changes in land use around here at the bottom of the Slopes.” The meeting for those who are interested will happen at P.S. 32, which is located at 317 Hoyt Street, at 6:00 PM.
(Gowanus Lounge invites your storm stories and photos. Hit us off with an email or photos at gowanuslounge (at) gmail (dot) com. We will post them with gratitude.)
Sackett Street and the Canal
The Canal Between Carroll Street and Union Street Bridges
[All photos courtesy of Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG)]
5 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Apr 16, 2007 at 8:28 am
See also NY Times ohoto showing what was going on inside the houses up hill from the raising Gowanus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/nyregion/16storm.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th
2 Anonymous // Apr 16, 2007 at 11:56 am
Like a lot of Gowanus Lounge posts, I’m not sure what you want the takeaway to be. That the canal is not a habitable area? OK. But what beyond that? Do you think it can never be made a habitable area? That it *shouldn’t* be made a habitable area? I’d be more sympathetic to FROGG’s agenda if it do often sound like, “Keep Gowanus sleazy so people won’t want to live here!”
3 Anonymous // Apr 17, 2007 at 6:16 am
My take is …they’ve been trying to make it habitable for years…I’ve lived in the area for nearly 50 years…it is NOT as habitable as people want to think. I don’t think it will be…not for a very, very long time.
No one is saying “Keep Gowanus sleazy so people won’t want to live here!” but some places unfortunately are just not meant to become the next VENICE CANAL….
4 Anonymous // Apr 17, 2007 at 7:19 am
Not habitable–OK, and yet you’ve lived there for 50 years. So what’s the problem with other people wanting to live there too, even building apartments and (gasp) supermarkets there?
5 dalton // Apr 17, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I would KILL for a supermarket around here.
I don’t mind people moving into the neighborhood at all, but I do wish they’d stop building garbage like those two buildings on Carroll Street, and I hope someone decides to upgrade the sewers at some point, otherwise in a couple of years we’ll fondly look back and remember when the Gowanus didn’t have poop floating in it all the time, just sometimes.