Thanks to the always excellent Daily Slope for blogging this priceless nugget of pure gold: A map of the “New Gowanus Bay” after a 9 meter rise in sea levels. Okay, so it might not be an immediate damper, so to speak, on real estate values. Long term, however, those “waterfront” developments along our beloved Big G could turn out to be Underwater Developments.
The silver lining: Waterfront property in Park Slope!!! Who knew?
Writes Daily Slope:
Before you drop $950,000 for that handyman’s special in Gowanus/G-Slope/BoCoCa East, you might want to consider the likelihood that Brooklyn’s hottest nabe may soon end up at the bottom of the Gowanus canal.
The Google Maps/Global Warming mashup (just plug in the rise in sea level to determine what it will take for you to own waterfront property)comes courtesy of Alex Tingle.
Clearly Gowanus Lounge missed the, um, boat on this one.
3 responses so far ↓
1 dalton // May 11, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Phew. I live at Hoyt and 2nd, and it only comes halfway up our block. Looks like we’re OK, as long as the water doesn’t come up to 10m.
2 Anonymous // May 12, 2006 at 8:00 pm
From the original article:
“Is there a silver lining? The full 7m sea level rise may take up to 1000 years.”
No one seems to mention this.
Something tells me that 4th ave fixer-upper will be just fine for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time.
3 FROGG // May 16, 2006 at 11:10 am
The sea level in the Gowanus Canal is already 8 inches higher then when the Pumping Tunnel was designed and built in 1911. This trend is expected to accelerate. (and here we are almost 100 years latter still dealing with the problems of that piece of urban planning)
The real concern though is not the level of the sea in the Gowanus over the next 50 years but what will we be submerged in when the expected storm waters rise out of the canal? The next 30 years are expected to flood years. Even now, with steady rainfall, the canal breaches it’s bulkheads at high tide. The pathogen levels in this water is higher than anywhere in the New York Harbor. When this water floods, a community will be dealing with pathogen levels and toxic exposures never seen before in any urban flood before.
And why is the city backing planners that want to put senior housing inside this zone. Did they learning anything form Katrina?