The City Planning Department held its Scoping Hearing yesterday for the proposed Toll Brothers development on the Gowanus Canal. With neighborhood resistance to the project getting organized, the hearing attracted more attention than the average technical City Planning session. The room was full during the afternoon session and about 18 people spoke on the project. […]

[Read more →]

The “Scoping Hearing” for the big, proposed Toll Brothers Gowanus development is today (3/13). There are two sessions, one from 2PM-5:30PM and the other from 6PM-8:45PM. It will take place at 22 Reade Street. Attendees can make statements of up to three minutes about the project and written statements can also be submitted through March […]

[Read more →]

The first step for the Toll Brothers firm in trying to win approval for its big proposed development in Gowanus will occur tomorrow (Thursday, 3/13). That’s when a “Scoping Hearing” to determine the contents of an environmental impact study (or its scope) will take place at the Department of City Planning. The scoping document is […]

[Read more →]

At the end of Huntington Street and the Gowanus Canal, it really is the end, particularly if one were to go over the barriers and check out the water.

[Read more →]

The community meeting last night about the big Gowanus project proposed by the Toll Brothers firm that would leapfrog the actual neighborhood rezoning project, drew a big crowd and even attracted two representatives from the development company itself, included VP David Von Spreckleson. City Council Member Tony Avella held forth about the advantages that pro-development […]

[Read more →]

Gowanus residents are preparing to fight the Toll Brothers proposal for a big development on the banks of the Gowanus Canal. The developers are looking for city approval for the project–which would include buildings up to 12-stories tall and 577 units of housing–before the Gowanus rezoning. An organizing meeting to prepare for a “scoping hearing” […]

[Read more →]

This is Gowanus Green from the Hudson Companies team. The design is from Rogers Marvel Architects and landscape designers West 8 and Starr Whitehouse. (Rogers Marvel and West 8 designed the winning proposal for Governor’s Island and the architectural firm is also designing the redo of McCarren Pool and 340 Court Street in Carroll Gardens.)

[Read more →]

Yesterday, we noted that one of the more interesting things that was said at the community meeting on Monday night about the big Public Place development along the Gowanus Canal was the fact that the owner of a neighboring property was said to be interested in joining with the winning development team. The privately-owned parcel […]

[Read more →]

Someone was kind enough late yesterday to send us high quality renderings of the Related Companies/Monadnock proposal for the Public Place parcel. Related is one of the two finalists along with the Hudson Companies to develop the long-vacant property which was once home to a manufactured gas plant. The city will likely choose a developer […]

[Read more →]

[Photo courtesy of Joe Holmes/flickr] This is a photo of snow on the Gowanus from photographer Joe Holmes that we found while looking at snow pics on flickr. It’s a great pic, but what’s even more s interesting about it, though, is what is in the description. Mr. Holmes, whose photoblog Joe’s NYC is very […]

[Read more →]

Although it doesn’t happen frequently, the bridges over the Gowanus Canal are opened and closed to let barges and other vessels through. (We were dumbfounded to find the Hamilton Avenue Bridge raised at the height of rush hour one day causing traffic to clot into an angry gridlock in all directions.) Here’s an email we […]

[Read more →]

We ran still photos of the crap flow on the Gowanus after a heavy rain a couple of weeks ago. Since then, the Toll Brothers have shown their hand and the plans for the property bounded by Carroll Street, Second Street, Bond Street and the Canal. If the development gets the go-ahead and if it […]

[Read more →]

Space in the “Venice Springs Industrial Park” might be suitable for any number of things from edgy restaurant to artist studio and scrap processing to bakery. Oh, and canal boat tour operator. Well, it’s an interesting way to get people to pay attention to the ad for the commercial space that one is leasing on […]

[Read more →]

The Toll Brothers have revealed plans for their unnamed development on the banks of the Gowanus Canal. The plans are in a “scoping” document filed with the Department of City Planning. The developers are looking to rezone a three-acre property between the Canal, Bond Street, Carroll Street and Second Street as a “special mixed use […]

[Read more →]

These two boats and this crane are at the far end of the Gowanus Canal, between the Union Street Bridge and the pumping station. A reader emailed last week to note that they were and wondered what they might be doing. Dredging? Construction? While dredging might eventually happen–and this end of the canal is at […]

[Read more →]

We don’t know for a fact that this brown mass we found floating on the Gowanus on Saturday is, uh, crap. However, it looks disturbingly like what might happen if King Kong had the runs at the Carroll Street Bridge. (Actually, we watched the mass of whatever it was float from the Union Street Bridge […]

[Read more →]

There’s an interesting session coming up on Monday, February 4, about environmental and remediation issues in Gowanus. It’s called New Voices on the Gowanus: Focus on the Public Place. It takes place at 6:30PM on 2/4 at the PS 58 Auditorium, which is located at 330 Smith Street (entrance on Carroll Street). Here’s an email […]

[Read more →]

Anyone interested in the topic of water quality in the Gowanus Canal and plans to improve it will want to mark their calendars for February 12 when there will be a meeting to present that massive Gowanus Canal Waterbody/Watershed Facility Plan Report. The 564-page document deals with water quality in the canal and plans to […]

[Read more →]

Women’s Wear Daily weighed in a with a long article yesterday about Gowanus that was motivated by some fashion designers setting up shop in the neighborhood. Other than being a curious thing to find in WWD, the article serves as a reminder of how many businesses and artists work in Gowanus and how their fate […]

[Read more →]

A couple of weeks ago, we posted some photos of the Garfields on the Carroll Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal. Then, we heard from the person that placed the Garfields there, which is a tale worth reading in and of itself. The Garfields have been greatly diminished in number, presumably being taken by people […]

[Read more →]

Writer Matt Sollars emailed us to bring our attention to a fascinating site about Gowanus and the Gowanus Canal that he put together as part of work on a Masters Degree at the CUNY Journalism School. It includes some interesting vids about different Gowanus issues, including a particularly fascinating one about the Ferrara Brothers concrete […]

[Read more →]

Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn

[Read more →]

We have no idea who created these displays by two of the bridges over the Gowanus Canal, although we’re certain someone does know and that they might tell us. We noticed both for the first time recently and know that wood with the Goofy, Donald Duck and other cartoon figures wasn’t there a week or […]

[Read more →]

Carroll Gardens blogger Pardon Me For Asking has a superb post today featuring the writing and recollections of a reader about growing up around the Gowanus Canal in the 1960s. It is special. We’re excerpting a few lines below, but if you have a few minutes to spend on reading something enjoyable today, then devote […]

[Read more →]

If you’re interested in Gowanus Canal environmental issues, tonight is one of your nights. There’s a community forum on the canal from 6PM-8PM at the Belorusian Church at Atlantic Avenue and Bond Street. It will cover water quality issues, including the nasty issue of Combined Sewage Overflows (raw sewage flowing right into the canal) and […]

[Read more →]