[Photo courtesy of donkey attack/GL Flickr Pool] Ha. Ha. ha. Ha. Gentrificatiion caution tape. It comes from the site of the (possible/unlikely) Whole Foods site in Gowanus. Ha. Ha. Ha. Utter genius by both the person who put it up and the photographer that captured it.

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This is not the first time we’ve posted about relatively open access and weird things at the landmarked building at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street in Gowanus on the (maybe) Whole Foods site. The building is not owned by Whole Foods, but at various times, windows have been removed, the front doors […]

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Well, the Gowanus Whole Foods isn’t dead, but God only knows what’s going to happen on the polluted property that could cost a fortune to remediate and develop. Yesterday, Curbed posted an email that Whole Foods sent out late last week to local officials saying that it was looking for a development partner on the […]

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What happens to mozzarella made in Bensonhurst when it’s imported to that far off land known as the Upper West Side? Uh, the price goes up. Waaaaaay up. We see that Whole Foods in Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center is selling “Lioni’s in Brooklyn” beautiful homemade mozzarella balls…for $9.50 a ball. Is this the same […]

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Oh, Gowanus Whole Foods. So many people had high hopes of grilled free range chicken pick ups and so many others hoped that you never dug a toxic whole into the parcel of toxic muck that your corporate real estate people saw fit to buy. Most recently, Brownstoner reported that an unnamed source “close” to […]

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There is progress to report in the long-running saga of the Gowanus Whole Foods. This comes on the heels of a post we had in early August about activity on the site and of statements from the grocer that they’re working up a revised plan, but that the company has certainly not abandoned its plan […]

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Given that there has been no official news forthcoming from Whole Foods about its planned Gowanus store, we turn to some promotional items for hints of what might, or might not, be coming. Yesterday, we had a photo that showed just how abandoned quiet the Whole Foods site at Third Street and Third Avenue is. […]

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[Photo courtesy of Nate Kensinger] This is Gowanus in the rain on Saturday night as seen from the Old American Can Factory at Third Avenue and Third Street. The photo comes from GL Contributor Nate Kensinger. What is particularly fascinating about it is that it offers a nice view of the Gowanus Whole Foods site, […]

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Is the Whole Foods site in Gowanus starting to look more abandoned? One might say, “yes.” The signs identifying the big and environmentally-challenged parcel of land on Third Street in Gowanus as belonging to Whole Food were taken down at the end of 2007. At some point more recently, however, all the permits (many of […]

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The spit-and-tape fence at the toxic Gowanus Whole Foods site took a hit during last weekend’s windstorm. A week later, it’s still down, although someone has thoughtfully added yellow “caution” tape to the wreckage. The good news is that no one even has to duck in order to go for a walk on the polluted […]

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Don’t expect to see construction equipment soon at the big, polluted site at Third Avenue and Third Street where Whole Foods is planning to build a large grocery. Our friend Gabby Warshawer at Brownstoner has been talking to state officials and found that it could be a while. While the cleanup plan for the toxic-laden […]

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This is the Gowanus Whole Foods site. We took advantage of its always open to the public status to shoot a bunch of photos. Some are below for viewing on this snowy Friday.

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Last week, the Department of Buildings issued the first permit for the planned Gowanus Whole Foods on Third Street. The permit, which was first reported by Brownstoner, would allow for some work on the foundation. The Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus group, which opposes construction of the big project, sent an email to Community […]

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Remember the groundbreaking for the Gowanus Whole Foods? That was way back in 2006. Since then, the site has largely sat abandoned, although it has provided many opportunities for strolls on the frequently open property. Yesterday, our friend Gabby Warshawer, who has been keeping close tabs on the development, reported on Brownstoner that the Department […]

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Brooklyn’s favorite somewhat toxic playground is open to the public again. The flimsy fence at the Whole Foods site on Third Street has been opened up again by vandals. We stopped by on Saturday and a curious people were taking tours of the site over the weekend. Will it be “repaired” quickly, or will the […]

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Some things change and some things don’t. One of the things, recently, that doesn’t change at all is the ability of both adults and children to go exploring in the environmentally-challenged, and currently abandoned, Whole Foods site in Gowanus. It’s been open again and again. Of course, it’s just an empty lot and it affords […]

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The abandoned Gowanus Whole Foods site closes out the year the way it spent much of the last half of 2007: wide open to visitors that want to check it out. The environmentally-challenged site got some attention in November when Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and others criticized the grocer for maintaining a public hazard. Well, […]

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Vandals seem intent on make sure the environmentally-challenged Whole Foods site in Gowanus stays open, as yet another opening has appeared in the fence. This is the third or fourth time the fence has been open at the abandoned site. Interestingly, the Department of Buildings did check up on a complaint logged on October 20. […]

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Given that we’ve featured the Gowanus Whole Foods fence when it was open again last week, it’s only fair to note that it’s been closed up again. How long it stays that way is anyone’s guess. The site has been in a semi-abandoned state for more than a year, with only a burst of demolition […]

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Given that the environmentally-challenged Gowanus Whole Foods site is semi-abandoned and that the grocery chain has a history of not keeping an eye on the property (well, except for recently when it made the Daily News and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum criticized them for failing to keep people off a hazardous property), there should be […]

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There’s a bit of news to report on the Gowanus Whole Foods front. The headline, of course, was deep inside a story in the Sun: the company says the big store at Third Avenue and Third Street won’t open until 2009. Anyone who has viewed the site would have been hard pressed to imagine how […]

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Last week, Brownstoner’s Gabby Warshawer offered a look at the demolition activity underway at the environmentally-challenged Whole Foods site in Gowanus, noting that a promised Spring 2008 opening seems a bit optimistic at this point. When we strolled over to have a look for ourselves, we found the entire building that adjoins the little body […]

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Sometimes one finds stories at the most unexpected times. Like leaving Celebrate Brooklyn last night, for instance. That’s when we scored the Whole Foods Brooklyn tote bag pictured above. Note that it says “Opening 2008.” The Whole Foods bag promoting the store that is going to be built on the environmentally-questionable lot at Third Street […]

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The story of the Whole Foods store on the toxic site at Third Avenue and Third Street was picked up by Bloomberg yesterday. The long story quotes a Whole Foods exec as saying that criticism of the store has “been a little brutal” but that the retailer will be “happy to be there.” He also […]

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[Photo courtesy of Denton Taylor via Curbed] Silly us. We thought that the activity pictured last week at the Whole Foods site and the construction trailer we noted yesterday indicated that the project had a green light. It doesn’t. There are no demolition permits in place and plans for the building were disapproved by the […]

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