Apr. 17, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen The bottom of the Gowanus Canal is not, strictly speaking, a hospitable environment. It’s covered in a thick layer of contaminated sediment, the product of more than 150 years of industrial pollution and combined sewer overflow. The toxic sludge, nicknamed “black mayonnaise, is packed with coal tar, heavy…
Mar. 28, 2025 By Kirstyn Brendlen A long-delayed project critical to the success of the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup reached an early milestone this week, as the city finished excavating space for a massive underground sewer overflow tank. The Red Hook tank — formerly known as the Head End tank — will catch 8…
Nov. 25, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen Three years after the Gowanus rezoning was formally approved, its impacts are sweeping through the neighborhood. Construction is underway at dozens of sites across the neighborhood and some all-new buildings have already topped out and filled with tenants. But the rezoning included more than just new residential buildings.…
Oct. 17, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen Utility giant National Grid, one of the many parties responsible for turning the Gowanus Canal into a toxic Superfund site, is claiming its fellow polluters aren’t doing their fair share to clean up the canal — and that it can no longer shoulder the cost alone. Earlier this…
Aug. 28, 2024 By Kirstyn Brendlen The Gowanus Canal has lived many lives. Most recently, the 1.8 mile canal is known for its pollution: it was named a Superfund site in 2010, thanks to the oily sheen on its surface and less-than-natural smells that sometimes rise from its waters. Before it was the subject…
Jun. 3, 2024 By Gabriele Holtermann
The Gowanus Canal is a mysterious and oft-misunderstood waterway. Its waters are heavily polluted and its bed covered in a thick coating of old industrial sludge called “Black Mayonnaise.”
Mar. 13, 2024 By Oscar Fock
It looks like it’s raining in Gowanus. It could be — the sky is sunless and gray, and rings form on the surface of the Gowanus Canal every so often — but it isn’t.
Jan. 30, 2024 By Ximena Del Cerro Gowanus is glowing, as a group of scientists and designers have come up with a device to warn residents of waterbody advisory alerts when too much rain and contaminated water from households mix in the Gowanus Canal. The lanterns allow neighbors to reduce their own impact by cutting…
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Dec. 4, 2023 By Oscar Fock
“It was baking. Blazing hip-hop and R&B, that’s how hot it was.”
Jun. 27, 2023 By Kirstyn Brendlen
The head of the federal scrub of the infamous Gowanus Canal retired this month after 13 years on the job in Brooklyn — passing the torch to a new face who will see the project to its completion.