This is a watercolor of the Gowanus painted in 1938. It was up for sale on eBay until last night for the sum of $449.99, which was chopped from $499. (This is the seller, he may still have it if you need this in your living room.) Here’s the description: “For sale here is an […]

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[Click to enlarge and read more easily] The case of the controversial Toll Brothers Gowanus development, which was approved by Commmunity Board 6, has just gotten a bit curiouser. The firm had promised 130 affordable units, or about 30 percent of the housing to be built on the banks of Brooklyn’s Grand Canal. Only, CB6 […]

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[Click to enlarge to all its glory.] In theory, Gowanus could get very big and very crowded, if the parcels of land the city is planning to rezone for residential use are built upon. It’s a big if–given the credit meltdown and the hideousy polluted nature of some of the sites–but that’s what could happen […]

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[Photo courtesy of herrc/GL Flickr Pool] We love this shot from the Carroll Street Bridge in black and white.

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There’s nothing new about the Carroll Street Bridge being tagged up or vandalized, and we realize that we feature plenty of images of what people would consider vandalism, but there’s something that bothers us about seeing our favorite little bridge in New York City being messed up in stupid ways. For instance, was it really […]

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Dude is either nuts or really enjoying himself. This was around dusk when it was really getting cold.

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[Photo courtesy of Smith & 9th/GL Flickr Pool] A slightly different angle than the usual one on the Carroll Street Bridge.

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[Photo courtesy Smith & 9th/GL Flickr Pool] Here’s a fascinating and different angle on an old Gowanus landmark.

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[Photo courtesy of New York Public Library] The Gowanus Canal looking south from the Carroll Street Bridge in 1930

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Just last week we called the Toll Brothers proposed condo on the banks of the Gowanus one of our five rotting corpses of 2009. That’s because we think the project will be approved but won’t be built in the current economic climate. The Toll firm itself so deep in financial shit that Robert Toll is […]

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Here’s a fun one from our friends at the Municipal Art Society that shows the Carroll Street Bridge, one of the few surviving retractile bridges left, opening and closing. It’s a fascinating thing to watch if you’ve never seen it and it is, without question, our favorite bridge in Brooklyn.

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We got an email from the Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus group (FROGG) called “Defend the Gowanus.” It’s about a new online petition calling for a cleanup of the deeply polluted canal and protecting it from development that would worsen conditions. Here’s the email: I wanted to share this petition I created online that […]

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It’s been a while since we got around to a Transportation Tuesday or Transportation Thursday, but when we found this deconstructed bike attached to the Carroll Street Bridge at the Gowanus Canal we knew we had to act.

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There are not many things in this world about which we are certain and we think our level of certainty decreases with each passing day. However one thing we know with absolutely certainty that we love are the Gowanus Canal ducks. There is nothing new about the ducks or other wildlife on the Gowanus. It’s […]

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Want to see and/or buy some art highlighting the cityscape? Well, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Holiday Art Show and Sale called “Gowanus: A Sense of Place” is “an homage to the cityscape highlighting the work of 16 local artists. The Opening Artists’ Reception is today (12/5) at 298 Bond Street (between Union and Sackett) from […]

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[Photo for GL Courtesy of Adrian Kinloch/Brit in Brooklyn] This is, of course, the world famous Gowanus water station on Nevins Street as captured in beautiful light by Adrian Kinloch.

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[Photo courtesy of New York Public Library] This is the Gowanus Canal and Smith-9th Street Station on January 21, 1978 with a bit of snow on the ground.

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We’re suckers for pics of wildlife on the Gowanus Canal–ducks, swans, geese, fish, whatever–even if the photo quality isn’t the best. These ducks were spotted off the Carroll Street Bridge, where many a duck has been seen, around 3:30 on Sunday afternoon.

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Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden visited Gowanus last night to talk about the status of the city’s plans to upzone 25 blocks of Gowanus to allow buildings up to 12 stories tall, but she surprised everyone by announcing that a Carroll Gardens downzoning proposals would be ready by June, 2009. Ms. Burden claimed to want […]

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[Photo courtesy of atomische.com/GL Flickr Pool] Behold the canal and the graffiti and tags on the Big G on a November day.

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[Photo for GL courtesy of Gary Mirabelle] Is there nothing more beautiful in a chillingly industrial way than our own Gowanus Canal? Local artist and GL Contributing photographer Gary Mirabelle offers all the proof in this pic than anyone will ever need.

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[Photo courtesy of PMFA] The controversial Toll Brothers project that could be sunk by the firm’s shaky finances before a pile is ever driven into the ground, was endorsed by Community Board Six at a meeting in Park Slope last night. The vote was 23-10 in favor with 6 abstentions. Local blogger PMFA attended and […]

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