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 […]

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Here are some photos we shot yesterday at the 2008 Idiotarod in Gowanus, at the Carroll Street Bridge, and in Red Hook, at Moonshine, which was the finish line. Related Posts:Idiotarod ’08 Has Taken Off [Gothamist]1,186 Idiotarod Tagged Photos So Far [flickr]NYC Idiotarod 2008 [Brit in Brooklyn]A Group of Idiots in Search of Idiotarod ’08 […]

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We caught some of the 2008 Idiotarod–that annual small-scale Halloween meets the Mermaid Parade, but with pimped shopping carts and a very long route–in Gowanus and Red Hook. Here’s our video of the race, as it leaves “Checkpoint Two” at The Yard, next to the Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus and at the finish line, […]

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1) We assume the new cafe at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street on the Gowanus side of the tracks is still going to be called Brooklyn Bean, although the mural on the plywood has come down revealing the storefront. It’s of interest because the Fourth Avenue Brooklyn Bean is not related to […]

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The inimitable Kevin Walsh and Forgotten NY have turned their attention to Gowanus with a brand new web page. Here’s a sample: Way back in November 2005 I went wandering about the part of Brooklyn that’s not quite Cobble Hill and not quite Park Slope, that was dangerous in the 60s and 70s and just […]

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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 […]

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Any way you slice, chop or dice it, when it comes to handmade kitchen knives, Brooklyn has the edge. A local craftsman has set up shop in a tiny Gowanus studio, whipping up cutlery from scratch under the brand name ‘Cut Brooklyn.’”–NYDN

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We got an email from the Urban Divers about an event coming up in February that sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a celebration of Black History and African-American Month on the Gowanus. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 13, from 3PM-9PM. Here are some details: Join The Urban […]

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>The Gowanus Studio Space, which offers shared work space in Gowanus for artists, is opening on February 1. Their full website is here. The space is located at 119 Eighth Street, which is between Second and Third Avenues: …the Studio houses a large industrial arts workshop as well as private studios and exhibition space. Resources […]

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The old Daily News warehouse on Third Avenue between Douglass and Degraw recently sold for $10.5 million. The new owner says it’s a good spot for retail, mentioning a chain drugstore “or even a supermarket.”–Brownstoner

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Here’s some new Gowanus construction that is easy to get behind. At some point during the winter, someone put in some houses for the feral cats that inhabit this empty lot to use. Very cool.–Callalillie

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Chalk it up to the mid-January slump, perhaps, but both Hotel Le Bleu in Gowanus and Hotel Le Jolie in Williamsburg have slashed their rates for “winter sales.” Rooms at both establishments are available for as little as $139 a night. We say this as a way of saying that prices for the time being […]

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“A Papa John’s has opened on 4th Avenue between Baltic and Butler, no doubt gearing up to deliver pies to the thousands of people who are going to live in the strip’s many new buildings.”–Brownstoner

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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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We took note of Parkside Auto Repair on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Third Street when it went on the market for an asking price of $3.75 million and again when it sold in August. Ever since, we’ve been wondering what would be going into this space in front of a Staples and within […]

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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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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 […]

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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 […]

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It looks like the Russo Realty empire on Smith Street near Ninth Street is about to meet its maker. Earlier this year, blogger 423 Smith jokingly referred to the strip as “The Notary District.” The buildings have been in the process of being prepped for demolition since summer, with rat poison spread around. Now, a […]

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Last week, we posted photos of some toys and Garfields on and near the Carroll Street and Union Street Bridges over the Gowanus. Last night, someone posted a comment that needs to be run as its own item. The writer says he/she is responsible and explains the original of the stuffed Garfields and toys. If […]

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The space shown above has been a long time in the making, so we were happy to get this “Save the Date” in our inbox last night. The full website is here and it has some details about the undertaking, except that the address isn’t obvious. Here’s a bit about it: Located in Gowanus Brooklyn, […]

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The competition among developers to win the rights to develop the deeply toxic parcel of land between Smith Street and the Gowanus Canal known as Public Place took a step forward this week with the release of this rendering. It shows the Avalon Bay vision for Gowanus and includes a number of mid-rise buildings, going […]

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Is Gowanus becoming Brooklyn’s other hotel district, after downtown? It just might be. Our friend Gabby Warshawer at Brownstoner scored a huge scoop with news that not one, but two, hotels are being planned for President Street between Third and Fourth Avenues. SAI Hospitality, which specializes in budget lodging is building a 105-room hotel at […]

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We’ve watched glass blowing many, many times and actually had a chance to take a lesson at Pier Glass in Red Hook last year. If you’d like to watch the process in action, Scanlan Glass, which is at 103 14th Street (near Third Avenue), is having an open house tomorrow (12/15) and Sunday (12/16) from […]

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“According to a couple of sources, 7th street between 2nd and 3rd aves will soon be home to a new musical venue run by the good folks at union hall.” The moves seems to makes sense for a number of reasons, including noise complaints at their current location on Union Street.–Food of the Future

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