Businesses located within the Gowanus area support many jobs. The rezoning area alone employs 1,700 people in manufacturing and industrial businesses that make the Gowanus their home. The rezoning is taking place in the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Area, a district created by the City to “foster high-performing business districts by creating competitive advantages over locating in areas outside of New York City.” These businesses appreciate the relative isolation in which they operate in the Gowanus as well as the ready access they have to major transportation routes. The Gowanus Canal is also an integral part of this system, and continued barging on the Gowanus helps us reduce our carbon footprint by eliminating the equivalent of over two-hundred thousand truck trips from our streets and highways.
MAS’ concern is that the City’s plan provides incentives to build eight to twelve story buildings along the northern portion of the Canal. But, is this a good place to allow mid-to high-density residential development?
The area lies in a flood plain, and locals who walk or bike across the canal are often met by the putrid odors rising from the canal due to the lack of adequate storm-water and sewage infrastructure. If it rains, the situation becomes even more dismal as the area’s streets become flooded by water contaminated by raw sewage. The Gowanus Canal has also been the site of intensive industrial activity for over 150 years, and those businesses left behind petroleum and other environmental contaminants that pose serious health risks.
continue reading :Gowanus, A Great Place To Work, But To Live?
(The Municipal Art Society Of New York)
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