The Gowanus Community

2012

Political Districts

District 33

District 38

District 39

a portion of Brooklyn Community Board 2

Brooklyn Community Board 6

Statistics

Population

2000 Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) 63,001

2007 Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) 65,047

2000 Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) 32,974

2007 Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) 35,825

Households w/ Children

Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) 47.7%

Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) 49.5%

Households with 1 vehicle

Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) 39%

Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) 34%

Commute to work using mass transit

Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) 68%

Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) 64%

Average Household income

Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) $90,450

Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) $86,056

Median Household income

Park Slope/ Gowanus (11215) $66,132

Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill/ Red Hook (11231) $53,516

Area Schools

Public:

PS 27, PS 29, PS 32, PS 58, PS 77, PS 321, PS 282, PS 107

Middle School 378

School for Global Studies

School for International Studies

New Horizons School

Math and Science Studies School

Private:

Hannah Senesh School

Montessori School

Berkeley Carroll School

Hanson Place School

A Brief History of the (Still Not Done) Clean Up of the Gowanus Canal

1869 - US Army Core of Engineers (ACOE) dredges the Gowanus Creek to create the Gowanus Canal. The canal is created without locks, and therefore cannot be drained or flushed for cleaning.

1890 - Bond Street sewer pipe line is built to carry raw sewage out of the neighborhood.

1911 - Flushing Tunnel installed at the extreme north end of the canal, pumping in fresh water via a tunnel from Buttermilk Channel.

1955 - ACOE stops dredging the canal.

1960 - Flushing system pump is damaged.

1975 - The City of New York establishes the Gowanus Industrial Renewal Plan (in effect until the year 2011).

1982 - New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) plans to reactivate the Flushing Tunnel pump.

1994 - The DEP actually starts up the project.

1999 - The Flushing Tunnel was finally reactivated in 1999.

1987 - The $230 million Red Hook Water Pollution Control Plant is built but cannot handle raw sewage overflow from the sewer system's 14 Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) points.

1999 - Assemblywoman Joan Millman allocates $100,000 to the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation (GCCDC) to produce and distribute a bulkhead study and public access document.

1999 - US House of Representatives subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure authorizes a reconnaissance study to determine the feasibility of environmental restoration and protection of the aquatic, wetland and adjacent land.

2000 - GCCDC receives $270,000 from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to construct three street-end public open spaces along the Gowanus Canal through the city's Green Street program.

2001 - GCCDC receives $270,000 from Governor George E. Pataki to create a revitalization plan.

2002 - GDCDC receives $100,000 in capital funds to implement a pilot project on the shoreline.

2002 - the ACOE entered into a cost-sharing agreement with the NYS DEP to collaborate on a $5 million Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study of the Gowanus Canal area to be completed in 2005, studying possible alternatives for ecosystem restoration such as dredging, and wetland and habitat restoration. Stakeholders include NYS DEC, HEP (Harbor Estuary Program) and the GCDC.

2002 - The DEP also initiated the Gowanus Canal Use and Standards Attainment project, to meet the City's obligations under the Clean Water Act.

2003 - Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez allocates an additional $225,000 to create a comprehensive community development plan.

2004 - A public promenade is built with private funds adjacent to the Lowes Home Center parking lot.

2009 - US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes Superfund designation for the canal.