What Pollution? Gowanus thrives along Superfund canal
It could be a postcard for Brooklyn’s hip resurgence: a shimmering new building of modern apartments renting for $5,000 a month, a gourmet grocery with a rooftop greenhouse, and a funky barbecue joint with drinks flowing on the outdoor deck.
Except all of it overlooks the Gowanus Canal, a murky, smelly Superfund site choked with raw sewage and an iridescent sheen of oil, PCBs, coal tar and other industrial wastes.
It could take more than a decade to clean it up, but for now people seem willing to overlook some of the worst of old Brooklyn to be a part of the new Brooklyn.