Can the Gowanus Canal’s industrial past be saved?

As a neighborhood rezoning looms, many of the industrial structures around the Gowanus Canal are threatened

Out on the banks of the Gowanus Canal, some of the last vestiges of Brooklyn's historic industrial waterfront are clinging to life. Dozens of old warehouses, factories and stables still line the streets here, where the long, colorful history of industry can be traced back to tidal mills built by Dutch immigrants in the 1600s.

Unfortunately, many of the neighborhood landmarks around the Gowanus may soon be demolished, as any day now, the New York City Council is expected to announce the latest rezoning plans for the area. In anticipation, real estate speculators have spent the last few years investing hundreds of millions of dollars into buying up as much property as possible, awaiting the city's permission to tear it down and build a new neighborhood of residential towers.

Many significant historic structures have already vanished during the recent waves of gentrification that have swept across the Gowanus. Manufacturing businesses, welders, and garages have been displaced; shuffleboard courts, rock climbing gyms, and other playgrounds for the wealthy have moved in.

Last week, in a final do-or-die effort to save some aspect of the neighborhood's industrial character, a collection of preservation associations and community groups held a press conference on the canal to announce a list of 29 proposed area landmarks. Calling itself the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition, the group's ambitious proposal offered up a sweeping overview of the types of vernacular structures that have become increasingly endangered here, ranging from simple wood-frame homes to iconic powerhouses. Their call-to-arms may be the community's last chance to slow the wrecking ball.

"Our concern is that a firestorm of rezoning is coming," Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council (HDC), said during the press conference. "And if we don't act—if the city does not act—before the rezoning to preserve some of these older structures, there won't be anything left. All we will have is a bunch of postcards."

There is currently just one official New York City landmark located on the Gowanus Canal: the Carroll Street Bridge, which dates back to 1889. Only one other landmark is located in the canal's immediate vicinity: the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building, at the corner of Third Street and Third Avenue, which dates back to 1872. The bridge became a landmark in 1987, and the stone building was designated in 2006, but since then, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has declined to protect any other structures in the neighborhood.

That's not for lack of trying by the community groups that are allied with the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition, which include the HDC, the Park Slope Civic Council, the Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG), and the Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development (CG CORD).

If the city does not act to preserve some of these older structures … all we will have is a bunch of postcards.

These groups, and many others, have been attempting to preserve some aspect of the neighborhood's historic industrial landscape for more than a decade, only to have their requests ignored or rejected by the LPC.

In 2011, the HDC selected the Gowanus as part of their Six to Celebrate program, citing "the architectural and historic merit of the area" and the "level of threat to the neighborhood." As part of this program, the HDC published a guidebook and map highlighting 21 historic industrial structures around the canal, many of which overlap with the new list created by the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition. Several of these sites, however, have since been torn down, including the the Burns Brothers Coal Pockets, which dated back to 1915, the Kentile Floors sign, which dated back to 1949, and the Eagle Clothing Factory sign, which dated back to 1951.

Over the past decade, rezoning has been used as a tool to radically alter scores of neighborhoods across New York City, allowing hundreds of buildings to be demolished to make way for new development. If those past efforts are any indication, once the rezoning of the Gowanus is passed and the floodgates of development are opened, there will be no stopping the wholesale destruction of the neighborhood's warehouses. Aside from the immense profits that will be made by real estate developers, however, it is not clear why there such a rush to rezone the area's toxic land.

The Gowanus Canal is one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States, with the federal Superfund cleanup expected to take at least a decade or more to complete. The remediation of the numerous toxic brownfields along its banks will also take many years. Meanwhile, the streets here flood on a regular basis during rainstorms, and the area is expected to be inundated by rising sea levels.

Perhaps a more daring proposal for the Gowanus would be to landmark the entire canal and everything around it, leaving it behind as a reminder of our long history of industrial pollution, which has changed the planet's climate and which is now causing the high tides that will soon engulf us. In the meantime, a long walk around the canal reveals many important structures that could still be saved.

On May 22, the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition held a press conference at the Union Street Bridge, announcing a list of 29 proposed landmarks for the neighborhoods around the Gowanus Canal.

The coalition's list includes the Union Street Bridge Control Tower, a glazed brick structure built in the mid-20th century. The bridge itself dates back to 1905, and in 2016, Gowanus Patch reported that it could be replaced by a newer structure.

Another proposed landmark, the National Packing Box Factory, is located just east of the bridge at 543 Union Street. This complex of five industrial buildings dates back to 1910, and was once home to a box factory. It now houses a variety of small businesses and arts studios.

North of the Union Street Bridge, the neighborhood landscape is predominantly occupied by simple one- and two-story warehouses, each of which has its own long history. Along Nevins Street, these structures include the former home of Majestic Quality Products and the Adams Book Company, located at 537 Sackett Street. This block-long warehouse sold to developers in 2017 for $26.5 million.

Further north along Nevins Street, the coalition has proposed a historic district encompassing five different industrial buildings at the head of the canal. These include the Gowanus Station building at 234 Butler Street, a historic 1913 structure that is now threatened with demolition to make way for a proposed Combined Sewage Overflow tank.

Across the street is the R. G. Dun and Company building, a circa-1914 former printing plant located at 255 Butler Street. It was announced in 2014 that a 162 room hotel would be created here, complete with a greenhouse and spa pool. The building is currently empty.

Next door to the printing plant is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals building, built in 1913. Located at 233 Butler Street, this shelter once handled more animals than any other facility in the United States, according to a Columbia University study. The building sold to developers for $9.5 million in 2017, and the ground floor is currently being remodeled into a music club and restaurant.

Although not part of the proposed list of landmarks, this house at 194 Butler Street, just across the street from the ASPCA building, would be a worthy addition to a historic district. It dates back to the 1880s and is a rare example of the neighborhood's wood frame homes that were once built for workers.

The pumping house for the Gowanus Canal is also part of the proposed historic district. Dating back to 1905, this structure at the end of Douglass Street is still in use today. Fresh water is pumped into the headwaters of the canal, flushing out its raw sewage and industrial pollution.

The coalition has also proposed that the remaining Belgian block street-ends around the canal be designated as a scenic landmark to protect them from removal. These dead-end streets are certainly part of the neighborhood's unique industrial charm, and many have now become sites for community gardens, complete with birdhouses and benches. These blocks are located at the end of Sackett Street.

At 498 Sackett Street, the Belgian blocks face another of the area's endangered warehouses. These simple structures are an important part of the neighborhood's industrial character, but most are not included in the coalition's list of proposed landmarks. The rezoning would no doubt erase many of these buildings.

Along Bond Street from Sackett to Degraw streets sits block of endangered warehouses, overgrown with weeds and covered in graffiti, a reminder of the gritty allure of the Gowanus. A contract of sale for this entire block, which was once home to the Bayside Accurate Meter Corp, was filed in 2014.

Circling back to Union Street, one of these simple warehouse has found new life as The Green Building, a popular wedding and event venue. Originally a brass foundry, this structure was constructed in 1889, and is included in the coalition's list of proposed landmarks.

Also on the list is this former stable at 383 Carroll Street, which is home to Lavender Lake, a popular bar that takes its name from the polluted conditions of the Gowanus Canal. In 2016, DNAinfo reported that the building's owner had applied to the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program to "remove pollution left in the soil from its past use as a coal yard, ironworks and auto repair shop," and was planning to demolish the property for new development.

Just down the street from Lavender Lake is one of the only city landmarks in the area, the Carroll Street Bridge and its engine house. This diminutive structure is now dwarfed by the first new residential tower to be constructed along the Gowanus Canal, a good example of how the landscape of the neighborhood may be completely changed by rezoning.

The Carroll Street Bridge was built in 1889 and is one of just four retractile bridges remaining in the United States. It is one of the oldest bridges in the city, and its charmingly small scale is now overshadowed by the outsized development next door.

Up the street from the bridge is an array of unique Carroll Street houses, including wood frame and brick structures. While not on the list of proposed landmarks, these homes could be an interesting proposal as part of another historic district.

Just a block away, at 522 Carroll Street, sits Our Lady of Peace, a Franciscan church and Friary that dates back to 1904. It is one of two historic churches in the Gowanus area that the coalition has proposed as potential landmarks.

Across the street from the church, at 505 Carroll Street, is an industrial complex dating back to the 1890s. It is now home to the Textile Arts Center, and an eight-story "boutique manufacturing" tower has been proposed for the empty lots around it, according to DNAinfo.

South of the Carroll Street Bridge, the ruins of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Powerhouse are now being restored by architects Herzog & de Meuron, with the backing of a nonprofit and developer Joshua Rechnitz. Also known as The Batcave, this monumental structure dates back to at least 1902, and is not yet landmarked.

Along 4th Street, between Hoyt and Bond streets, sits another cluster of historic buildings the coalition would like to see landmarked. On the left hand of the street is one of the last one-story homes in the neighborhood, which the coalition describes as a "remnant shanty" from the late 1800s. Across the street, on the right, is a warehouse once owned by artist Tom Otterness, who sold it in April for $12.8 million "in anticipation of the neighborhood's rezoning."

Surrounded by warehouses, the humble structure at 101 4th Street is one of the last original one-story residences remaining in the Gowanus. "I know there are not many vernacular structures like this left. It's really one of a kind," one of the building's owners says. "I'd love to landmark it!"

At the end of 4th Street, where it intersects Bond Street, is a historic ice house and brewing complex, which dates back to 1904, when this was the Empire City Hygeia Ice Company. The most recent plans for this complex were to create a "Venetian-inspired culinary destination with rooftop dining," according to DNAinfo.

Next door to the ice house is a 1934 warehouse that was previously the site of the New York Vitrified Tile Works, according to a study by Columbia University. In 2013, it was purchased by LIVWRK for approximately $11 million, according to The Real Deal, and it was recently gut renovated.

The Somers Bros. Tin Box Factory, also known as the American Can Factory, is located at Third Street and Third Avenue, and dates back to 1891. Now home to offices and arts groups, it once "produced 1,800 tin boxes per week."

Across the street from the Can Factory is the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building, which was declared a landmark in 2006. It is now surrounded by a Whole Food Market. Restored in 2016, it has remained empty and for sale.

The William H. Mobray building at 400 Third Avenue, which dates back to approximately 1910, is a charming industrial warehouse that is is now home to small arts galleries and shops.

Down the block at Sixth Street, Dykes Lumber Company is one of the last active lumber yards along the banks of the Gowanus. Though not suggested as a landmark, it is a neighborhood fixture that has been located on the canal since 1986. Its neighbors once included the Burns Brothers Coal Pockets, which were demolished in 2014.

The Ferrara Bros. concrete plant at 435 Hoyt Street is another newer industrial business that is not being suggested as a landmark. One of the last concrete manufacturing businesses along the banks of the canal, the plant has been here for over 40 years, and created concrete for the World Trade Center Memorial and the Third Water Tunnel. It is currently being dismantled, and will relocate to Sunset Park.

The T. H Roulston complex along Ninth Street dates back to the 1910s. Originally built as a grocery warehouse, the buildings "are Renaissance Revival in style with corbeled cornices and segmentally arched windows." They were gutted in 2016 to create a high-end office space called Roulston House.

The Culver Viaduct, completed in 1933, is a mile-long structure that contains the highest elevated subway station in the world, the 87.5-foot-high Smith-Ninth Street stop. Already a neighborhood fixture, the structure is included one the coalition's list of proposed landmarks.

A number of historic structures are located south of the viaduct, including this former warehouse at 170 Second Avenue, which the coalition describes as the "Norge Sailmakers Building." Records indicate it was leased by the Montauk Paint Company in 1923.

This area also includes the FDNY firehouse at 252 Lorraine Street, home to Engine 279/Ladder 131, aka the Happy Hookers, which was founded in 1913. This historic building is not landmarked or proposed as a potential landmark.

A block south of the firehouse, at 595 Smith Street, is the S.W. Browne Grain Storehouse, which was built in 1886. Preservation groups, including the Society for Industrial Archeology, have been trying to landmark this historic structure for over a decade, to no avail.

An application for demolition was filed by the building's owner in 2017, and workers are now removing its roof, leaving the interior exposed to the elements, although no work permits have been filed at the Department of Buildings website. The final days of this once majestic warehouse now seem imminent, unless the LPC steps in to save it.

Nathan Kensinger is a photographer, filmmaker, and curator who has been documenting New York City's abandoned edges, endangered neighborhoods, and post-industrial waterfront for more than a decade. His Camera Obscura photo essays have appeared on Curbed since 2012. His photographs have been exhibited by the Museum of the City of New York, the Queens Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the NYC Parks Department, and inside the Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center subway station.