A study of Gowanus

Gowanus, New York City

By Leonore Snoek
redistricting, rezoning, demographics, pollution

A socio and demographical study into the neighborhood of Gowanus.

The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn New York was once the most polluted waterway of the United States. Quickly after its construction in the mid 19th Century, the canal became an important commercial waterway for the City of Brooklyn and heavy industry agglomerated on its shores. After its industrial decline, land around the canal remains primarily M-zoned and the many years of industrial activity have left its trace. In 2010, The Environmental Protection Agency determined officially what other had long known, both the waterway and land around the canal were severely polluted and are now part of one of the EPA’s Superfund Sites.

Situated between the neighborhoods of Red Hook, historic Carroll Gardens, and the gentrified Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill, Gowanus’ land, once fully remediated will be prime real estate investment material. Real estate developer Fitzsimmons states “Once the Superfund cleanup is complete and the area is rezoned, we’re sure to see a greater influx of developers eager to capitalize on the area’s improved demographics, which will unlock Gowanus’ unlimited potential.”(1)

Title: Manufacturing in Gowanus

Since today, Gowanus is also part of the Mayor’s rezoning initiative, the M-zoned land that makes up most of Gowanus is at stake. My research into Gowanus was mainly explorative, in the midst of all these changes, rezoning, and the EPA’s clean-up efforts, what can mapping as a research tool bring?

Title: A 2008 rezoning proposal already rezoned one of the M-zoned lots to a Mixed-use zone, here a high-rise luxury development was realized, against the will of Gowanus’ inhabitants.

I wanted to see how Gowanus compares to its surroundings neighborhoods on a socio-demographic level. I used census data from 2010 and 2014 to overlay the Median Income per census tract and the population (normalized). For the median income I used a graduated map, and for the population, I used a dot map, where each dot size represents a certain number of people living in the census tract.

Title: Demographic changes in Gowanus

I continued my research looking into the political districts of Gowanus. Interestingly enough in 2013, during the redistricting of City Councils in New York City, in the neighborhood of Gowanus most of the land got redistricted into one city council district, number 39, led by council member Brad Lander. He is currently the main force behind Bridging Gowanus a community led rezoning proposal project.

Title: City Council Redistricting

Finally, inspired by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg ToxiCity Map (embed link: http://clhenrick.github.io/greenpoint_williamsburg_toxicity_map/), I used data from the Environment Protection Agency monitor website to indicate where in Gowanus there are toxic and pollution sources as monitored by the EPA. The map can be found online at Carto and has three interactive layers with information on Historical Industrial Land use, the EPA regulated sites and what it means to be an EPA Superfund Site.

To conclude, Gowanus serves as in interesting case study for the influx of real estate pressure, pollution from historic uses and citizen participation. Even though the Super Fund status of Gowanus halted the 2008 rezoning efforts of the city, today, Gowanus is again part of a city wide rezoning that is looking to ‘upzone’. If the Mixed use rezoning from 2008 is any indication, profits from that rezoning will likely go to a select few, leaving clean-up efforts straight from public to private gains.

(1) Fitzsimmons in “Gowanus: The New super-fun way to spend investment cash”, from Real Estate Weekly (November 9, 2016).