The artist Naima Rauam painted the watercolor below, “Docking a Freighter.”   At the end of this post I explain why the image is here.  Many of my favorites among her watercolors she did in the wee hours at the (old) Fulton Fish Market, a place that lives on only in her work.

Thanks to Jed for these night fotos, all taken in the vicinity of Gowanus Bay, industrial water fed by the canal that received Superfund status this past week.

I played with the color a bit for the foto above.  Below is the original.

Vincent van Gogh, who knew the night well, said, “I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”

I agree.  The foto directly above and below show the Red Hook Grain Terminal, empty now but built in 1922.  See fotos inside the silos here and here;  each has multiple links embedded within.  Dozens of conjoined siloes once held grain shipped through the Erie Canal and down the Hudson to feed the New York brewing and distilling industries.

And the watercolor by Naima Rauam, it’s being raffled off as a fund raiser for the Working Harbor Committee.  If you wish to support WHC and possibly win this watercolor, you have until Thursday, March 11 to get your ticket.   Info here.

Thanks to Jed for the night  fotos.

Here is a foto essay from the March 7 NY Times on the Gowanus Canal.