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I can’t leave you on the Gowanus Canal as I did a week ago, so let’s head back. Here’s a look back; small tug Jimmy moves into our location with a mini mud scow. Btw, if you’re unfamiliar with Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, here‘s a bit of history.
From the inland side of the Ninth Avenue Bridge, we move through, looking toward the Hamilton Street Bridge and the BQE. NYC DOT oversees 24 moveable bridges; you’re looking at two of them right here.
You’ve seen signs of “entering” and “leaving” on terrestrial thoroughfares. This one on the Hamilton Street bridge is unusual.
We move our load of pilings, old but preserved in whatever you’d call Gowanus water. Note the curve in the Canal just beyond the bridge.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of people travel atop this Gowanus Expressway/BQE bridge. Maybe dozens see its underside.
The Hamilton Avenue Marine Transfer Station has been open for just over three years. For a look inside, click here.
In a previous post on “trashed universal product,” you can see the outbound transfer stations. More on the whole process here.
Much more unexpected along the south bank of the Canal Bay are these “sea float” Siemens 76-MW aeroderivative gas turbines.
As much as I can tell, these units have been here for just over a year.
Here‘s more on Vard Marine’s involvement with Siemens SeaFloat. These must have been towed in, Did anyone catch this?
As the spray denotes, we’ve now out of the Gowanus Canal, which may or may not be named for a Lenape chief, and headed over to a disposal site, but that’ll be another post. Lots more facts about the canal in the link in the previous sentence.
Many thanks to James for the trip. All photos, interpretation, WVD.
Here are earlier installments of this. And if you’re not familiar the the location of Gowanus or its history, check the links embedded. If you live in the NYC area and drive or take Brooklyn subways, you have no doubt gone over it. If you’ve wondered where the name comes from, check this alphabetical listing with great old photos.
Last week I had the opportunity to travel up the waterway, thanks to James Stasinos. Gowanus Bay is marked by the grain elevators, (built in 1922!!), and the storage ship Loujaine. For a full history of the cement carrier originally called Bahma, click here.
The tug was headed up the canal, as it does several times daily, is the cleanup, which has recently begun in earnest.
A bit farther in, Diane B turns John Blanche before heading across the Upper Bay.
As we head in, we first head through the Hamilton Avenue bridge and under the Gowanus Expressway flyover. The passage is narrow and located on a turn.
Here’s the view to port.
Once through there, we weave between a scrap yard and Lowe’s parking lot.
Above and below, that’s the Ninth Avenue bridge. Like the Hamilton Avenue bridge, passing involves a conversation with the bridge tender.
Here we look over the bridge and beyond while waiting for the bridge to open.
This is the view to starboard as we wait.
Once through, we arrive at the pickup site. Note the excavator that could tell stories
of sifting through and removing the “black mayonnaise.” Nuggets of historical interest are being collected for future display. It’ll be years before this project is complete.
Many thanks to James for the trip. All photos, interpretation, WVD.
Once I rowed to the head of the Canal here. And in November 2013, I traveled up the waterway, and photos of the cargo are scattered throughout posts from late November that year.
I’m surprised I’ve not heard this be called DUBQEG, “down under Brooklyn-Queens Expressway of Gowanus” a la DUMBO.
I was here last week waiting for … and when the twin bascules of the Hamilton Street Bridge, I thought it was someone else, but
I was equally pleased to see Sarah Ann–previously June K–arrive to exchange scrap scows,
exchanging the light 141 for the loaded 136.
Two things that really impressed me were (1. the intensity of multi-modal traffic at this location and
(2. the gentleness with which the Sarah Ann crew negotiated her 2700 hp in such confined space.
And yes that is a Coney Island bound F train approaching the Smith-Ninth Street Station, the highest subway stop in the system, one from which you can see the Statue.
Scrapping needs to happen somewhere in the city,
and it continues to be one aspect of marine commerce in Gowanus.
Bravo to the Sarah Ann crew for their impressive work.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
I have many more Gmelin photos, but as an indication that I still inhabit the present-day sixth boro, I’ll show some sign of life for a few days.
For outatowners, Gowanus Creek (now Canal) is one of the most polluted waterways in the US, which is no secret to locals. By the way, Gowanus rhymes with “you want us” with a silent “t.”
I took this photo this week just upstream of the 9th Street Bridge. In fact, when a man swam down the Canal last year, he wore some serious hazmat protection, as the Media Boat shows here.
What I was not aware of is how much effort is going into addressing the accumulated pollution of more than a century.
This barge holds several excavators at work in the Fourth Street Turning Basin, one of the dead ends in the Canal.
As needed, the barge is moved by this small tug/pushboat that might be called 1337E.
Besides black goop that I might photograph next time, wood and other detritus is being plucked from the bottom.
Gowanus, there’s hope. I’ll be back.
Click here and here for some posts I did when I last visited the Canal . . . in 2011 and 2013.
As to connections between the Gowanus area of Brooklyn and the Erie Canal, click here. For a photo of the Gowanus Bay New York State Canal Freight Terminal, click here and scroll to p. 22.
Here was 15.
What is this? Foto was taken on Colonels Row, Governors Island.
Energy saver of the future?
Prison cage?
Recycling?
Construction material?
Fish habitat?
Monitoring device?
You’ll have to wait til tomorrow at least for the answer. It is pretty, though.
Exactly a year ago, I put up this matrix on a barge.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
(Doubleclick enlarges most fotos.) When I visited Village Community Boathouse (VCB) late last winter, we discussed a “photographic rowfari” to the Gowanus, come spring. Spring has arrived, and so . .. yesterday, John Magnus and JML
constructed by volunteers at VCB were lowered into the north River at Pier 40 and
after some adjustments, the hearty crews rowed toward their destination,
making a stop to greet the folks at Red Hook Boaters near Valentino Pier before
heading farther south.
Once past Erie Basin, we turned into Gowanus Bay, past the Loujaine, the grain elevators,
part of the Vane fleet, docked where the previous tenant’s name still graces the wall,
past the experiment vessel Jerko
with its famous tender Mare Liberum. . . floating above all manner of artifacts there for the collecting . . . farther up the canal untl we reached it . . .
huge bubbles? Reverse maelstrom? Vortex reversus? Belch of sludge lusus naturae? Maybe it’s just evidence that the flushing canal actually functions in spite of its sisyphean task of cleaning what has been rendered most foul?
In spite of Gowanus‘ uberpolluted condition, an ecosystem exists, with feral cats,
mussels,
an intrepid canoe club,
predators and prey.
Is the intention of this sign (above a novel use of tires) to invite us back? See the VCB version of events here.
Questions I have are . . . how soon might the Canal’s Superfund status show results?
Unrelated but possibly good news related to South Street Seaport . . . we all who pledged may have the pleasure of sending in our Benjamin Franklins . . . .
And a heads-up for next week . . . Hudson River Pageant, involving some of Village Community Boathouse’s rowing gigs!
Related and very important . . . if you’re in a human-powered and relatively small vessel, be aware that you are difficult to spot for huge cargo vessels of all kinds that travel fast and have limited maneuverability. Read Towmasters post here
tugster: a waterblog 
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