GowanusCanal.US – Mark D Phillips photographs document the last 35 years along the Gowanus Canal, declared a Superfund site in 2010 containing the dirtiest water in the United States.

Gowanus2024 “ECHOES in a canyon”

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The Gowanus canal - A LONG TERM Photographic DOCUMENTARY PROJECT

Mark D Phillips first discovered the fetid, abandoned waterway in the heart of Brooklyn in 1989. His photographs document a unique urban landscape surrounding the 1.8 mile long canal containing the dirtiest water in the United States.

Today’s Gowanus Canal is a developers dream with high rise apartment buildings sprouting like weeds along its shoreline. But there are advocates fighting to keep access to this jewel in Brooklyn.

From the blog

Echoes in a Canyon, the new Gowanus Canal

“Hello” we called on the new Gowanus. Our voices echoed back.

This was not the Gowanus Canal of the last thirty years. It also was almost unrecognizable. Bulkheads stretched high above our heads. And then the final blow: It was Glen Canyon before the dam with high rise buildings soaring toward the sky, creating a new canyon within the heart of Brooklyn. The echoes will be fleeting. It’s just the lack of people filling the buildings and environs. I couldn’t even here the sounds of the city on the water. It was eerie.

The inaugural Gowanus Art Parade crosses the Union Street Bridge on June 1, 2024, with a changing landscape along the shores of the canal. As hundreds of revelers cross the Union Street bridge, the old and the new Gowanus are in sharp contrast. All eyes are on the Gowanus Canal and its environs as it undergoes an upgrade from the 19th century to the 22nd century.

Field of Dreams: New bulkheads are constructed along the shore at the head of the Gowanus Canal beyond the Union Street bridge in July 2020. ©Mark D Phillips

EPA Inspector General Sean W. O’Donnell issued a report this morning outlining how oversight failures by EPA Region 2 and willful obstruction by the City of New York have led to soaring costs and increased health risks in Gowanus.

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Our 2025 ABSTRACTS GOWANUS CANAL calendar is now available. The filth of the waterway created beautiful mosaics in the photographs by Mark D Phillips. A great gift for the holidays for anyone interested in the cleanup of Brooklyn’s notorious Superfund site.

CALENDARS * FINE ART IMAGES • COLLECTIBLES • ÇLOTHING