The people of the Gowanus Canal have changed but remarkably the arts and outdoors people have gained a foothold that will resonate for many years, perhaps generations to come. There were the visionaries – Buddy Scotto, John C Muir – and so many other I crossed paths with along the shores, shops, warehouses, and sitting in canoes as we paddled together on its horrifying surface. They are a hardy bunch.
Among my favorites are David Whitlock, who as owner of Main Street Ephemera on Smith Street, created the Gowanus Canal Yacht Club t-shirt. His store was a victim of gentrification when Smith Street became Brooklyn’s hottest restaurant and nighttime destination in the late 1990s. He moved to the Columbia Street waterfront where he stayed till retiring.
Leonard Thomas operates the Union Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal inside the bridgetender’s house. Thomas is The Chicken Man, writing recipes during his downtime. The bridge is one of five drawbridges over the waterway. Leonard Thomas was an operator of the drawbridges over the Gowanus Canal for over twenty years. During his hours at the Canal he wrote down recipes and became known as The Chicken Man. ©Mark D Phillips Earth Day on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY, in 1999. Jeanne from the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation and Owen Foote in the canoe lead a community day at Brooklyn’s Superfund waterway. Buddy Scotto, activist for the Gowanus Canal, talked for years about what the waterway could mean for Brooklyn. Scotto formed the Gowanus Canal Commnity Development Corporation over 30 years ago to push the advancement of the neighborhood. In 1996, Scotto spoke at a press conference announcing that the church, in conjunction with the Carroll Gardens Association and the Gowanus Canal Development Corp., wanted to develop the school into low-income senior housing. But the plan never got off the ground, as they were unable to obtain funding. Activists and community groups gather on the Union Street bridge to advocate for Landmarking and preserving the original architecture in the Gowanus Canal district, Linda Mariano is front and center. A young man swings at a pitch with his shadow on the wall of a school playground in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, near the Gowanus Canal. Gowanus Canal Dredgers present a poetry reading of Lorine Niedicker as part of the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 12, 2018, to attendees along the Carroll Street Bridge in Brooklyn. Owen Foote of the Gowanus Dredgers talks about the history of the Gowanus Canal during the Battle of Brooklyn tour canoe trip. ©Mark D Phillips David Whitlock sits in his empty store on Smith Street in Brooklyn May 19, 2003, after his rent jumped and he had to move to a new location with much less foot traffic. His store, Main Street Ephemera, sold old postcards, magazines, collectibles and tshirts – in particular the Gowanus Canal Yacht Club shirt. ©Mark D Phillips Dan of Two Dans on the banks of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY, just north of the Carroll Street Bridge. The Auto Salvage company was one of the few businesses still operating along the canal in 1996. A diver covered in oil exits the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY, during the city-led 1999 cleanup effort that involved repairs to the flushing tunnel and a partial dredging at the head of the waterway. The results were immediate with an increase in fish and wildlife. The divers had challenging conditions, coming out covered in oil and tar and working conditions with no visibility underwater. Lauren B. Cramer rests on her front stoop in Gowanus, Brooklyn, on a beautiful May evening in 2022.
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