The New York Times has published an article profiling neighborhood resistance to the various Gowanus Canal clean-up plans proposed by the E.P.A., from how the canal will be dredged to how the toxic sludge will eventually be used and how future canal contamination will be prevented.
A particularly troublesome proposal calls for an 8-million gallon sewage storage tank to be built underground beneath the popular Double D Pool to prevent the canal from overflowing during rainstorms. Neighbors are obviously up in arms about the idea of their children swimming on top of a giant sewage tank, and as fans of the pool at Gowanus Your Face Off we’re not so stoked on that idea either.
After months of neighborhood bickering culminating in the approval of a liquor license last September, construction has finally begun on the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Parlor on Union Street between Nevins Street and Third Avenue. A gray-painted wood construction barrier went up around the one-story property in early April and interior demolition began two weeks ago. See the above photo taken by Gowanus Your Face Off.
In a world where cooking is boring and lame and filled with nothing but normalcy… comes an dinning event so epic that you won’t even know the people you’re eating with.
Choas Cooking goes like this. You get a bunch of people in one room… make some awesome food… and watch the socializing unfold. It’s epic! (we know we used the word epic already, but it’s the best word…deal). Here’s why it’s epic: Attendees get a 100-CourseMeal for $20 and only 150 peeps can go. So, do the math. That’s a lot of food, with a lot of great peeps, for like nothing. What are you going to do April 11th sit at home and watch House of Cards? Don’t be lame get out a be social!
more details:
Chaos Cooking Cambodia Hosted by Gowanus Girls
A Spontaneous, 100-Course Meal * Part of the Forward Festival, celebrating Cambodian Arts + Culture * A Very Loose Theme, Cook What You Like!
Thursday, April 11, 7pm – midnight
Gowanus Loft – 61 9th Street, #C8, bet 2nd Ave + Smith St, Brooklyn
$20 / person, space limited
Bonus: Gowanus Girl’s website says there are a few other nice people join the fun:
“fab tarot card reader (Theda Jackson-Mau— she was also at our market last fall and she’s phenomenal), tunes by DJ Claudio and retro-fun from our friends over at The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Parlor.”
Whole Foods has released a whole lot of new information about the 20,000 square foot greenhouse they’ll be building atop the soon-to-open Whole Foods in Gowanus [via Grub Street]. Gotham Greens – famous for their massive rooftop garden in Greenpoint – will operate the greenhouse, which they’re billing as “the nation’s first commercial scale greenhouse farm integrated within a retail grocery space.” Notably, the rooftop garden will operate year-round and supply fresh produce not only to the Gowanus store but to other Whole Foods retailers throughout NYC.
Here’s Whole Foods trying to convince you how green and ethical they are:
The new greenhouse will be designed, built and operated by Gotham Greens in partnership with Whole Foods Market. The specially designed rooftop farm will include advanced irrigation systems that use up to 20 times less water than conventional farming as well as enhanced glazing materials and electrical equipment to reduce overall energy demand. Based on the farm’s proximity to Whole Foods Market stores in New York City, the project will eliminate long distance food transport and its associated emissions, while ensuring product freshness, quality and nutrition for thousands of customers in the area.
The rooftop greenhouse will be fully operational at the time of the new Whole Foods Market opening. Read the rest of Whole Foods’ marketing fluff, including the lulz-worthy phrase “green collar jobs,” here.
Residents of the 39th District of New York City — which includes Gowanus, as well as parts of Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Columbia Waterfront, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Borough Park — are eligible to take part in a very unique exercise in public governance this week. Participatory Budgeting, which is now available in eight NYC districts, allows all taxpayers 16 years of age and older to vote on specific public works projects nominated by fellow residents in your neighborhood throughout the past year. For example, last year we voted for an expansion of the composting facilities at the Salt Lot on 2nd Ave that ultimately proved popular enough to win funding!
Participatory Budgeting in District 39 has been spearheaded by our Councilman, Brad Lander, and this year’s slate of projects has been winnowed down from hundreds of proposals. Now it’s your turn to vote to determine which projects end up getting funded. This year’s slate of options include renovations to neighborhood schools, planting trees to reduce runoff on Third Avenue, adding bus clocks at bus stations throughout the district, improvements to parks, and many more. There are 24 total options, of which you are entitled to vote for 5.
Voting takes place this Saturday and Sunday! For information about whether you reside in the 39th District (or any of the seven other eligible districts with Participatory Budgeting) and the voting location closest to you, visit this website. Check out a list of the projects that are up for voting this year in the 39th District by viewing this sample ballot.
The crack between two hipster neighborhoods, home to the now superfunded Canal, the flash point for the new 'Buy Local' and textile revolutions, & filled with brilliant bohemians. . . this is Gowanus & it’ll awesome your face off.
