By Kim Velsey 1/28 5:57pm

Historic Houses

Gowanus's odd, appealing Coignet building.

Plans Aren’t Concrete, But Coignet Building Is Ready For a New Chapter

The Coignet building—a classical structure executed in concrete at 360 Third Avenue in Gowanus—has had a strange allure since the day it was completed in 1873. An elegant mansion in the midst of an industrial zone, it served as both an office building and an advertisement for the material being manufactured in the factory complex behind it, deftly melding disparate elements in a fashion that passerby have long found beguiling.

But the building has languished, empty and deteriorating, for decades. Located on the edge of a vast lot that will soon be occupied by a Whole Foods, it is the lone remnant of the industrial landscape it once anchored. Now, there is a possibility that it may finally be restored and occupied, presiding not just over the neighborhood’s past, but playing a role in its future as well. The building’s owner—Richard Kowalski—has put the mansion on the market with Massey Knakal (a development first spotted by the blog Pardon Me for Asking). Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/11/12 5:46pm

Transom

One of the library's treasures.

Scary Christmas! A Visit to the Morbid Anatomy Library’s Holiday Fair

The Transom’s path to Proteus Gowanus, where we were headed to investigate an unusual holiday fair, took us straight over the canal. The sight of the mint-green water—looking even more ominous than usual on a rainy Sunday—inspired a case of rabbit-run-over-your-grave shivers, which turned out to be precisely the right state of mind for a first encounter with the Morbid Anatomy Library. Part art exhibit, part research library “surveying the interstices of art and medicine, death and culture,” Morbid Anatomy is also a privately held cabinet of wonders, open (by appointment, usually) to the curious public. Read More

By Hunter Walker 10/28/12 11:57pm

Rock You Like a Hurricane

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Inside the Gowanus Canal Evacuation Zone

Many of the blocks along the shores of the toxic Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn are designated as part of the mandatory Hurricane Sandy evacuation Zone A. Though the city gave orders for residents of this area to leave their homes starting at 7 p.m., we spotted quite a few people out on the streets when we walked into the zone earlier this evening, including curious gawkers, emergency workers and neighbors who are becoming increasingly fearful that the notoriously polluted canal could overflow.  Read More

By Michael Ewing 2/13/12 11:37am

Superfun

Artless? (Whole Foods)

Gowanus Little Guys Fear Whole Foods Sludge Will Ruin Artsy Neighborhood

The seven-year roller coaster ride that has been Whole Foods’ Brooklyn saga may be taking another nose dive. The blissful ride started in 2005, long before Brian Williams had ever heard of Brooklyn. It slowed to a snail’s pace in 2007 and then completely halted in 2008 in the midst of the grotesque Gowanus Canal’s Superfunding. New York State was nice enough to clean up the property and set Whole Foods back on track in 2010.

The whole ordeal has left us twisted and nauseous from the bureaucratic and communal ups, downs, and loop-de-loops. (Or maybe the toxins are making us nauseous.) Regardless, Whole Foods might be one rubber stamp away from approval, but the Gowanus locals are not succumbing without one last fight. Read More

By Joseph Alexiou 2/04/10 4:59pm

The Jane Jacobs of Gowanus

On a recent sunny Saturday morning, a group of 30- to 40-something Carroll Gardens locals stood outside Carroll Park at a table manned by local community activists, their discussion rife with words like “developers” and “preservation.” Upset that the nearby Hannah Senesh Community Day School was seeking a variance that would allow it to acquire public Read More