The Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation (GCCDC) is a community group, with offices located on Court Street in Carroll Gardens. According to executive director Bill Appel, they are opposed to the Superfund nomination because it is akin to “putting a smallpox stamp onto someone’s home.”
Mr. Appel says that the FHA, for instance, has stated that they will not grant any mortgages within 3,000 feet of any Superfund site, which would include almost all of Carroll Gardens east of Court Street if the proposal goes through. He is also certain the Superfund process will take over 20 years to complete, never allowing the “barren wasteland” of undeveloped land around the canal to serve a purpose. While he recognizes the environmental concerns surrounding the Gowanus, he is more optimistic about the health of the waterway than Ms. Mariano and her fellow FROGGs.
“We’re here for economic development,” Mr. Appel said. “We’re in the business of bringing in taxpayers and viable jobs to the area. There’s no medical evidence that the canal causes long-term diseases here, and you’re not going to swim in the
Ms. Mariano refused to comment extensively about Mr. Appel or the GCCDC (whom she and her fellow FROGGS refer to as “Guccis” after the Italian haute couture house), although she finds his attitude toward the environmental concerns foolish. (“This is the 21st century!” she says, incredulous. “We should clean things!”) Ms. Mariano, who is admittedly a staunch idealist, is certain that the GCCDC’s intentions are not sincere in regards to the community’s best interests. She also suggested that their relationship with developers like Toll Brothers, which has bid to build a large condo community on the Gowanus (with the strong support of Mayor Bloomberg), hurts their credibility and makes their intentions questionable.
With her husband, Joseph, Ms. Mariano has for 36 years been living in a brownstone on President Street, between Bond and Hoyt, an area she considers to be in Gowanus, the nascent neighborhood between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. Both artists and retired teachers, the couple moved to the area from the West Village in 1974, well before this part of Brooklyn was hip (or particularly safe). Over the years they have built up their formerly dilapidated building into a do-it-yourself artists’ dream home. Upstairs rooms are jam-packed with paint, canvases and quilting materials, while the lower area, centered around a cozy kitchen, is a utilitarian gallery of colorful recycled materials and found objects, from doors to floor tiles.
Ms. Mariano has a special passion for industrial architecture and historic buildings—after three decades in the neighborhood, she senses the character and appeal that the warehouses bring and the creative, artistic types that such spaces attract—a recipe for the conditions that eventually lead to New York’s ubiquitous neighborhood gentrification. The unique character of a neighborhood like Gowanus has a particularly Jane Jacobs–y appeal: one where residential, light industrial and commercial spaces all interact to create a varied and diverse population (although now it’s admittedly gentrified, not unlike Jacobs’ own Greenwich Village).
“I’m a preservation person at heart,” Ms. Mariano said, “and I believe in this phrase people are starting to use, ‘adaptive re-use,’ and this is about just that.” She pauses reflectively, fingering the beads on one of the colorful Bakelite necklaces she often sports along with her handmade knitwear. “These buildings can be used rather than torn down. “
A perky and slight 66-year-old, Ms. Mariano spends her weekends working in a kitschy store on Court Street, where she can often be found mid-conversation, sporting a toothy grin, skinny arms waving emphatically as she describes her most recent exploits involving the local history or current developments of her beloved quarter of Brooklyn. With the timing of a seasoned comedian, Ms. Mariano’s storytelling is enough to make you pull up a chair and get comfortable: “Aha!” she loves to exclaim, “now if you think that’s interesting, well wait till you hear this!”
She cares so deeply about the involvement of the city and of developers in the area that her twinkly-eyed irony sometimes code switches to flat-out rage: Her long graying hair, usually pulled up into a partial bun, shakes with anger as she literally turns red at the mention of big-named architects and developers who have offended her ideals in some way. At times, this range of emotions she lets out seems a bit hyperbolic, but it is this boundless energy that has her forever hitting the pavement and perusing the area streets, keeping up with the most recent changes and conditions, even in the most inclement weather.
Ms. Mariano’s passion transformed her from a concerned resident into neighborhood historian and preservation activist. Community groups and journalists tap her for information, especially when it’s about the environmental conditions surrounding the Gownaus Canal or local development.
MS. MARIANO’S CAREER as an activist began in 2002, when condo developers applied for a variance that would have led to the demolition of a hangar-shaped warehouse at 450 Union Street (also known as 450 Union or, simply, the Green Building) on a corner of Bond Street, right near her home. She and several concerned neighbors united to fight against its destruction.
“I saved that building!” she shouts about the lime green structure, now currently home to an event space and art gallery. “It’s an old industrial space that belongs [in the neighborhood] way more than some chichi condos for rich people! For two years we went to meetings at the Board of Standards and Appeals to defend our position. At first, I was so nervous to speak in front of the board, my knees knocked together and my glasses fell off my head—it’s like they’re judging whether you live or die!”
