Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn

This is the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The artificial waterway, completed in 1867, used to be an important commercial harbor until the 1960s when large container ships became too big to navigate up the canal. It was also one of the most polluted waterways in the area with heavy sewage clogging the flow of water.

Only recently has the area begun to make a come back. The waterway has gotten cleaner over the years and constructions along the water's edge are slowly going up. It separates the hip and trendy Park Slope from its less glamorous stepsister, Carroll Gardens.

So did you have a favorite fairy tale when you were a kid?

18 comments:

• Eliane • said...

I always wondered how it looked like! Thanks. :)

Probably Hansel&Gretels - there was something about a cute house made out of cookies and candy, which is always great news.

Olivier said...

surprenant l'histoire de ce canal, je ne connaissais pas.
Mon conte favori enfant : "le petit poucet"

Surprisingly the history of this canal, I did not know.
My favorite tale child: "le petit poucet"

PeterParis said...

If there is water around, there is a fair chance that this will be a fashionable area in a couple of years?

(My parents usually invented stories to get me asleep.)

Unknown said...

Oh, now that eliane mentioned it. Hansel & Gretels sounds yummy!

I think I like all fairy tales.

Anonymous said...

I can imagine that this would become a trendy area with all the hip people owning or living in apartments there. Nice photo.

Abraham Lincoln
—Brookville Daily Photo

NYD said...

Coming to your blog often makes me homesick.

You, sir, take very nice photographs.

Thank you.

Ming the Merciless said...

Thank you, my friend.

It's amazing how well the camera lies because if you have been to the Gowanus Canal, you know it doesn't always look that clean and pretty. :-)

Anonymous said...

I really like the shadows and reflections of the various structures and clouds in the water. Great photo.

Doris

Knoxville Girl said...

Oh Ming, the camera doesn't lie any more than statistics do! :-)
I can't recall an interest in fairy tales as a kid - I liked Dr Seuss.

Jane Hards Photography said...

It is a great photo. Canal basins in the UK have had a facelift too.
Fairytales, are the scariest thing you can tell a kid. Always had a soft spot though for little red riding hood and Alice in wonderland though White Rabbits and a little girl with the munchies? Um. Think we kow what's going on there then.

Kate said...

Good background information. Glad it's making a comeback. Loved Grimm's fairy tales and enjoyed "Rapunzel", and also liked "The Littlest Mermaid"--Hans Christian Andersen was a favorite of mine, too.

teahouse said...

Wow..I never realized there was a Gowanus Canal. Such is my ignorance of New York City geography!

Anonymous said...

Fairy Tales

When I was little my gradmother would read from bible to me every night before bed. Scared the heck out of me.

Dorothy said...

I wouldn't mind living in the Park Slope area...love those old brownstones...

Nice photo Ming...

BTW My post yesterday was on Hans Christian Andersen...famous for fairy tales :)

USelaine said...

Like Kate and Dee Dee, mine was a H.C. Andersen tale, The Nightengale.

Anonymous said...

But where, oh where, did you get the idea that the Gowanus water is now cleaner?
Yes is has a bit more oxygen from the water that is sucked in from Buttermilk Channel, but that is about it. The Coney Island wite fish still thrive here.

dianasfaria.com said...

Wow! the Gowanus Canal is making a comeback... Now that is a shocker!

NormanTheDoxie said...

Nice shot of the canal.... I didn't realize it separated Park Slope from Carroll Gardens.

My favorite fairy tale.... I think it may have been Cinderella.