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May 16, 2008

Gowanus Blooming, Ripe For Own Chelsea Market?

gowanus%20market.jpg Maybe most living organisms can't grow in the Gowanus Canal (though we hear the oysters are doing swimmingly), but a bunch of pollution hasn't stopped man-made growth. A number of new venues are opening, detailed in this month's issue of The Real Deal. Union Hall is opening a new club in the neighborhood, joining Bar Tano on the eastern side of the canal. Danny Tinneny, Jr. is finishing up a coffee shop and wine bar this summer that would have waterfront seating, joining The Yard and Gowanus Yacht Club on the canal's west side (possible grounds for an East Side, West Side rivalry). Some people can see the sleepy industrial area becoming Brooklyn's newest hot spot for gallery and bar hopping, the only place in the city where you can down your favorite night cap alongside a real live canal. What could possibly top that off? Massey Knakal broker Ken Freeman thinks a down-scaled, Gowanus version of the Chelsea Market where light manufacturers could make and sell their work. Freeman is marketing two sleeping giants on Third and Bond Streets, one for $15 million and the other for $10 million, where such a project would be as-of-right. The market would be adjacent to the Third Street bridge and kitty-corner from The Hudson Companies' townhouse project meticulously documented by principal David Kramer on this blog. "To me, you have to use the water," Freeman told The Real Deal in an accompanying article. "If you have a little promenade on the water and a café over there, I think you'd be amazed at the amount of people who would sit and eat by the water, or take laptops and work there all day." What do you think? Could you see it?
More places to see art, party in Gowanus [The Real Deal]
Defending Gowanus [The Real Deal]
Oh My Rockness: Union Hall Expanding in Gowanus [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Nibbles: Carroll Street Cafe Coming [Gowanus Lounge]




Posted by sarah ryley at 12:30 PM | Comments (30)
Categories: Development, Food and Drink, Gowanus, Real Estate, Retail

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Comments

Sarah:

You know the Gowanus Yacht Club is a Bar/Restuarant on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens. Its not in Gowanus, on the Canal or even that close (relatively).

Why would you include that in your reporting? Because it has Gowanus in the name?

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 12:48 PM

12:48

Havent you heard? Many Stoner reporters don't even live here!

Lame.

Lame, lame, lame, LAME.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 12:58 PM

Stoner sucks major oyster

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:04 PM

Yelp lists the Gowanus Yacht Club as part of the Gowanus neighborhood. Check it out.

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=&find_loc=Brooklyn%2FGowanus%2C+New+York%2C+NY

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:05 PM

you're delusional sarah! gowanus isn't in plg!

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:12 PM

Sarah:

Based on your geography, the Buttermilk Channel and Upper New York Bay would also be in Gowanus, because is the mouth of the canal.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:14 PM

Just when you think brownstoner readers/responders couldn't be any more annoying... Talk about focusing on minutiae.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:21 PM

Its more of that realtor speak. Kind of like how they call parts of east new york and probably by now parts of canarsie south williamsburg.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:26 PM

Sarah said "I live in PLG" but she has "spent a lot of time in Gowanus". She didn't say Gowanus is in PLG. Leave her alone. I happen to find her stories interesting and entertaining.

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 16, 2008 1:27 PM

exactly! so, why is she saying gowanus is in plg? has she gone mad?

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:31 PM

People above are just mad they aren't pro bloggers. Sarah- If your reporting can continue to generate responses, for better or for worse, you're doing your job.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:31 PM

So, change of topic but related to the original story. Can opening a business that invites people to sit and work on a laptop all day really be successful? More than once I've left one of these places without buying anything because there is no where to sit. Meanwhile, some bloggerheadass or student is sitting with a laptop and pile of papers taking up enough room for four while nursing a cup of coffee that's been empty for hours. I don't get it.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:32 PM

Some sort of outdoor/recreation superstore- like a huge REI or EMS would be awesome there- or a patagonia

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:34 PM

1:32, wouldn't you call Starbucks successful and don't they invite people to sit and work on a laptop all day. Same for Gorilla Coffee, etc.

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 16, 2008 1:42 PM

Ditto Biff Champion's comments (Biff, any relation to Sam?).

Also, since " one of the reporters does live on the border of Gowanus" why doesn't she (Gabby) own that beat?

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 1:55 PM

1:55, no relation other than our shared perceived ambiguous sexuality. To your other point, I also thought Gabby did Gowanus.

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 16, 2008 2:05 PM

I have to say it is really an exciting proposition. We live fairly close to the Chelsea Market and have been going there and enjoying it since it opened several years ago.

I'm convinced - chicken and egg argument
aside - that it became the stalwart that encouraged the growth of what is now considered one of the hip-est and edgily beautiful parts of downtown, the Meatpacking District.

Now, before anyone attacks, I am fully aware that much of what sucks about the Meatpacking District, high end shops, hipsters, Euro models and other types of ridiculousness, I am hopeful would not occur in Brooklyn/Gowanus.

I am hopeful that developing Gowanus in much the same way the Chelsea Market was developed, could be truly wonderful and beautiful and cool. Like the Dredgers themselves. And it could retain its sort of wild, weedy edge, while being cleaned up and expanded with shops and art enclaves and coffee spots, meandering paths of cobblestones and brick, little benches... sort of like what they're doing in Red Hook around the Fairway. (NOT around the monstrosity that is Ikea).

Just my .02.

Oh, and Sarah, this was a great post and I too like your style and your stories.

Posted by: Nokilissa at May 16, 2008 2:14 PM

You just killed any cred you may have by pimping your own story that ran in The Deal.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 2:15 PM

Sarah, no need to explain. I just couldn't resist the Gabby Does Gowanus setup. I think it's nice you all cross over into other 'hoods so we get a different perspective from time to time. We would be honored to have you come cover Brooklyn Heights sometime. I'll have to click on The Real Deal links as I truly do enjoy your writing.

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 16, 2008 2:15 PM

2:14, the puny wrath of the Brownstoner trolls shall not be ignored!! How dare you post on topic!

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 2:25 PM

Nokilissa, interesting comparison to the Meatpacking District although that resurgence has the incredible benefit of being bordered by the thriving areas of Chelsea and the West Village. Other than some of the negatives you mentioned re: the Meatpacking District, I still find much to do there; the galleries alone are worth the trip. It's true this area could be a mini-version / variation on that.

2:15, I don't see any issue whatsoever with Sarah cross-referencing to her Real Deal article, especially since it was in response to a question she was asked regarding why she covered the area. And some of us are interested in Sarah's other work.

Lastly, Sarah, I really enjoy when you (or Brownstoner or the others) get "sucked in" and provide your comments. Please continue doing it when you have the time!

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 16, 2008 2:34 PM

I think that, in an idealized world, markets should be set up in every neighborhood in the city. The NYT ran the story about disappearing supermarkets not long ago. Similarly, small businesses are being run out of their storefronts. Publicly subsidized markets (though looks this one is private) are an excellent way to support healthy eating, fresh food, and local retailers while invigorating a neighborhood and delivering the type of goods that residents want.

A publicly subsidized market would be a building that is owned by the city or a city authority and where space is leased at low rates for local retailers. Ideally the market would be open later so that people who work regular hours could shop as well. The markets would house produce, meat, fish, baked goods, and vendors of clothes, jewelry, art, etc.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 2:36 PM

i saw a bunch of jellyfish in the gowanus this year.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 2:37 PM

What a nice thread.

Posted by: Polemicist at May 16, 2008 3:01 PM

2:36 please go back to russia

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 3:41 PM

isn't gowanus "bordered by the thriving areas of" carroll gardens and park slope?

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 3:49 PM

Gowanus is coming up in the word. It was never really a "Sketchy Neighborhood" or fringe by most people's (Here) definition. But it has been largely industrial and commercial with a lot of potential with the new developments and close access to the subway.

Cant wait to spend alot more time in the area, it really is very interesting and unique.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 4:10 PM

3:41
Yes, Russia, the land of abundant fresh food...

It would be terrible to have access to cheap, fresh food - a real blow to capitalism.

Posted by: guest at May 16, 2008 4:38 PM

Where exactly is "Gowanus" suppossed to be? What are the boundaries (the neighborhood, not the canal)? I probably live in it, but I'm not sure. Can anyone enlighten me? When I bought, I was told Carrol Gardens, but if I had bought twenty years earlier, it probably would have been called Red Hook, now I think it's Gowanus. Confusing, very confusing.

Posted by: guest at May 17, 2008 7:33 AM

Gowanus' "uniqueness" will be obliterated by the visions being extolled by those who like its "uniqueness". I have lived in the area for 25 years, anyone who is counting on having a business where people sit along its banks is asking for it. The canal is an open sewer. And though it does not stink as much as it did 20 years ago, it still stinks. I don't care how many "Gowanus Goes Green" celebrations the "Gowanus Conservancy" organizes. The only green in the Gowanus is the green (and purple) oily slime on its surface; and the bucks that the luxury housing developers who want to build along its banks.

Posted by: guest at June 9, 2008 2:02 AM

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