In Gowanus, the Water's Fine for Small-Biz Growth

Can Gowanus be compared to “Dumbo before the multimillion-dollar lofts and Williamsburg before Bedford Avenue became a destination”? That’s what some residents tell The Times in an article that looks at where the neighborhood stands since the canal’s Superfund designation. The story touches on how large-scale development plans, like Toll Brothers’ designs on the area, were abandoned after the designation, but that small businesses continue to set up shop in the neighborhood. (Examples of some recent ones: Halyard’s bar on 3rd Avenue, a Pilates studio, the new Monte’s restaurant, and a clam shack that’s in the works.) The big question mark is whether small-scale growth along these lines—with the exception of the planned Whole Foods and any other hotels that might open—will represent the extent of development in the neighborhood for the foreseeable future. The Hudson Companies’ David Kramer thinks so, saying his firm “thought the Superfund was going to put a halt on new development and slow things down for the next 10 to 20 years.” And that sits fine with people like David Briggs, architect and a founder of Gowanus by Design, who says “Superfund provided a much-needed pause in the headlong rush to develop the area.”
In Gowanus, Big Development Can Wait [NY Times]