Making Your Home on the Gowanus Canal
Today The Post has a fun article about folks who live in houseboats on the Gowanus, which includes a mention of Adam Katzman, whose living arrangements have been documented in the video above. The story questions the legality of the houseboats: “While the boaters have docking permission from property owners, the floating homes still must…
Today The Post has a fun article about folks who live in houseboats on the Gowanus, which includes a mention of Adam Katzman, whose living arrangements have been documented in the video above. The story questions the legality of the houseboats: “While the boaters have docking permission from property owners, the floating homes still must pass city Buildings and Fire department safety inspections to be considered legal.” The more compelling question, though, is what compels folks to live on the polluted canal; the Post describes some of them as places where folks party into the wee hours of the night, though, as in the case of Katzman, it seems to be an experiment in sustainable, environmentally friendly living on one of the city’s most polluted waterways.
Canal ‘Street’ [NY Post]
Video and Profile of Katzman: The Off-Gridder [Back to Nature NYC]
Where’s the reality shows when you need them, this would make a great one.
It’s true, when I chose as my own rite of passage chose to continue living his own hipster existence in a Williamsburg squat being slowly over run by the local heroin dealer (every squat comes with one just in case you didn’t know) even he was forced to deal with the inequity of addicts banging on his door at odd hours of the day in desperate search of the heroin dealer squatter room mate. So one should be prepared to deal with a smidgen of floating toxic turd- it does after all build backbone. And frankly who can resist orange thongs?
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/05/trying-to-make-it-as-a-hipster-on-the-gowanus-canal/
Gabby, thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed learning about Adam and the other brave and innovative people featured on the Back to Nature site.
As for the string of negative comments, I am embarrassed for the people who wrote them.
“it’s a whole movement”
Good one.
Yeah – Jester, it’s a whole movement and I guess the book “Humanure†is its bible:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Humanure/180566911643
I figure he’s got a toilet seat on a box that empties into the gowanus.
I heard a radio piece about composting manure, including human “manure.”
Apparently in ye olden days of yore it was considered polite to take a dump in someone’s house when visiting so that there’d be more composting to be used in planting.
I think the beard acts like an activated charcoal filter…. against poo mist.
Apparently barbers are in short supply on the Gowanus. Float some Italian guys out there on a gondola.
Yeah…how could that hurt anyone? BTW, the idea is to remain inside the canoe.
Falling into “Lavender Lake” used to be a reason for a visit to an emergency room and a round of antibiotics.