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📰 The quick summary: Brooklyn’s long-polluted Gowanus Canal is getting a green makeover, with new ecological esplanades, flood-resilient infrastructure, and publicly accessible waterfront spaces that put community needs and climate adaptation at the center of urban design.
📈 One key stat: Over a century of industrial activity left a 10-foot-^thick layer of toxic sludge at the bottom of the Gowanus Canal, a scale of contamination that drove the EPA to designate it a Superfund site in 2010 and now shapes every design decision in its transformation.
💬 One key quote: “This project is about preserving the water we have, but also stepping back and designing in these more functional ecological layers,” said Gena Wirth, design principal and partner at the landscape architecture firm Scape.

1️⃣ The big picture: Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, a 1.8-mile waterway historically lined with tanneries, gas plants, and paper mills, spent more than a century absorbing mercury, lead, benzene, and coal tar, leaving behind a 10-foot-thick sludge at its bottom. After gaining Superfund status in 2010, the canal became the focus of a broad ecological and community-centered redesign effort. Local non-profit the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and landscape architecture firm Scape developed a master plan in 2017 covering the canal’s entire 1,758-acre watershed, aiming to rebuild biodiversity, manage stormwater, and open up the waterfront to the public. A 2021 rezoning, grounded in principles of racial and environmental justice, ensured much of the space remains publicly accessible. Two new retention tanks currently under construction will intercept raw sewage and stormwater overflow, addressing one of the most pressing climate-driven threats to the canal.

2️⃣ Why is this good news: After more than a century of industrial pollution, one of New York City’s most contaminated waterways is finally being reimagined as a living, breathing part of the city rather than a site to avoid. New esplanades feature native plants, flood-tolerant landscaping, and a “street creek” that filters stormwater by tracing the path of a historic freshwater channel, blending ecological function with public green space. Residents are already embracing the transformation, with locals describing the naturalistic, unmowed feel as a reason to move to the neighborhood. Designing for ecological regeneration rather than simple restoration means these urban landscapes can adapt to modern, highly modified conditions rather than chasing an impossible historical baseline. At a broader level, this project offers a replicable model for cities across the US and beyond, showing how formerly toxic industrial corridors can be turned into climate-resilient, community-serving green infrastructure.

3️⃣ What’s next: Two stormwater retention tanks are currently under construction and will intercept sewage overflow before it reaches the canal, a critical step in reducing water pollution during heavy storms. Scape has already designed infrastructure, including a stepped amphitheater section with a gate, to accommodate a future water access dock if and when the canal’s water quality improves enough to allow it. As the Superfund cleanup continues alongside new development, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy plans to keep expanding green infrastructure and community engagement across the full 1,758-acre watershed.

Read the full story here: The Guardian – Transforming toxic: a new vision for urban waterways takes shape in Brooklyn – in photos