Gowanus, Brooklyn

Gowanus is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the South Brooklyn area. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6. Gowanus is bounded by Wyckoff Street on the north, Fourth Avenue on the east, the Gowanus Expressway to the south, and Smith and Hoyt Streets to the west.HistoryIn 1636, Gowanus Bay was the site of the first settlement by Dutch farmers in what is now Brooklyn. The ponds of Gowanus meadowlands served to drive gristmills of early settlers. During the American Revolutionary War Gowanus was the scene of fighting in the Battle of Long Island. After the Gowanus Canal was built through Gowanus, the area became an industrial center, and the draining of the ponds began in the 1860s. Since then, the area has been a center of industrial and shipping activity. After World War II, the decline of shipping at the port of Red Hook and of manufacturing around New York City prompted large industry to leave and changed the vibrancy of industry in Gowanus.TodayThe area is zoned for light to mid-level manufacturing . Recently, residential developers have been hindered by the industrial zoning and the problems of the sewage overflow through the canal water, but there have been rumors of rezoning by the New York City Department of City Planning.