169-603: Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn . Encompassing approximately 40 city blocks, it is bounded by Degraw and Warren Streets (north), Hoyt and Smith Streets (east), Ninth Street or the Gowanus Expressway (south), and Interstate 278 , the Gowanus and Brooklyn–Queens Expressways (west). The neighborhoods that surround it are Cobble Hill to
338-400: A 1998 documentary film about the canal, two New York City police discussed the then-recent discovery of a suitcase containing human body parts that was taken from the waterway by fishermen. There have been reports of not just persons who have died in or near the canal, but vessels lost as well. For instance, on January 2, 1889, the tug boat "Hugh Bond" sank in the canal during a gale, though
507-543: A 90-foot-tall (27 m) fixed-span viaduct, crosses above the Ninth Street Bridge. The viaduct contains the Smith–Ninth Streets station, which is partially located above the canal and is served by the F , <F> , and G trains. There is a short tributary to the east, about 185 feet (56 m) long, connecting to the parking lot of a Lowe's home-improvement store to
676-513: A cost-sharing agreement with the DEP to collaborate on a $ 5 million Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study of the Gowanus Canal area. It was to examine possible alternatives for ecosystem restoration such as dredging, and wetland and habitat restoration and be completed in 2005. Discussions turned to breaking down the hard edges of the canal to restore some of the natural processes to improve
845-445: A day transported cargo through it. In addition, the industrial sector around the canal grew substantially over time to include stone and coal yards; flour mills ; cement works, and manufactured gas plants ; tanneries , factories for paint, ink, and soap; machine shops ; chemical plants ; and sulfur producers. All of these industries emitted substantial water and airborne pollutants . Chemical fertilizers were manufactured along
1014-413: A day. The water quality of samples taken while the flushing pump was operating was reported to have improved. In 2010, New York City began a four-year project to upgrade and reactivate the flushing tunnel. According to The New York Times , the proposed plans included steps to "reconstruct the motor pit and replace the propeller with three modern vertical turbines; clean, patch and smooth the interior of
1183-631: A decade between Irish immigrants and Black people for work. Rioters burned the Colored Orphan Asylum to the ground. At least 120 people were killed. Eleven Black men were lynched over five days, and the riots forced hundreds of Blacks to flee. The Black population in Manhattan fell below 10,000 by 1865. The White working class had established dominance. It was one of the worst incidents of civil unrest in American history . In 1886,
1352-634: A much higher ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018. The majority (74%) of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, while 9% have less than a high school education and 17% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens students excelling in reading and math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 41 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 35 percent to 64 percent within
1521-679: A reddish-purple color, and a colloidal mixture described as "black mayonnaise" accumulated on its bottom. In 1887, the New York State Legislature closed the Bond Street outflow point. By 1889, pollution in the Gowanus Canal had become so bad that the Legislature appointed a commission to study ways to ameliorate the canal's condition. It concluded that the canal would be best off if it were closed to commercial traffic and then covered-over. The commission also called
1690-490: A relatively high population of residents who are uninsured , or who receive healthcare through Medicaid . In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 22%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter , the deadliest type of air pollutant , in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens is 0.0089 milligrams per cubic metre (8.9 × 10 oz/cu ft), higher than
1859-528: A respective county . The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area , the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area . New York is a global center of finance and commerce , culture , technology , entertainment and media , academics and scientific output , the arts and fashion , and, as home to
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#17327761415492028-531: A result of Sandy, and the economic losses in New York City were estimated to be roughly $ 19 billion. The disaster spawned long-term efforts towards infrastructural projects to counter climate change and rising seas, with $ 15 billion in federal funding received through 2022 towards those resiliency efforts. In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the city was confirmed. With its population density and its extensive exposure to global travelers,
2197-496: A safe and quiet place to live. This began the gentrification of the neighborhood, and a response from older residents, who did not appreciate these "hippie" newcomers who had no ties to the community. Regardless, the neighborhood gradually received its own name at that time, and the Carroll Gardens Association was formed in 1964. One result was that the decades-long control of the area by a political machine
2366-399: A single company was actively using the Gowanus Canal as a shipping channel, and three of the drawbridges along the canal would only retract to let that company's boats pass. The few remaining barges mostly carried fuel oil, sand, gravel and scrap metal for export. The canal still serves as a port moving goods in and out of Brooklyn. Repeated calls have been made to revitalize the economy and
2535-442: A source of carcinogens ) were dumped back into the canal. Brooklyn's slaughterhouses dumped blood and other wastes into the canals. There was no through-flow of water and the canal was open at only one end, but the hope was that tides would be enough to flush the waterway. With the canal's wooden and concrete embankments, the strong tides of fresh diurnal doses of oxygenated water from New York Harbor were barred from flowing into
2704-485: A speech denying the request, which was paraphrased on the front page of the New York Daily News as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." The Municipal Assistance Corporation was formed and granted oversight authority over the city's finances. While a resurgence in the financial industry greatly improved the city's economic health in the 1980s, New York's crime rate continued to increase through that decade and into
2873-569: A territory traditionally controlled by the Gambino crime family and one controlled by the Colombo family , is considered to be neutral territory, and has been, for the most part, left alone. Carroll Gardens had long been considered to be part of either the larger area referred to as South Brooklyn , or the neighborhood known as Red Hook . That neighborhood had an informal division in the 1930s and 1940s along Hamilton Avenue, with kids from south of
3042-518: A tidal inlet of navigable creeks in original saltwater marshland and meadows that contained wildlife. The Dutch government issued the first land patents within Breukelen (modern-day Brooklyn), including the land of the Gowanus, from 1630 to 1664. In 1636, the leaders of New Netherland bought the area around the Gowanus Bay. In 1639, the inhabitants swapped land claims with each other to build
3211-595: A tobacco plantation. The area's early settlers named the waterway "Gowanes Creek" after Gouwane , sachem (chief) of the local Lenape tribe called the Canarsee , who farmed on the shores. Adam Brouwer, who had been a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Company , built and operated the first tide-water gristmill patented in New York at Gowanus. The mill was located on land that
3380-421: A variety of extremophiles have been observed in the canal. Despite the canal's heavy pollution, its proximity to Manhattan and upper-class Brooklyn neighborhoods is attracting concerted waterfront redevelopment. This has restarted calls for environmental cleanup , and prompted concerns that adjacent waterfront economic development would be incompatible with environmental restoration and environmental risks. It
3549-661: Is 11231. It is patrolled by the 76th Precinct of the New York City Police Department . and is served by the New York City Fire Department 's Engine Company 239, Engine Co. 279/Ladder Co. 131 and Engine Company 202/Ladder Company 101. Politically, Carroll Gardens is represented by the New York City Council 's 39th District. Carroll Gardens was settled in the 19th century by immigrants from Ireland , followed in
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#17327761415493718-492: Is known for its dual-language immersion program , which offers a French immersion experience in both English and French for a portion of the students at the school. This program, which began in 2007, has encouraged a growing French-speaking population in the neighborhood. Also in the area are the New Dawn Charter High School, International School of Brooklyn, Hannah Senesh Community Day School,
3887-402: Is located near 19th Street on the eastern bank, or Bryant Street on the western bank. The canal takes a north-northeasterly course from this point, running east of Smith Street. An asphalt plant and marine transfer station are located on the canal's eastern bank, as well as a Home Depot and a FedEx Shipping Center. The Gowanus neighborhood originally surrounded Gowanus Creek. It consisted of
4056-438: Is located on the north bank of the 4th Street Basin. At Hoyt Street, two blocks west of Bond Street, the canal turns south with two extra tributaries at the east: one 480-foot-long (150 m) tributary at Seventh Street, and another 700-foot-long (210 m) near Sixth Street. Shortly afterward, it crosses under the Ninth Street Bridge, a vertical-lift bridge opened in 1999. The New York City Subway 's Culver Viaduct ,
4225-468: Is one of the world's most populous megacities . The city and its metropolitan area are the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States . As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York City, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. In 2021, the city was home to nearly 3.1 million residents born outside the U.S., the largest foreign-born population of any city in
4394-529: Is still evident in the many shrines, especially to the Virgin Mary , which can be seen in front gardens in the neighborhood, and the 70-year tradition of an Our Lady of Sorrows procession celebrating Good Friday continues. Adult children who had moved away from Carroll Gardens have started returning to the neighborhood to raise their children. The area has seen an increase in French immigrants starting in
4563-546: The F and G trains. Bus service through the neighborhood is available from the B61 on 9th Street and the B57 on Court and Smith Streets. New York City New York , often called New York City or NYC , is the most populous city in the United States , located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors . The city comprises five boroughs , each coextensive with
4732-614: The American South . During construction in Foley Square in the 1990s, the African Burying Ground was discovered; the cemetery included 10,000 to 20,000 graves of colonial-era Africans, some enslaved and some free. The 1735 trial and acquittal in Manhattan of John Peter Zenger , who had been accused of seditious libel after criticizing colonial governor William Cosby , helped to establish freedom of
4901-810: The Atlantic port to the agricultural markets and commodities of the North American interior via the Hudson River and the Great Lakes . Local politics became dominated by Tammany Hall , a political machine supported by Irish and German immigrants . In 1831, New York University was founded. Several prominent American literary figures lived in New York during the 1830s and 1840s, including William Cullen Bryant , Washington Irving , Herman Melville , Rufus Wilmot Griswold , John Keese , Nathaniel Parker Willis , and Edgar Allan Poe . Members of
5070-668: The Bill of Rights there. The Supreme Court held its first organizational sessions in New York in 1790. In 1790, for the first time, New York City surpassed Philadelphia as the nation's largest city. At the end of 1790, the national capital was moved to Philadelphia . During the 19th century, New York City's population grew from 60,000 to 3.43 million. Under New York State's gradual emancipation act of 1799, children of slave mothers were to be eventually liberated but to be held in indentured servitude until their mid-to-late twenties. Together with slaves freed by their masters after
5239-705: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Gowanus Expressway , which started the process of the Carroll Gardens area taking on a separate and distinct character of its own; the neighborhood's name came from the Carroll Gardens Association, which had been created to advocate for neighborhood improvements. In the 1960s, young middle-class professionals began to be attracted to the Carroll Garden area due to its convenience to Manhattan, where many of them worked, and its growing reputation as
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-726: The Caribbean . The attempt at a peaceful solution to the war took place at the Conference House on Staten Island between American delegates, including Benjamin Franklin , and British general Lord Howe on September 11, 1776. Shortly after the British occupation began, the Great Fire of New York destroyed nearly 500 buildings, about a quarter of the structures in the city, including Trinity Church . In January 1785,
5577-558: The Corp of Engineers halted their study immediately, giving all their research to the EPA. Initially, local residents resisted the EPA's proposed cleanup methods, as they feared that the toxic waste retrieved from the canal would instead be displaced onto nearby public areas. By 2013, the NYCDEP was planning to reduce the sewage content of the canal by repairing the freshwater tunnel that flushed
5746-589: The Declaration of Independence , and whose name was already attached to Carroll Street and Carroll Park. The name also reflects the large front gardens of brownstones in the Carroll Gardens Historic District and elsewhere in the neighborhood. Despite having an Irish surname , in recent times it has been known as an Italian American neighborhood. Carroll Gardens is part of Brooklyn Community District 6 , and its primary ZIP Code
5915-465: The Gowanus Expressway . The canal was created in the mid-19th century from local tidal wetlands and freshwater streams. For roughly a century, heavy industrial use poured pollutants into the canal. Various attempts to remove the pollution or dilute the canal's water have failed. High ratios of fecal coliforms , deadly proportions of pathogens , and a low concentration of oxygen have left it generally incompatible with macroscopic marine life, although
6084-905: The Hudson River , which he named Río de San Antonio ('Saint Anthony's River'). In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company . He sailed up what the Dutch called North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange . Hudson claimed
6253-721: The Lower Hudson Valley . The first documented visit into New York Harbor by a European was in 1524 by explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano . He claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême (New Angoulême ). A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes sailing for Emperor Charles V , arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of
6422-555: The New York City Community College (now New York City College of Technology , or City Tech) to test the Gowanus Canal's water for bacteria. The organisms they found included several that caused typhoid , cholera , dysentery , and tuberculosis . The next year, funding was obtained for a preliminary assessment of the canal. Initial findings revealed an almost total absence of oxygen, much raw sewage, grease, oil, and sludge. In 1978, construction began on
6591-659: The New York City Fire Department and 71 law enforcement officers. The area was rebuilt with a new World Trade Center , the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and other new buildings and infrastructure, including the World Trade Center Transportation Hub , the city's third-largest hub. The new One World Trade Center is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh-tallest building in
6760-511: The Statue of Liberty , a gift from France , was dedicated in New York Harbor. The statue welcomed 14 million immigrants as they came to the U.S. via Ellis Island by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a symbol of the United States and American ideals of liberty and peace. In 1898, the City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then a separate city),
6929-709: The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village . They are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights . Wayne R. Dynes , author of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality , wrote that drag queens were
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-582: The headquarters of the United Nations , international diplomacy . With an estimated population in 2023 of 8,258,035 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km ), the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles , the nation's second-most populous city. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York City
7267-612: The steamship General Slocum caught fire in the East River , killing 1,021 people. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , the city's worst industrial disaster, killed 146 garment workers and spurred the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and major improvements in factory safety standards. New York's non-White population was 36,620 in 1890. New York City
7436-492: The waterfronts since Dutch colonial times; reclamation is most prominent in Lower Manhattan, with developments such as Battery Park City in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in Manhattan. Gowanus Creek The Gowanus Canal (originally known as Gowanus Creek ) is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn , on
7605-403: The 1960s. This culminated in an incident when a city worker dropped a manhole cover , severely damaging the pump system, which was already suffering from the effects of the corrosive salt water . The Clean Water Act of 1972 had not yet been passed, and the city, stretched for funds at the time, did nothing to address the issue. As a result of the unrepaired damage to the flushing tunnel, and
7774-474: The 1990s, several highly publicized incidents of violence underscored the tension between working-class African-Americans from Red Hook and working-class Italian-American residents of Carroll Gardens. Carroll Gardens is still largely known as an Italian-American neighborhood, but the Italian population has decreased in recent years from 52 percent of the population in 1980 to 22 percent in 2012. Still, despite
7943-538: The 19th century, the city was transformed by both commercial and residential development relating to its status as a national and international trading center , as well as by European immigration, respectively. The city adopted the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , which expanded the city street grid to encompass almost all of Manhattan. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal through central New York connected
8112-454: The 21st century. Carroll Gardens and the surrounding neighborhoods are sometimes referred to as "Little France" or "Little Paris" due to the growing French population. Bastille Day celebrations are held on July 14 of each year. International School of Brooklyn, a Nursery-8th grade independent school, offers a French and Spanish language immersion program. One of the public schools in Carroll Gardens, The Carroll School (P.S. 58), also has one of
8281-450: The 76th Precinct of the NYPD , located at 191 Union Street. The 76th Precinct ranked 37th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. As of 2018, with a non-fatal assault rate of 30 per 100,000 people, Park Slope and Carroll Gardens' rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 294 per 100,000 people is lower than that of
8450-574: The Carroll Gardens was aided by the draining in the late 1860s of the swampland which surrounded Gowanus Creek through the deepening and dredging of the Creek to create the Gowanus Canal . This provoked land speculation and a building boom throughout the area. It was during this period, from the late 1860s to the early 1880s, that the area which is now the Carroll Gardens Historic District began to be developed. Italian immigrants began coming to
8619-705: The Continental Army at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 eliminated the last American stronghold in Manhattan, causing George Washington and his forces to retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey , pursued by British forces. After the battle, in which the Americans were defeated, the British made the city their military and political base of operations in North America. The city
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#17327761415498788-575: The County of New York (which then included parts of the Bronx), the County of Richmond, and the western portion of the County of Queens. The opening of the New York City Subway in 1904, first built as separate private systems, helped bind the new city together. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the city became a world center for industry, commerce, and communication. In 1904,
8957-640: The Duke of York (the future King James II and VII). The duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley . On August 24, 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , Anthony Colve of the Dutch navy seized New York at the behest of Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and rechristened it "New Orange" after William III , the Prince of Orange . The Dutch soon returned
9126-438: The Dutch West India Company had operated as a monopoly in New Netherland, on authority granted by the Dutch States General . In 1639–1640, in an effort to bolster economic growth, the Dutch West India Company relinquished its monopoly over the fur trade, leading to growth in the production and trade of food, timber, tobacco, and slaves (particularly with the Dutch West Indies ). In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began his tenure as
9295-494: The EPA amended the 2020 order with a $ 369 million contract, beginning the second phase of cleanup, with no end date in sight. The canal's toxic sediment layer averages 10 feet (3.0 m) thick, and at some spots reaches 20 feet (6.1 m). As part of the Superfund cleanup, the EPA would remove approximately 307,000 cubic yards (235,000 m ) of highly contaminated sediment from the upper and middle segments and 281,000 cubic yards (215,000 m ) of contaminated sediment from
9464-405: The EPA to address the canal's environmental problems. In May 2009, the city stepped forward to oppose the Superfund listing. For the first time it offered to produce a Gowanus cleanup plan that would match the work of a Superfund cleanup, but with a promise to accomplish it faster. The city said it could now achieve a faster cleanup than the EPA. It would fund the cleanup through taxpayer dollars from
9633-442: The Gowanus Canal borders the neighborhoods of Red Hook , Carroll Gardens , and Gowanus , all within South Brooklyn , to the west; Park Slope to the east; Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill to the north; and Sunset Park to the south. Seven bridges or viaducts cross the canal, carrying, from north to south, Union Street, Carroll Street , Third Street, the New York City Subway 's Culver Viaduct , Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, and
9802-407: The Gowanus Canal hosts a boat launch at Second Street. The Second Street boat launch is located adjacent to a "Sponge Park", which absorbs pollutants from the western bank before they can go into the canal. At Fourth Street, the Fourth Street Basin splits off to the east, while the Gowanus Canal proper turns west. A walkway with seating, built as part of the construction of a Whole Foods Market ,
9971-509: The Gowanus Canal. Long-time restaurateur Nick Monte called it a "stinking, cancerous sore" and a "stinking cesspool". CGA founder Salvatore "Buddy" Scotto Jr. referred to the canal as "the most polluted waterway in the world", and "the spine of our deterioration", relating it directly to the economic problems of the area. In 1971, the City of New York held hearings on a Gowanus Industrial Urban Renewal Project, but did not support it with funding. In 1974, Scotto brought microbiologists from
10140-406: The Gowanus. The repair was designed to mitigate, but not eliminate, the sewage problem. On September 27, 2013, the EPA approved a cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal. The plan, which would cost $ 506 million was intended to be completed by 2022, and divided the canal into three segments split by 3rd Street and the Hamilton Avenue Bridge. The plan entailed three steps: dredging contaminated sediment from
10309-472: The Hamilton Avenue Ferry. Its purpose was to improve transportation to the newly created Green-Wood Cemetery , but horse car service, and later trolley lines, connecting to the ferry ran through Carroll Gardens, enabling businessmen who lived there to commute more easily to work in Manhattan . In the late 1840s, Carroll Park, Brooklyn's third-oldest, a block-long area of playgrounds, walkways, and sitting areas between Court, Smith, Carroll, and President Streets
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#173277614154910478-432: The Mary McDowell Friends Middle School, and St. Mary's School. The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s Carroll Gardens branch is located at 396 Clinton Street near Union Street. The library, originally the Carroll Park branch, opened in 1901 in a rented facility. The library moved to its current facility, a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m) Carnegie library designed by William B. Tubby , in 1905. After extensive renovations,
10647-405: The New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan economy in the world , with a gross metropolitan product of over US$ 2.16 trillion. If the New York metropolitan area were its own country , it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world . Despite having a 24/7 rapid transit system , New York also leads the world in urban automobile traffic congestion . The city is home to
10816-420: The Pumping Station. At first, the brick-lined 1.2-mile (1.9 km) tunnel supplied clean water from the Buttermilk Channel between Brooklyn and Governors Island , carried it eastward underneath Butler Street, and discharged the clean water at the mouth of the Gowanus Canal. The flushing tunnel also failed, and aside from numerous operational glitches, a long series of errors and mistakes occurred throughout
10985-483: The Red Hook Sewage Treatment plant in Vinegar Hill that had been planned since the 1950s. A full study of the canal was published in 1981. It indicated that on an average day, more than 13,000,000 US gallons (49,000,000 L) of raw sewage emptied into it. The report also documented the decreasing use of the canal by industry and shipping. The number of industrial firms using the canal fell from nearly fifty in 1942 to six in 1981. The amount of freight brought through
11154-578: The Revolutionary War and escaped slaves, a significant free-Black population gradually developed in Manhattan. The New York Manumission Society worked for abolition and established the African Free School to educate Black children. It was not until 1827 that slavery was completely abolished in the state . Free Blacks struggled with discrimination and interracial abolitionist activism continued. New York City's population jumped from 123,706 in 1820 (10,886 of whom were Black and of which 518 were enslaved) to 312,710 by 1840 (16,358 of whom were Black). Also in
11323-464: The ages of 0–17, 46% between 25 and 44, and 20% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 5% and 10% respectively. As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 6 was $ 134,804. In 2018, an estimated 10% of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. Less than one in fifteen residents (6%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in
11492-558: The air and water beneath. Around this time, sewage going to the Gowanus Canal was redirected into sewage treatment plants near the Buttermilk Channel. With the early 1960s growth of containerization , the number of industrial waterfront jobs in the state declined, and the canal's industries were no exception. With much fanfare, the USACE completed its last dredging of the canal in 1955, and soon afterward abandoned its regular dredging schedule, deeming it to no longer be cost-effective. The intake fan that brought Buttermilk Channel water into
11661-514: The area's French dual-language programs, which was one of the first such French programs at a public school in the city. A Catholic mass in French is said every Sunday at the St. Agnes Church in Carroll Gardens. This initiative of the diocese of Brooklyn occurred after the neighboring Archdiocese of New York , incurred the wrath of French worshipers in Manhattan by deciding to close the French national parish of St. Vincent de Paul Church . French expatriates operate several restaurants and shops in
11830-426: The assembly of the Congress of the Confederation made New York City the national capital. New York was the last capital of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation and the first capital under the Constitution of the United States . As the U.S. capital, New York City hosted the inauguration of the first President, George Washington , and the first Congress , at Federal Hall on Wall Street . Congress drafted
11999-406: The avenue, mostly of Italian descent, calling themselves "Hookers" or "Hookies" after Red Hook, and kids north of the street, mostly Irish, in what would now be Carroll Gardens called "Creekers" or "Creekies" after the now-drained Gowanus Creek . Violence between the two groups was common. The division between the neighborhoods became even stronger beginning in the late 1940s when Robert Moses built
12168-548: The beginning of the 1990s. By the mid-1990s, crime rates started to drop dramatically due to revised police strategies, improving economic opportunities, gentrification , and new residents, both American transplants and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America. New York City's population exceeded 8 million for the first time in the 2000 United States census ; further records were set in 2010 , and 2020 U.S. censuses. Important new sectors, such as Silicon Alley , emerged in
12337-406: The bottom of the canal; capping the dredged areas; and implementing controls on combined sewer overflows to prevent future contamination. It also involved excavating and restoring approximately 475 feet (145 m) of the former 1st Street Basin and 25 feet (7.6 m) of the former 5th Street Basin. The restoration was expected to be paid for by the host of entities deemed "responsible parties" for
12506-587: The business elite lobbied for the establishment of Central Park , which in 1857 became the first landscaped park in an American city. The Great Irish Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants, of whom more than 200,000 were living in New York by 1860, representing over a quarter of the city's population. Extensive immigration from the German provinces meant that Germans comprised another 25% of New York's population by 1860. Democratic Party candidates were consistently elected to local office, increasing
12675-539: The canal "a disgrace to Brooklyn" because of the foul smells arising from the waterway. The first step to ameliorate the canal's pollution was the 1890s construction of the Bond Street sewer pipeline that carried sewage out into the harbor. This proved inadequate. In the first attempt to improve flow at the northern, closed end of the canal, the "Big Sewer" was constructed from Marcy Avenue in Prospect Heights to Green and 4th Avenues in Gowanus. It then entered
12844-416: The canal at an inflow point near Butler Street. Scientific American featured this sewer design for its innovative construction method and size. The area the sewer ran through was known as the "Flooded District". It was believed that this new sewer would serve two purposes: to drain the flooded district, and to use the flow of that excessive water to move the water of the upper Gowanus Canal. The tunnel
13013-487: The canal soon after the Civil War . Coal processing had been a dominant industry since 1869. By the late 19th century, there were 22 coal plants with frontage on the canal. Coal plants along the upper canal used large amounts of water in the conversion of coal to coke, liquids and gases. Coal gas was soon used for heating, light, and factory power. Coke was used to make steel. Wastewater and coal tar (now known to be
13182-488: The canal was more than 55% lower, and the number of times the drawbridges on the canal was opened declined by almost 70%. The report put forward a number of recommendations, one of which was fixing the flushing tunnel to increase the oxygen content of the water. In 1987, the Red Hook Treatment Plant was opened, diverting more sewage input from the canal. This $ 375 million plant collected waste from
13351-473: The canal's Fourth Street Turning Basin began in December 2016, but was delayed while bulkheads were being installed along the canal's banks. The pilot dredging uncovered several artifacts such as a crash boat from World War II ; industrial wooden bobbins for textiles; and 19th-century wagon wheels. These artifacts had to be cleaned of contaminants before archaeologists could study them. In July 2018, during
13520-449: The canal's western bank at Second Street. The park doubles as a stormwater catchment area, absorbing pollutants before they can go into the canal. Beginning in 2017, the city's Department of Environmental Protection built several miles of high-level storm sewers (HLSS) to prevent stormwater from flooding the city's sewage system. The new storm sewers carry stormwater collected in new and existing catchment areas, preventing it from entering
13689-487: The canal, as well as government entities like the New York City government and the United States Navy. Some of these companies, such as Brooklyn Union Gas , either no longer existed, had relocated, or had been renamed. If these defunct companies have been incorporated into another company, the property owners and the parent companies were expected to take responsibility, as are the companies that created or moved
13858-435: The channel. With the high level of development in the Gowanus watershed area, excessive nitrates and pathogens are constantly flowing into the canal, further depleting the oxygen and creating breeding grounds for the pathogens responsible for the canal's odor. Water quality measures of the concentration of oxygen in the canal were just 1.5 ppm , well below the minimum 4 ppm needed to sustain life. The canal water took on
14027-780: The city as a whole. The 76th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 83.1% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 4 murders, 9 rapes, 53 robberies, 91 felony assaults, 65 burglaries, 210 grand larcenies, and 28 grand larcenies auto in 2018. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) operates three fire stations serving Carroll Gardens: Preterm and teenage births are less common in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens than in other places citywide. In Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, there were 27 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 7.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Park Slope and Carroll Gardens has
14196-413: The city for damages related to the flooding issues that plagued the canal. By 1910, complaints were being made about the canal's water being almost solid waste, which provoked the installation of a flushing tunnel that was 12 feet (3.7 m) across. The Butler Street Pumping Station, a Beaux-Arts structure at the canal's inland end, opened on June 21, 1911. The new flushing tunnel connected to
14365-613: The city from New Jersey. The East River—a tidal strait —flows from Long Island Sound and separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island. The Harlem River , another tidal strait between the East and Hudson rivers, separates most of Manhattan from the Bronx. The Bronx River , which flows through the Bronx and Westchester County , is the only entirely freshwater river in the city. The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along
14534-487: The city is investing in various methods of stormwater management. One related improvement has been the creation of specialized curbside gardens, or bioswales , along sidewalks to absorb stormwater and reduce sewer overflows into the canal. A community-based non-profit organization, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy , is involved in stewardship of the bioswales. In 2015, the city built Sponge Park, along
14703-439: The city rapidly replaced Wuhan , China as the global epicenter of the pandemic during the early phase, straining the city's healthcare infrastructure. Through March 2023, New York City recorded more than 80,000 deaths from COVID-19-related complications. New York City is situated in the northeastern United States , in southeastern New York State, approximately halfway between Washington, D.C. and Boston . Its location at
14872-632: The city's economy. The advent of Y2K was celebrated with fanfare in Times Square . New York City suffered the bulk of the economic damage and largest loss of human life in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks . Two of the four airliners hijacked that day were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the deaths of 2,753 people, including 343 first responders from
15041-794: The city's ties to the South and its dominant party. In 1861, Mayor Fernando Wood called on the aldermen to declare independence from Albany and the United States after the South seceded, but his proposal was not acted on. Anger at new military conscription laws during the American Civil War (1861–1865), which spared wealthier men who could afford to hire a substitute, led to the Draft Riots of 1863 , whose most visible participants were ethnic Irish working class. The draft riots deteriorated into attacks on New York's elite, followed by attacks on Black New Yorkers after fierce competition for
15210-436: The citywide and boroughwide averages. Fifteen percent of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens residents are smokers , which is slightly higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, 15% of residents are obese , 6% are diabetic , and 22% have high blood pressure —compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 9% of children are obese , compared to
15379-413: The citywide average of 20%. Ninety-four percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 88% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", greater than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, there are 12 bodegas . Park Slope and Carroll Gardens generally have
15548-543: The citywide average of 75% of students. The New York City Department of Education operates a number of public schools in the neighborhood: Patrick F. Daly (P.S. 15), John M. Harrigan (P.S. 29), The Carroll School (P.S. 58), Samuel Mills Sprole (P.S. 32), the Brooklyn New School (P.S. 146), Brooklyn School of Collaborative Studies (M.S. 448), and the School for Innovation (M.S. 442). The Carroll School (P.S. 58)
15717-456: The cleanup could pose a health risk. In early 2017, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt , who had proposed many of the EPA budget changes and program eliminations, approved of the funding, saying that Superfund cleanups should be prioritized. Work on the cleanup process began in October 2017, and at the time, the cleanup was expected to cost $ 506 million. The first phase of a pilot study at
15886-436: The contaminants are not exposed. Next, an "armor" layer of heavier gravel and stone prevents boat traffic and canal currents from eroding the underlying layers. The topmost layer comprises sufficient clean sand atop the "armor" layer, filling the gaps in the layer of stones and establishing sufficient depth to restore the canal bottom as a habitat. In the middle and upper segments of the canal, where liquid coal tar has seeped into
16055-462: The creek, creating an environment where large bivalves thrived. In succeeding generations, negative artificial selection slowly reduced the size of the bivalves, since smaller bivalves were better adapted to the creek's water. Larger bivalves were less likely to survive, and thus, less likely to reproduce. In 1774 the Government of New York enacted a law to widen the creek into a canal, to keep
16224-418: The crew escaped. On May 10, 1892, the canal boat Alpha sank with a cargo of coal. On December 31, 1903, a dredge was found sunk in the canal, and an unnamed engineer/nightwatchman was reported missing and believed to be drowned. With six million tons of cargo produced and trafficked annually though the waterway after World War I , the Gowanus Canal became the nation's busiest commercial canal, and arguably
16393-471: The decline in the Italian segment of the population and the effects of gentrification, the neighborhood remains a strongly Italian one. Italians in the neighborhood often play bocce games, speak several dialects of Italian , and operate many Italian restaurants and shops, as well as join fraternal and benevolent associations attached to specific towns in Italy. The Roman Catholicism of the Italian population
16562-417: The development of large housing tracts in eastern Queens and Nassau County , with Wall Street leading America's place as the world's dominant economic power. The United Nations headquarters was completed in 1952, solidifying New York's global geopolitical influence, and the rise of abstract expressionism in the city precipitated New York's displacement of Paris as the center of the art world. In 1969,
16731-418: The early 18th century, New York grew in importance as a trading port while as a part of the colony of New York . It became a center of slavery , with 42% of households enslaving Africans by 1730. Most were domestic slaves ; others were hired out as labor. Slavery became integrally tied to New York's economy through the labor of slaves throughout the port, and the banking and shipping industries trading with
16900-429: The east, and Hamilton Plaza: a shopping center located at 1-37 12th Street which formerly housed a Pathmark supermarket and a Dunkin' Donuts directly to the south. At this point, a walkway leads from Lowe's north to Ninth Street along the northern bank of the tributary and the eastern bank of the canal. Owing to its hidden location, the waterfront promenade has seen little use. At approximately 14th Street along
17069-535: The eastern bank, Hamilton Avenue and the Gowanus Expressway cross the canal at a diagonal from southeast to northwest, connecting to Lorraine Street on the western bank. Separate movable bascule bridges built in 1942 carry both directions of Hamilton Avenue's traffic, while the Gowanus Expressway rises on a viaduct far above the canal. The Gowanus Canal's mouth is at the Gowanus Bay, a portion of Upper New York Bay bordering western Brooklyn. The mouth
17238-720: The environment of the Gowanus area. The first major U.S. law that would allow this, a law to address water pollution, was the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. It was followed by the establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 and the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Beginning in the 1960s, locals formed the Carroll Gardens Association (CGA) to lobby for civic improvements, including cleanup of
17407-487: The existing Bond Street sewer and brought the total of combined sewer overflow (CSO) points in the city to 14. With the opening of the new plant, the last dry-weather discharge into a New York City waterway ended, and the CSO points now only function during rain storms. The next year a sewage pipe was installed within the flushing tunnel, but according to a New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) engineer,
17576-455: The final plan was chosen for its low cost. United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Major David Bates Douglass was hired to design the canal, which was essentially complete by 1869. The cost of the construction came from assessments on the local residents of Brooklyn and State money. Despite its relatively short length, the Gowanus Canal was a hub for Brooklyn's maritime and commercial shipping activity. At its busiest, as many as 100 ships
17745-473: The first decade of the 20th century, up to 700 structures were built in South Brooklyn every year. Thriving industry brought many new people to the area, but important questions about wastewater sanitation had not been properly addressed to handle such growth. All sewage from the new buildings drained downhill and into the Gowanus. Since there was less open ground than before, rainwater now went onto
17914-566: The flushing tunnel broke in 1963, leading to its closure. A year later, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened, eliminating the need for industrial boats to use the canal at all, since trucks could use the bridge and Interstate 278 to ship goods from around the country to the Gowanus area. With the failure of the city sewage and pump station infrastructure, the Gowanus Canal was used as a derelict dumping place. It remained in that condition for almost three decades. By 1993,
18083-567: The former territory of New Netherland , including the city of New Amsterdam , when the Kingdom of England seized it from Dutch control. In the pre-Columbian era , the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by Algonquians , including the Lenape . Their homeland, known as Lenapehoking , included the present-day areas of Staten Island , Manhattan , the Bronx , the western portion of Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens ), and
18252-409: The growing city. The valley's watershed is approximately 6 square miles (16 km ) and includes drainage from what are now the adjacent neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. Wealthier residents tended to live inland and uphill to avoid the smells and "discomforts" of lower areas. Industries, which needed water for processing, transport, and disposal of wastes, gravitated toward sites along
18421-473: The ice (and its subsequent retreat) contributed to the separation of what is now Long Island and Staten Island. That action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a solid foundation for most of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The Hudson River flows through the Hudson Valley into New York Bay . Between New York City and Troy, New York , the river is an estuary . The Hudson River separates
18590-677: The island to England under the Treaty of Westminster of November 1674. Several intertribal wars among the Native Americans and epidemics brought on by contact with the Europeans caused sizeable population losses for the Lenape between 1660 and 1670. By 1700, the Lenape population had diminished to 200. New York experienced several yellow fever epidemics in the 18th century, losing ten percent of its population in 1702 alone. In
18759-671: The last Director-General of New Netherland. During his tenure, the population of New Netherland grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Stuyvesant has been credited with improving law and order; however, he earned a reputation as a despotic leader. He instituted regulations on liquor sales, attempted to assert control over the Dutch Reformed Church , and blocked other religious groups from establishing houses of worship. In 1664, unable to summon any significant resistance, Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to English troops, led by Colonel Richard Nicolls , without bloodshed. The terms of
18928-419: The library received its current name in response to a request from the community. Several 19th-century baseball fields in the community, collectively referred to as Carroll Park, were home fields for several clubs from the early days of baseball, including Excelsior of Brooklyn before they moved to their Red Hook grounds. The New York City Subway 's Carroll Street and Smith–Ninth Streets stations service
19097-545: The local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists. A permanent European presence near New York Harbor was established in 1624, making New York the 12th-oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States , with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island . In 1625, construction was started on a citadel and Fort Amsterdam , later called Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam), on present-day Manhattan Island. The colony of New Amsterdam extended from
19266-562: The local street grid. Its course is located mid-block between Bond Street to the west and Nevins Street to the east. Along the way it passes bridges at Union Street, Carroll Street, and Third Street from south to north. While the Union Street and Third Street Bridges are movable bascule bridges , the Carroll Street Bridge is a retractable bridge that can be rolled diagonally to let ships through. The western bank of
19435-523: The long stretch of economic recession, the waters of the canal lay stagnant and under-used for years. There is an urban legend that the canal served as a dumping ground for the Mafia . Some cases are on record: news reports state that the bodies of a Brooklyn racketeer in the 1930s and a president of the Grain Handlers Union in the 1940s were found in the Gowanus Canal. In Lavender Lake ,
19604-458: The lower segment. The sediment would be treated at an off-site facility. Then, at the locations where contamination had permeated the underlying sediment, the EPA would cap the dredges with multiple layers of clean material. The multi-layer caps consist of an "active" layer made of a specific type of clay that would remove contamination that could well up from below. Atop the clay layer is an "isolation" layer of sand and gravel that will ensure that
19773-867: The middle of the century by Norwegian immigrants, who founded two churches, the Norwegian Seaman's Church (formerly the Westminster Presbyterian Church), now apartments, and the Norwegian Methodist Episcopal Church (formerly the Carroll Park Methodist Episcopal Church, no longer extant). The development of the South Brooklyn area, including Carroll Gardens, was aided by the foundation in 1846 by philanthropists Henry Pierrepont and Jacob E. Leroy of
19942-550: The most polluted. The heavy sewage flow into the canal required regular dredging to keep the waters navigable. By the 1950s Brooklyn's fuel trade was already converting from coal and artificial gas to petroleum, which was served by the wider and deeper Newtown Creek , and natural gas, which arrived by pipeline . In 1951, with the opening of the elevated Gowanus Expressway over the waterway, easy access for trucks and cars catalyzed industry slightly. The expressway carried 150,000 daily vehicles, which unloaded tons of toxic emissions into
20111-419: The most populous urbanized area in the world in the early 1920s, overtaking London . The metropolitan area surpassed 10 million in the early 1930s, becoming the first megacity . The Great Depression saw the election of reformer Fiorello La Guardia as mayor and the fall of Tammany Hall after eighty years of political dominance. Returning World War II veterans created a post-war economic boom and
20280-556: The mouth of the Hudson River , which feeds into a naturally sheltered harbor and then into the Atlantic Ocean , has helped the city grow in significance as a trading port. Most of the city is built on the three islands of Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island. During the Wisconsin glaciation , 75,000 to 11,000 years ago, the New York City area was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet . The erosive forward movement of
20449-564: The natural sediment, the EPA would stabilize that sediment by mixing it with concrete or similar materials. The stabilized areas would then be covered with the multiple-layer caps. As the Superfund model required the EPA to seek restitution from the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), the estimated cost of the cleanup plan would be divided and distributed among more than 30 companies responsible for polluting
20618-409: The neighborhood had a population density of 36.9 inhabitants per acre (23,600/sq mi; 9,100/km). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 60.9% (23,342) White , 11.9% (4,573) African American , 0.2% (61) Native American , 4.5% (1,728) Asian , 0% (13) Pacific Islander , 0.4% (143) from other races , and 2.4% (912) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.8% (7,581) of
20787-520: The neighborhood in the late 19th century – dock workers and workers in the Brooklyn Navy Yard – continuing through the 1950s, which led to much of the Irish population of the area leaving beginning in the 1920s. The rise of the Italian population provoked questions about the role of the Mafia in the neighborhood. One theory has it that Carroll Gardens, which lies between
20956-561: The neighborhood, including La Cigogne, Café Luluc, Provence en boite, French Louie, Chez Moi, and Bar Tabac. The development of what is now the Carroll Gardens Historic District began in the 1870s, due in part to its proximity to Carroll Park. The district was created by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973. It includes houses located in a rough rectangle bounded by Carroll, President, Smith, and Hoyt Streets, as well as
21125-517: The northwest, Boerum Hill to the northeast, Gowanus to the east, Red Hook to the south and southwest, and the Columbia Street Waterfront District to the west. Originally considered to be part of the area once known as South Brooklyn (or, more specifically, Red Hook ), the area started to have its own identity in the 1960s. The neighborhood was named after Charles Carroll , the only Roman Catholic signer of
21294-496: The only " transgender folks around" during the June 1969 Stonewall riots. The transgender community in New York City played a significant role in fighting for LGBT equality. In the 1970s, job losses due to industrial restructuring caused New York City to suffer from economic problems and rising crime rates. Growing fiscal deficits in 1975 led the city to appeal to the federal government for financial aid; President Gerald Ford gave
21463-529: The overall environment of the Gowanus wetlands area. The DEP also initiated the Gowanus Canal Use and Standards Attainment project to meet the city's obligations under the Clean Water Act. In early 2006, the problem of wastewater management arose during a controversy over a planned arena for the Brooklyn Nets in nearby downtown Brooklyn . The project, at that point called Pacific Park ,
21632-589: The pilot study, the promenade near Whole Foods was damaged due to contractor error. The cleanup itself was expected to start in 2020 and be completed two years later. The EPA issued a formal order on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, which initiated the first phase of the $ 506 million cleanup on the 1.8 mile long canal. This $ 125 million first phase would begin in September 2020 and last 30 months, though it wound up lasting 46 months ending in July 2024. On June 27, 2024,
21801-567: The pipe was so poorly installed that it failed "almost immediately". The city unsuccessfully attempted to fix the flushing tunnel's sewage pipe in 1998. It was fixed in 1999 after engineers reversed the direction of the tunnel's fan. Previously, water from the canal had gone westward into the Buttermilk Channel, but now water from the channel went into the Gowanus Canal. In 2002, the US Army Corps of Engineers entered into
21970-426: The plans was dredging, which was scheduled to begin in 2016. The second step was to lay down one of two different proposed "caps". The first "cap" proposal was for a concrete device, while the second was for a multi-layered device with pollutant-absorbent clay, a sand buffer, and an anchor composed of rocks. Ultimately, the multi-layered cap was selected for installation in the canal. However, there were concerns that
22139-486: The pollutants around. The EPA Superfund Gowanus report identified two major PRPs: National Grid (which later acquired Brooklyn Union Gas' successor KeySpan ) and the New York City government. According to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, plans to reactivate the flushing tunnel pump were proposed in 1982. Various events caused the project to be delayed until 1994. The tunnel
22308-429: The pollution by the EPA, including Brooklyn Gas and Electric, now part of National Grid and the City of New York. The EPA suggested seven plans for the cleanup. In 2014, the EPA presented a proposal for containing toxic sludge in the Gowanus Canal. The Village Voice reported two scenarios as most viable. These were estimated to take ten years to complete and would cost around $ 350–$ 450 million. The first step in
22477-403: The population. The entirety of Community Board 6 , which covers areas around Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, had 109,351 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years. This is slightly higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 18% are between
22646-424: The present-day canal at Carroll and Third Streets. On May 26, 1664, several Breuckelen residents, headed by Brouwer, petitioned Director General Peter Stuyvesant and his Council for permission to dredge a canal at their own expense through the land of Frederick Lubbertsen to supply water to run the mill. The petition was presented to the council on May 29, 1664, and the motion was granted. Another mill, Cole's Mill,
22815-673: The press in North America . In 1754, Columbia University was founded. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765, as the Sons of Liberty organization emerged in the city and skirmished over the next ten years with British troops stationed there. The Battle of Long Island , the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War , was fought in August 1776 within modern-day Brooklyn. A British rout of
22984-539: The region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between Cape Cod and Delaware Bay was claimed by the Netherlands and called Nieuw-Nederland (' New Netherland '). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City was Juan Rodriguez , a merchant from Santo Domingo who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for pelts and trading with
23153-403: The rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 37% in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Park Slope and Carroll Gardens is considered to be high-income and not gentrifying . Carroll Gardens is patrolled by
23322-399: The roofs of the buildings and down into the canal. The building of new sewer connections only compounded the problem by discharging raw sewage from farther away neighborhoods into the canal. Pollutants, storm runoff , and discharge from the sewage system combined to make the canal's malodor so disgusting it was nicknamed "Lavender Lake". Compounding the problem, area property owners sued
23491-529: The same decade, a developer named Edwin Litchfield undertook a project to straighten the creek into a canal. At the time the 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km), 100-foot-wide (30 m) canal was built, several designs were proposed for it. Some included lock systems that would have allowed daily flushing of the whole waterway. However, these designs were considered too expensive. After exploring numerous alternative (and some more environmentally sound) designs,
23660-419: The same time period. Park Slope and Carroll Gardens's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, 11% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year , compared to the citywide average of 20% of students. Additionally, 77% of high school students in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens graduate on time, higher than
23829-417: The shoreline. The mills on the Gowanus were home to public landing sites, connecting the water route to the old Gowanus Road. As the local population grew, and the 19th-century industrial revolution reached Brooklyn, the need for larger navigational and docking facilities grew. Colonel Daniel Richards, a successful local merchant, advocated building a canal to benefit existing inland industries, and draining
23998-549: The southeastern edge of the Denton's Mill pond. Brower's Mill, also known as Freeks Mill or Brouwer's Mill, was located at the present-day intersection of Union and Nevins Streets. It can be seen in drawings depicting the Battle of Brooklyn . Throughout this period, a few Dutch farmers settled along the marshland and engaged in clamming of large oysters that became a notable first export to Europe. The Gowanus Bay's 6-foot (1.8 m) tides pushed brackish water further into
24167-535: The southern tip of Manhattan to modern-day Wall Street , where a 12-foot (3.7 m) wooden stockade was built in 1653 to protect against Native American and English raids. In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit , as charged by the Dutch West India Company , purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie , a small Lenape band, for "the value of 60 guilders " (about $ 900 in 2018). A frequently told but disproved legend claims that Manhattan
24336-415: The state and city levels, while the EPA would seek its funding from the polluters. The nonprofit Gowanus Canal Conservancy was also founded in 2009, creating partnerships with the EPA, the NYCDEP, groups such as Riverkeeper , and universities such as Cornell and Rutgers . On March 4, 2010, the EPA announced that it had placed the Gowanus Canal on its Superfund National Priorities List. Following this,
24505-569: The street than is common in Brooklyn, and the large gardens became an iconic depiction of the neighborhood. The same year, a law was passed requiring that all buildings between Henry Street and Smith Street have 33 feet 5.25 inches (10.1918 m) between the building and the street for "courtyards". The large gardens can be seen from First to Fourth Place between Henry and Smith Streets, as well as on President, Carroll, and Second Streets between Smith and Hoyt Streets. Further development of
24674-507: The surrender permitted Dutch residents to remain in the colony and allowed for religious freedom. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda after the Second Anglo-Dutch War , the victorious Dutch decided to keep the nascent plantation colony of what is now Suriname , which they had gained from the English, and in return the English kept New Amsterdam. The settlement was promptly renamed "New York" after
24843-536: The surrounding marshes for land reclamation that would raise property values. In 1849, under a decree by the New York Legislature , the Gowanus Creek was deepened so it could be used as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) commercial waterway connected to Upper New York Bay . The creek's dredging was completed in 1860. Another act of the Legislature in 1867 allowed the canal to be deepened further. In
25012-410: The tunnel; replace the broken sewer pipe and encase it in concrete to improve water flow; and reduce the amount of sewer overflow into the canal by increasing capacity at a nearby pumping plant". Increasing oxygen content was a major goal of the project. The original plans were modified in 2012, after Hurricane Sandy , to protect critical equipment from flooding. In 2014, following completion of much of
25181-451: The watercourse in good condition, and to levy taxes on people who used land near it. By the mid-19th century, the City of Brooklyn was quickly growing and was the United States' third-largest city. The creek and surrounding agricultural land was now part of an urban agglomeration, consisting of villages along the creek's shores. That same shoreline of river and swamp functioned as both a transportation system and an informal sewage system for
25350-535: The western ends of the two blocks between President Street and First Street. The district includes some of the finest examples of brownstones with large front gardens. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census , the population of the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street/Red Hook neighborhood tabulation area was 38,353, a change of 26 (0.1%) from the 38,327 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 1,040.71 acres (421.16 ha),
25519-475: The westernmost portion of Long Island . Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century as domestic shipping declined. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs, and barges. It is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States. Connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay ,
25688-418: The work, the tunnel was reactivated at a cost of $ 177 million. Throughout its history, the Gowanus Canal's sewage problems have been exacerbated by the effects of stormwater. For years, heavy rains have flooded streets and caused sewage lines to overflow, contributing to the canal's contamination. Much of the Gowanus Canal area is at sea level, in a Zone A risk area for flooding. To help prevent flooding,
25857-597: The world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m), a reference to the year of U.S. independence . The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan began on September 17, 2011, receiving global attention and popularizing the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide. New York City
26026-493: The world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization of their listed companies: the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq . New York City is an established safe haven for global investors. As of 2023 , New York City is the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and has by a wide margin the highest U.S. city residential rents; and Fifth Avenue is the most expensive shopping street in
26195-525: The world. New York City traces its origins to Fort Amsterdam and a trading post founded on Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists around 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under English control in 1664 and was temporarily renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York , before being permanently renamed New York in November 1674. New York City
26364-402: The world. New York City is home by a significant margin to the highest number of billionaires , individuals of ultra-high net worth (greater than US$ 30 million), and millionaires of any city in the world. In 1664, New York was named in honor of the Duke of York (later King James II of England ). James's elder brother, King Charles II , appointed the Duke as proprietor of
26533-566: Was heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. Sandy's impacts included flooding that led to the days-long shutdown of the subway system and flooding of all East River subway tunnels and of all road tunnels entering Manhattan except the Lincoln Tunnel . The New York Stock Exchange closed for two days due to weather for the first time since the Great Blizzard of 1888 . At least 43 people died in New York City as
26702-535: Was a haven for Loyalist refugees and escaped slaves who joined the British lines for freedom promised by the Crown , with as many as 10,000 escaped slaves crowded into the city during the British occupation, the largest such community on the continent. When the British forces evacuated New York at the close of the war in 1783, they transported thousands of freedmen for resettlement in Nova Scotia , England, and
26871-539: Was a prime destination in the early 20th century for Blacks during the Great Migration from the American South, and by 1916, New York City had the largest urban African diaspora in North America. The Harlem Renaissance of literary and cultural life flourished during the era of Prohibition . The larger economic boom generated construction of skyscrapers competing in height. New York City became
27040-441: Was built. Originally a private garden, it was purchased by the city in 1853, and was named after Charles Carroll in honor of his Maryland regiment, which had helped to defend the area during the Battle of Long Island in the American Revolutionary War . In 1846, surveyor Richard Butt planned gardens in front of the brownstone houses in the oldest section of the neighborhood when he developed it. The homes are set farther back from
27209-456: Was completed by 1893, but Brooklyn residents complained their sewage outputs were not connected to the Big Sewer. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle initially hailed the sewer's size and extent. However, the newspaper declared it an "engineering blunder" in 1898, saying the Big Sewer caused sewage to go back into the Gowanus Canal, rather than its intended purpose of draining sewage from it. During
27378-500: Was deeded on July 8, 1645, to Jan Evertse Bout. It was the first gristmill in the town of Breukelen and the first mill to operate in New Netherland. The mill was located north of Union Street, west of Nevins Street, and next to Bond Street. A second mill—Denton's Mill, also called Yellow Mill—was built on Denton's Mill Pond, after permission was granted to dredge from the creek to the mill pond once located between Fifth Avenue and
27547-413: Was designated a Superfund site in 2009, and work to clean up the canal began in 2013. The Gowanus Canal begins at Butler Street in the neighborhood of Boerum Hill , in the northwestern part of Brooklyn. The wastewater pumping station at 201-234 Butler Street, a terracotta structure dating to 1911, is located north of the canal's head. The canal then runs in a south-southwest alignment parallel to
27716-451: Was ended. Today, Carroll Gardens is predominantly upper middle-class , while Red Hook, which had retained its working-class, waterfront ambiance, has only recently begun to feel the effects of gentrification. However, the two neighborhoods have historically both been working-class and a mix of working-class Italian-American, African-American, and Hispanic-American residents, as well as more recent Arab-American immigrant families. As late as
27885-486: Was finally reactivated in 1999. The new design employed a 600 horsepower (450 kW) motor, that pumped an average rate of 200,000,000 US gallons (760,000,000 L; 170,000,000 imp gal) a day of aerated water from the Buttermilk Channel in the Upper New York Bay into the head end of the canal. Although water was circulating through the tunnel, tidal forces meant it could only be pumped 11 hours
28054-567: Was located just about at present day 9th Street, between Smith Street and the canal. Cole's Mill Pond, located north of 9th Street, occupied the present location of Public Place. In 1699, a settler named Nicholas Vechte built a farmhouse of brick and stone now known as the Old Stone House . In 1776, during the Battle of Long Island , American troops engaged British Army troops at the house, enabling General George Washington to relocate his troops behind American lines. This house sat at
28223-415: Was purchased for $ 24 worth of glass beads. Following the purchase, New Amsterdam grew slowly. To attract settlers, the Dutch instituted the patroon system in 1628, whereby wealthy Dutchmen ( patroons , or patrons) who brought 50 colonists to New Netherland would be awarded land, local political autonomy, and rights to participate in the lucrative fur trade. This program had little success. Since 1621,
28392-417: Was the U.S. capital from 1785 until 1790. The modern city was formed by the 1898 consolidation of its five boroughs : Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens , the Bronx , and Staten Island . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District, Manhattan , New York City has been called both the world's premier financial and fintech center and the most economically powerful city in the world. As of 2022 ,
28561-532: Was to include a basketball arena and 17 skyscrapers. The resulting sewage would flow into antiquated combined sewers that can overflow when it rains. The Gowanus Canal has 14 combined sewer overflow points. The fear was the additional wastewater from the arena would lead to more frequent overflows in the canal. In March 2009, the EPA proposed that the canal be listed as a Superfund cleanup site. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) supported this action. It had requested help from
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