Rezoning May Transform Toxic Gowanus Canal

The putrid Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn may soon become a cleaned-up public waterfront, according to plan that includes public walkways, a full cleanup of the canal and new development.

Nonprofit Bridging Gowanus created the plan, which seems to have been embraced by city planning officials who held their latest meeting with the community on Dec. 8. The Gowanus is surrounded by some of the most expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn, though it served as an industrial canal from more than 100 years. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has designated the contaminated canal Superfund site.