SPONGY IDEAS

BY: KIYOMI DAVIDSON

“Beware The Canal”  

The Gowanus Canal has been destroyed by rain, sewage and public waste..In the mid 1800s, it was used for importing goods over in boats. But over the years, the canal started to fall apart. “New York City has a combined sewer system. The sewer pipes leading from our houses and businesses are connected to the pipes that drain rainwater from the street. When weather conditions are dry, the raw sewage flows to the Red Hook Wastewater Treatment Plant (located at the Brooklyn Navy Yard). But during a rainstorm, the rain water is added to the sewer system causing it to overflow”. (Allen Spector, 2014). The water had a very disturbing smell that was so bad that any forms of life would die in an instant. People would jump in and automatically die from the strong fumes and deadly bacteria, animals would suffer the Same. So not only was there sewage in the water, there was also "body parts", which made the canal even worse! Today organizations have created  a way to "flush" the bad water away and put fresh clean water. So life forms can live again by the canal, but more needs to be done with the natural causes of the canal.

“What’s a “Sponge Park?”

“The Gowanus Canal sponge park is a multifunctional public open space system,”says Kristin Petro. This park contains, “plants that can absorb, accumulate or metabolize pollutants through their roots”. (Newsweek.com). Thanks to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, there’s now a  propeller that flushes the dirty water and keeps the canal’s water clean. However, the runoff from the rain goes into the water and makes it dirty all over again. This organization wants to “reduce contamination in the gowanus canal and provide an evolved urban habitat supporting and promoting estuarine ecology”. The sponge park “slows absorbs and filters surface water runoff to remediate contaminated water, activate the private canal waterfront and revitalize the neighborhood”. (Gowanus Canal Conservancy Site Plan). They are now in the process of making this park a reality.

“Envisions”

BCS student, eyewitness, Anai Marando thinks that this park is good thing. “I think the sponge park will really change the appearance of the canal”, says. “Everytime I take the train, I pass that canal and it looks terrible… The sponge park will change that”, Anai adds. The people who live in gowanus, are going to be affected more than people who don't live in the Gowanus, of course. The park will allow people to swim in the water, fish and other animals will be able to live by the canal once again. However, what does this mean for the residents? The park will need to take up some space, which means these residents who been living in Gowanus for years, would have to move out of their homes and lose businesses.

“Funding solutions”

Originally, the gowanus had a large marshy wetland area, the Gowanus Canal conservancy envisions that marshy land as a park for the community’s weather issues. The Gowanus Canal conservancy is currently trying to work with local community organizations and government agencies. For example dlandstudio, the community that designed the Sponge Park, says, “Through an unconventional, unprecedented process, dlandstudio raised all of the design and construction funding for the project from the New York State Council on the Arts,  United States Congress,  New York City Council,  the New England Water Pollution Control Commission,  the State Department of Environmental Conservation (Environmental Justice Grant),  and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation.” If, they keep this work up, the community will get the park they deserve and who’s to say this park can only be used for one community…..