In today's (Wednesday, July 26) New York Sun, there is an article, "New Life 
For the Gowanus" that describes the re-development of the area surrounding the 
Gowanus Canal in South Brooklyn:

"The Gowanus, like the canals in Chartres, Venice, Gdansk, and Georgetown, 
has an intimate scale and calm waters. Gowanus is rich in history; as a creek it 
was one of the first Dutch settlements; the site of the Battle of Brooklyn 
("Good God, what brave men must I lose this day!" said Washington of the 400 
Marylanders); the landscape industrialized by real estate developer Edwin 
Litchfield, who petitioned the legislature to allow the building of the canal (his 
Italianate Brooklyn Improvement Co. building still stands at Third Avenue and 
Third Street, and was recently landmarked). The canal has water, scale, ecology 
and history -- and it smells better than Venice!"

For the complete article, "New Life For the Gowanus", please go to:

http://www.nysun.com/article/36752


Please note that South Brooklyn refers to an area that was the southern part 
of the Town of Brooklyn and then the City of Brooklyn (immediately to the 
north of the then Town of New Utrecht) and is north of the area known as southern 
Brooklyn (the current neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, Bensonhurst, 
Coney Island).

I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting.

Regards,

Walter Greenspan
Great Falls, MT & Jericho, NY