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