2018 GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY ANNUAL REPORT

543 UNION STREET #1E , NY 11215 TEL: 718.541.4378 www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The City’s recently announced draft rezoning plan for Gowanus has spurred a wide range of reactions and emotions. We fear towering buildings, accelerated gentrification, and a loss of neighborhood identity. At the same time, we are hopeful for long-term investments in the canal’s health, new public space, and an accessible waterfront.

These conflicts and contradictions are daunting for our neighborhood – a diverse, overlapping and interdependent community of manufacturers, brownstone dwellers, environmentalists, public housing residents, landowners, canoeists, teachers, students and more. We bring different experiences, different voices and different perspectives to this moment.

But our common ground is clear: We all love Gowanus. It is our home – where we live, where we work, and where we play.

We will need this common ground to find our way through the rezoning process and, more importantly, through the larger challenges that lie ahead: a city that is VISION increasingly dense; a climate that is increasingly warm; and urban infrastructure that is increasingly vulnerable, stretched and exposed. We envision a Gowanus Canal and surrounding urban environment The road ahead will require honesty and openness. It will also require collaboration that is clean, resilient, diverse and alive. and compromise. We at Gowanus Canal Conservancy look forward to listening to you, talking with you and working with you to make the right things happen. Today; and MISSION for the future of our neighborhood.

We advocate and care for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands while empowering a community of stewards. Ben Jones Board Chair, 2015-2018

GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 2 ..

GOWANUS BLUE SCHOOLS 2018 HIGHLIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS ENGAGED PRIVATE SCHOOLS ENGAGED ADVOCACY 2018 was another busy year in Gowanus! As the neighborhood GOWANUS TREE NETWORK BOREUM around us changes rapidly, we have deepened and strengthened HILL STREET TREE STEWARDSHIP our core programming to engage stakeholders in understanding, GARDEN STEWARDSHIP CARROLL M.S. 447 stewarding, and advocating for our unique watershed. I am GARDENS continually amazed by the passion and commitment of our neighbors – a few of my favorite 2018 memories...

BROOKLYN COLLABORATIVE Gowanus Green Team apprentices stretched their design muscles PRESIDENT & NEVINS TREE NETWORK PROSPECT STUDIES HEIGHTS facilitating a Lowlands Master Plan charrette for their elders... 2ND AVE GARDEN RED SALT LOT CARROLL STREET PLANTERS HOOK The evolution of street tree beds under the care of the Gowanus 3RD & 3RD GARDEN STEWARDSHIP Tree Network Ambassadors... GOWANUS LOWLANDS 6TH ST GREEN CORRIDOR Both the extreme rain and the extremely high community spirits at STEWARDSHIP EXPO Gowanus in Thomas Greene Park... ZONE 8TH ST & 4TH AVE TREE NETWORK

The passion of the Gowanus Blue Schools students as they presented green infrastructure ideas – now that they understand GOWANUS CANAL that we adults haven’t actually figured it all out... WATERSHED PROSPECT PARK Hours of discussion and consensus building about the future

of our neighborhood with our fellow members of the Gowanus SUNSET M.S. 88 Neighborhood Coalition for Justice... PARK EDUCATION Thank you all for your support and engagement over the past year. We at Gowanus Canal Conservancy look forward to many more!

Andrea Parker 2,108 PEOPLE 225 NEIGHBORS 726 VOLUNTEERS 1,379 STUDENTS LEARNED ABOUT ENGAGED IN ENGAGED IN ENGAGED IN Executive Director COMBINED SEWAGE LOWLANDS OUTREACH HANDS-ON STEWARDSHIP PLACE-BASED LEARNING OVERFLOW GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 4 WYCKOFF WARREN GARDENS HOUSES

PEDESTRIAN GOWANUS LOWLANDS GOWANUS ENERGY FIELD STATION ACCESS HOUSES COMMUNITY CENTER The future of Gowanus is entering a critical phase with the confluence of several long-standing PROBABLE efforts: the federally mandated cleanup under the Canal’s Superfund status; related cleanups at CSO TANK PARK REZONING the state and city levels; and land use changes that will cue both private development and City PUMP HOUSE PLAZA investments in the public realm. Through the Gowanus Lowlands Master Plan, we seek to ensure THOMAS GREENE PARK the community has a key role in shaping a watershed that is accessible, active, and clean for all.

STREET END PARKS

WATERFRONT ESPLANADES

PERFORMANCE BARGE PARK SLOPE

ART IN THE MEDIAN

CARROLL PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE 1ST ST TURNING BASIN GARDENS

HALL OF GOWANUS

CITIZENS PARK

Neighbors discuss multiple remediation processes at a North Canal Visioning Workshop. WASHINGTON 5TH ST TURNING BASIN PARK ANNEX OUTREACH MARSH RESTORATION Site based community comments. INDUSTRIAL The Gowanus Lowlands Master BUSINESS The Gowanus Lowlands planning process builds upon Bridging Plan is an evolving document that Gowanus and the NYC City Planning PLACES study. During ZONE coordinates ongoing plans with 2018, we held 9 community outreach workshops with the help community priorities for open space. TRANSIT PLAZA UNDER THE TRACKS PARK of partner organizations. Thematic workshops focused on the This plan is a tool to advocate for arts; design and planning; recreation and access; environmental and facilitate resilient, vibrant and justice; and youth, education, and community. Area-specific equitable design across numerous workshops were organized in north Gowanus, Park Slope, and 225 TOTAL projects by public and private entities. COMMUNITY MEMBERS lower Gowanus. ENGAGED GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 6 VOLUNTEER STEWARDSHIP

Our volunteers are essential to our work throughout the neighborhood. From our neighbors who drop in for a one-day project to our dedicated Volunteer Committee that meets monthly to plan initiatives and projects, we couldn’t function without them.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM BY THE NUMBERS

726 TOTAL 2,298 HOURS 2,850 LBS 17 PUBLIC + 18 MEMBERS + VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEERED TRASH COLLECTED 9 CORPORATE 10 CHAIRS EVENTS 5 SUB-COMMITTEES

GOWANUS TREE NETWORK

In 2018, Gowanus Canal Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy piloted the Gowanus Tree Network: neighbors working together to build a healthy urban forest. Tree Ambassadors enroll in free Citizen Pruner training, organize tree stewardship with their neighbors, and enter the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest.

We engaged 4 blocks and 10 volunteers in 8 events to install native plants and tree guards, expand tree beds, and amend tree beds with compost and mulch.

Funded by the 2018 State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Urban and Community Forestry Grants Program (Round 14). Volunteers weed the Salt Lot Berm Garden, Gowanus Tree Ambassadors lead their neighbors in a native plant garden along the banks of the Canal. street tree stewardship on 4th Avenue and 8th Street. GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 8 EDUCATION

Through service-learning, citizen science, walking tours, and STEM curriculum, we teach students and community members of all ages about the complex ecological, historical, and social issues of Gowanus so that they can become better advocates for a sustainable future.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS BY THE NUMBERS

2,108 PEOPLE 583 STUDENTS 173 STUDENTS 373 STUDENTS 150 STUDENTS LEARNED ABOUT ENGAGED IN ENGAGED IN ENGAGED IN DESIGNED GREEN CSO WALKING TOURS SERVICE-LEARNING CITIZEN SCIENCE INFRASTRUCTURE

M.S. 88’s table at EXPO Gowanus 2018 GOWANUS BLUE SCHOOLS

In 2018, over 150 middle and high school students from M.S. 88 Peter Rouget, M.S. 447 The Math & Science Exploratory School, and Brooklyn Collaborative Studies investigated combined sewage overflow through the Gowanus Blue Schools program. Students developed math, science, and design skills related to spatial thinking, calculating stormwater runoff, research, technical drawings, building models, team collaboration, and public presentations by designing comprehensive green infrastructure proposals for their school campuses and exploring environmental justice topics.

At the end of the school year, students presented their final projects at the Gowanus Blue Schools Design Competition to a panel of reviewers who are experts on green infrastructure design, environmental justice, and environmental engineering, Students present their designs for Citizen Science Educator Emma McCauley introducing students as well as a public audience of parents, local organizations, and green infrastructure at M.S. 447 from Ditmas Junior High School 62 to the Gowanus Watershed. community members. GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 10 Gowanus Tree Network Friends of Thomas Greene Park University Partners Gowanus Alliance Ambassadors Gowanus by Design PEOPLE & PARTNERS Geoff Barrett, 8th St btw 3rd & 4th Colby College Gowanus Superfund Community Leanne Burney, 4th St west of 5th Ave Columbia University Advisory Group Maisa Chiang, 8th St btw 3rd & 4th Harvard University Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Board of Directors Full-Time Staff Fellows Uriah Crane, 4th Ave btw 7th & 8th New York University Gowanus Grid + Electric Jacky Hunt, 8th St btw 3rd & 4th College of Technology Chairman Andrea Parker, Executive Director Sarah Dornner, Landscape Fellow Gowanus Houses Art Collective Lisa Lightbody, President btw Nevins & 3rd North Carolina State University Ben Jones Marissa Fabricant, Stewardship Coordinator Hana Georg, Curriculum Design Fellow Gowanus Neighborhood Collition Sheila Olive, Degraw btw Hoyt & Bond Diana Gruberg, Horticultural Manager Zoe Holland, Landscape Fellow for Justice Peter Sistrom, 4th St west of 5th Ave Rutgers University Vice-Chairman Jordan Heiden, Education Coordinator Wendy Story, Nursery Fellow Gowanus Souvenir Shop Anna Stevens, 4th Ave btw 7th & 8th The City College of New York Marcos Diaz Gonzalez Cait LaMorte, Development Director Gowanus Swim Society Interns William Touchet, Nevins btw Sackett Yale University Treasurer Amy Motzny, Watershed Manager Gowanus Wildcats Christine Petro, Education Director Morgan Dougherty-Messing & Union Andrew Simons Green City Force Natasia Sidarta, Program Manager Sherlan Greaves Greenbelt Native Plant Center K-12 Partners Secretary Dante Morgan Partners GreenSpace on Fourth Allen-Stevenson School Faizal Karmali Part-Time Staff Luca Nigro 8th Street Block Association High Line Network Avenues: The World School 350 Brooklyn Hungry March Band Brooklyn Collaborative Studies Winfield Clifford Emma Garrison, Educator Volunteer Committee 475 High Performance Building Supply KOKO NYC Brooklyn Urban Garden School Remko de Jong, Esq. Bess Hauser, EXPO Event Manager ArtBuilt Langan Engineering Compass Charter School Heidi Dolnick Destinie Lane, Gardener Subcommittee Chairs Artichoke Dance Ecology Center / Ditmas Junior High School 62 Alexandria Donati Emma McCauley, Educator Shari Baitcher, Outreach Arts Gowanus Gowanus E-Waste Warehouse East New York Family Academy Anselm Fusco Ruth Nervig, Gardener Shanna Blanchard, Horticulture American Society of Natural Areas Conserancy German School Brooklyn Richard Greene Galina Seldina, Bookkeeper Erin Johnson, Outreach Landscape Architects North Canal Visioning Group Girl Scout Council of Greater Stephen Hindy Ben Leer, Design/Build ARUP NYC Compost Project New York Richard Kampf Bob Lesko, Urban Forestry BEAM Center NYC Urban Field Station Innovation Diploma Plus High Andrew Kimball Green Team Liam Mahoney, Compost Bellyfire Productions Old Stone House School Virginia McEnerney Massiel Rueda, Crew Leader Jason Mortara, Design/Build Big Reuse Open House New York International School of Brooklyn Lisa Melmed Jessica Goldberg, Crew Leader Leila Mougoui Bakhtiari, Billion Oyster Project Open Sewer Atlas J.H.S. 223 Montauk Junior High Leah Milcarek Kwanzaa Handy, Senior Apprentice Urban Forestry Bronx River Alliance Pig Beach M.S. 2 Parkside Preparatory Academy Jay Walder Daunte Jacob, Apprentice Ruth Nervig, Horticulture Brooklyn Bird Club Project Sound System M.S. 88 Peter Rouget Craig Wilson Jessica Varughese, Apprentice Bryan Simpson, Compost Brooklyn Botanic Garden Prospect Park Alliance M.S. 447 The Math & Science Ted Wolff, Esq. Sam Vasen, Apprentice Wendy Andringa Brooklyn Boulders Foundation Red Hook Farms Exploratory School Emeritus Carrie Carlisle Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Riverkeeper P.S. 58 The Carroll School P.S. 133 William A. Butler John C. Muir Helen Chananie Brooklyn Community Board 6 SCAPE Jessica Dalrymple Brooklyn Historical Society South Brooklyn Local P.S. 170 Ralph A. Fabrizio Emma Garrison Carnival of Connectivity Development Corporation P.S. 206 Joseph F. Lamb Spoke the Hub P.S. K225 Eileen E. Zaglin In Memoriam Massiel Rueda Jessica Goldberg Central Park Conservancy Con Edison Textile Arts Center Saint Ann’s School 1992 - 2018 Angela Lehn Christensen DLANDstudio The Nature Conservancy The Berkeley Carroll School Massiel impacted all of us with her positive energy, strong will, Klaus Lehn Christensen District 15 School Gardens The River Project and generous spirit. She was tenacious, smart, and full of life, Daniel O’Connor Consortium Garden Train thread collective Elected Officials with a warm manner that made her exceptionally easy to talk to. Frederick Phillips Peter Reich eDesign Dynamics TreePEP City Councilmember Brad Lander Families United for Racial Trees New York As an activist who sought to connect people with their James Riso City Councilmember Stephen Levin and Economic Equality (FUREE) Trilox Millworks environment, Massiel understood the importance of humans and Greta Ruedisueli US Congressperson Nydia Velázquez Fifth Avenue Committee Turning the Tide (T3) equity in this work. We will strive to pursue all that Massiel cared Lisa Shufro NYS Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon Forth on Fourth Avenue Waterfront Alliance about and rise to the task of furthering justice while caring for the Suzanne Smith Freshkills Park environment, and each other, in her honor. Ashley Verhines Michael Wasserman Friends of Carroll Park Leah Wener GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 12 Individuals Over $5,000 Corporate Supporters Leibowitz & Greenway Family Foundation Heidi & Sam Dolnick AECOM Lily Auchincloss Foundation Benjamin Jones Atlantic Realty Development Park Slope Civic Council GOWANUS SPRING GALA Jay Walder & Bank of America Park Slope Jewish Center Susan Cummings Walder Brooklyn Microgrid The Nature Conservancy Ted & Anne Wolff The Brooklyn Home Company The PepsiCo Foundation Center for Better Sleep Honorees Clean & Green Bioswale Individuals Over $1,000 The Rockefeller Foundation Citi Foundation Honorable Kathryn Garcia Sponsors Sponsors Cathy Bacich & Ed Schallert City Farm Presents Agencies NYC Department of Sanitation Brown and Caldwell Marcos Diaz Gonzalez Wendy Andringa Con Edison Commissioner Heidi & Sam Dolnick & Madeley Rodriguez NYC Civic Corps Nancy Belkov & Jeff Parker Credit Suisse Richard & Diane Greene Andrew Kimball & Sarah Williams NYC Dept. of Education Melissa Benson & Kieran Beer Eileen Fisher Stephen Giumenta SCAPE John Lavelle NYC Dept. of Environmental Nadia Burgard & Cliff Fonstein JP Morgan Chase & Co. Vice President & Design Engineer, The Simons Family Virginia McEnerney Protection David Burney LO3 Energy Inc. Architectural Grille Lavinia Simon Lisa Melmed M3 Energy NYC Dept. of Sanitation Dattner Architects NYC Soil & Water Jay Walder & Remko de Jong & Bobi Ahn Wendy Moore National Grid Kate Orff Conservation District Susan Cummings-Walder DeepRoot Green Infrastructure Andrew Simons Patagonia Soho Founding Principal, SCAPE NYS Dept. of Environmental Nicholas T. Donovan Pilot Real Estate Group & Associate Professor, Columbia University Individuals Over $500 Horrigan Development Conservation STEM Gowanus Jane Forman Paul Basile PMG US Environmental Co-Chairs Sponsors Deborah Flynn Nancy Belkov & Jeffrey Parker Protection Agency Gowanus Grid & Electric Samsung Electronics Andrew Kimball The Aguayo Team at HPDM Winfield Clifford US Forest Service, Gowanus Inn & Yard The Domain Companies Jackie Snyder The Brooklyn Home Company Ron & Danielle Faris US Dept. of Agriculture Hans Hesselein Winfield Clifford Anselm Fusco Business Supporters HR&A Advisors Hillary Cohen Rose Gasner & Larry Chertoff ABA Studio In-Kind Gowanus Blue Cathy Iselin Marcos Diaz Gonzalez & Lisa Goldfarb & Jack Dehovitz Baxt Ingui Architecture ARUP Sponsor Jonathan Rose Companies Madeley Rodriguez Richard Kampf CityScapes NYC Baba’s Pierogies Faizal Karmali AECOM Elizabeth Roberts Architecture Patrick Kaifosh DLANDstudio Brooklyn Brewery Kelco Construction Ben Jones & Design Rosanne Pugliese & Bill Dudine emphas!s design, inc. Fifth Avenue Committee Sandy Mayzel & John Gould PMG emphas!s design, inc. Jevon Roush & Grier Coleman Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Five Borough Brewing Co. Miranda Brooks Landscape Design Ted & Anne Wolff Future Green Studio Eliza Rossman - Brooklyn / Troutbrook Company Folksbier Brauerei Liat & Allan Myers GBX-Gowanus Bay Terminal Nelson & Diana Tebbe Geto & de Milly, Inc. Gotham Greens Neuhaus Design Architecture, P.C. Green Gowanus Souvenir Shop Lee Weiskott Langan Engineering Grand Army Danae Oratowski Infrastructure Hudson Companies Gena Wirth Lot 2 Grimm Artisanal Ales Katie Schwab, Sponsors Industrial Carting Michael Muth Greenbelt Native Plant Center Cozen O’Connor Public Straties John Kline Individuals Over $250 Neuhaus Design Architecture, P.C. JS Gallery Architectural Grille Sarah & Bruce Shriver Richard & Julie Lam Wendy Andringa OTTO Brand Lab Langan Engineering Bloomberg Philanthropies Matthew L. Simons Langan Engineering John Craver & Lindsay Karich Supermass Studio Moore Borthers Wine Paul Basile, Gowanus Alliance Thomas Simons LendLease Amy & Peter Davis Sevenson Enviromental Services Other Half Brewing Steve Hindy & Ellen Foote Sims Municipal Recycling M3 Energy John Grimes SCAPE A Friend of Steve Hindy Starr Whitehouse Landscape Virginia McEnerney Hans Hesselein Foundations Six Point Brewery Industry City Architects & Planners Leah Milcarek & Richard McNerny Anisa Javeri ALLINBKLYN South Brooklyn Local MacAndrews & Forbes Doug Steiner, Steiner Studios P.W. Grosser Consulting Richard Jenkins Boerum Hill Association Development Corporation Lisa Melmed Tsao & McKown Architects Powerhouse Workshop Jason Mortara Carver Scholarship Fund Strong Rope Brewery Pilot Real Estate Patricia Vigorita Quadrozzi Urban Enterprises Marianne Mortara Citizens Committee for NYC The V Spot & Horrigan Development York Analytical Laboratories, Inc. Matt Schallert Friends of Thomas Green Park Threes Brewing Two Trees Joanne Witty & Eugene Keilin Justin Schein & Eden Wurmfeld G & A Foundation c/o Muchnick, Trader Joe’s Thomas Simons Golieb & Golieb Wartega Ian Sinclair & Diana Gruberg Jobar Foundation Whole Foods

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