The Gowanus Lounge: Gowanus Lounge Looks at Brooklyn from the Water

It was hot yesterday, so Gowanus Lounge decided to take it out on the water by hopping on New York Water Taxi and doing the grand tour of Brooklyn and Manhattan from the water, a three-hour tour, give or take. It was especially appealing because of the stop in Red Hook that was added a couple of months ago. We caught the 2:01 boat at Fulton Ferry Landing headed north in the direction of Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, which quickly took us past our main points of interest--Williamsburg and Greenpoint. After stopping in LIC, the boat headed back to 34th Street in Manhattan and, then, south to Red Hook (via DUMBO and South Street Seaport) through the Buttermilk Channel where the Princess cruise ship was docked at the Red Hook Cruise Terminal. Arriving at Fairway by water is a different feeling than taking the B61 or driving, although we noted that no one was getting on board with bags full of groceries.

Then, the boat headed back north. This time, it went around Governors Island on the Statue of Liberty side to Battery Park and, then, up the West Side of Manhattan to 44th Street. Then, we reversed course, going back down the West Side to Battery Park and, then, south to Red Hook again and, finally, back up the Buttermilk Channel to Fulton Ferry Landing.

GL got to watch an ever-changing cast of tourists, acquired a windblown look and shot a, um, boatload of cool photos of Brooklyn.

We note with amusement that the Water Taxi tour guide person said (his words, not ours), as the boat passed the remains of the Greenpoint Terminal Market that the building was torched because the landlord wants to put up 40-story highrises, but that the landlord denies having anything to do with it. We can only conclude he doesn't think the drunk the police arrested had anything to do with it.

There are a few more photos of Brooklyn from the water below, and bunches more in our Brooklyn from the Water flickr photoset.