Student Take Number Two: The Gowanus is "Nasty"

We stumbled on a blog written last year by students at the New York Harbor School in Bushwick about the Gowanus Canal. If you have an interest in the Big G, it's worth checking out, especially in light of discussions about whether Atlantic Yards will make a bad situation worse. Here's part of an entry written by a student called "The Day at the Gowanus Canal":

On our walk there, almost all the houses we passed had a American flag outside. That neighborhood is so patriotic. When we finally got to the...dirty canal it smelled like a dirty gas station's bathroom. It was nasty. Some man was diving in the canal checking to see if the foundation was good so a building could be built there. When we got there, we had to wait for a man named Ludger from The Urban Divers . He took forever. When Ludger finally got there, he started explaining about the canal. he gave us a brief presentation about the canal. He told us about the background, an its location on the map. After he finished giving his presentgation about the canal, we ate our lunch. After, we went rowing on the boat. I didn't want to go on the boat because I knew I was going to get wet. So I hustled Habiba while I had the chance to - I bet her that if I got on the boat, I would get wet. She said I wouldn't. As soon as I got on the boat I got wet because some students splashed water in the boat while they were rowing - he wet me with the paddle. We rowed to both ends of the canal. It is so dirty. We finally got off the boat and I told Habiba that I got wet. so I hustled her for $1 dollar. We did our journal and then answered all the questions in the packet. We put the boats back. We cleaned up then our day was over.

There are other entries and they make for some interesting reading.