Today’s entry of Mapping Gowanus is from writer Tracy Young

GOWANUS. Say it. You gotta love that name. It sounds like a hard boiled Brooklynite in a ‘40s black and white.

G is for GRAFFITI

I miss the stuff. It’s nice to see it in its natural habitat instead of reframed for the tourists.

O is for OVER. Is there a worse omen than a restaurant with lavender in its name?

W is for WORKING CLASS, or at least a working canal. There is something romantic about a neighborhood with a canal, no matter how blighted. Insert joke about Park Slope dykes.

A is for AFTERNOON, the light, in winter, the opposite of the light in August. A cold day for exploring.

N is for NO PLACE FOR OLD (WO)MEN. Forget it. You complain about the Village, going the way of NYU students and bankers…but would you ever have the balls to be the oldest hippie in Brooklyn?

U is for UNPACKING. Or packing. Coming or going. Still, it would be kinda fun to start over.

S is for SINGING. Weird Chinese music, pouring from a  cracked open window. This is the image  I’ll keep.

GOWANUS. G’wan. Get outta here.

Follow