This is a reupload of the post I originally posted on Team 4’s page.

To answer the question “How could NY do things differently” would to first understand what was in place originally. According to writer Joseph Alexiou, a combined Sewage overflow system is in place of the area but later alternatives such as the gallon retention tanks, sponge parks, and rerouted sewer systems. The writer mentions that the city spends a budget of a billion dollars just for the tank portion while the entire project of Mayor Bloomberg’s Department of Environmental protection plan was estimated 500 million. The question of how NY could do things differently would be dependent on the infrastructure of the canal’s pipeline. The Victorian era construction and water runoff from the rain running down the streets allow a situation of more polluted water to cause a standstill of trash and bacteria in the water. The situation of the black mayonnaise that is sitting in the bottom of the canal also relates to the lack of clean flowing water running continuously alongside the use of the flushing tunnels. An approach for the canal would be to drain the canal, purify the tainted water while isolating and removing the garbage and tar mess would have to be an expensive environmental project.

“Clean” in 2020 does not only mean the quality of the water, but “Clean” also is the state that the area has been reformed and changed while adapting the close proximity of the polluted area. “Clean” is a word to state that the abundance of coexisting areas will affect each correspondent positively or negatively.

The right that New Yorkers have to a clean and safe place to live depends on the area of zoning that the resident has been researching. The Gowanus canal, while in the state of commercial and residential renovation and gentrification has a long history of industrial context. The right that the New Yorkers have to live and a clean and safe place to live is standard to anybody who wishes to reside, the area of the gowns has an average lot size of 20×100 with downzoning in effect in certain parts of the area.