DESIGN APPROACHES TO ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

Gowanus Canal Sponge Park™

Susannah C. Drake and Yong Kim

Editor’s Note: The SpongePark design marries stormwater engineering, urban design, and urban habitat concepts. This
design has received much attention from the design and public works communities, winning national awards includ-
ing the American Institute of Architects 2011 National Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design, and the American
Society of Landscape Architects 2010 Honor Award for Analysis and Planning. The design includes ecological restoration
components, and we asked its progenitors to introduce the ideas to the ER community.

T he Gowanus Canal Sponge Park™,

located in Brooklyn, NY, USA, is
a multifunctional public open space
system that slows, absorbs, and filters
surface water runoff with the goals
of remediating contaminated water,
reducing stormwater runoff volumes,
creating habitat, and providing open
space and environmental education
opportunities to underserved neigh-
borhoods. The master plan of the
128-ha (316 ac), 70 street block site
includes a series of street-end biore-
tention basins and curbside bioswales
(Figure 1). The 1st phase of the proj-
ect includes a pilot installation that
will expand to include cisterns and
constructed marshlands that help to
restore hydrologic balance and ecologi-
cal productivity to the site. This design
is part of a larger system that commu-
nicates a broad vision for stewardship
of the environment to a diverse urban
community. The proposed ecologically

Ecological Restoration  Vol. 29, No. 4, 2011
ISSN 1522-4740  E-ISSN 1543-4079
©2011 by the Board of Regents of the
University of Wisconsin System.
Figure 1. Gowanus Canal Sponge Park master plan depicting the 128-ha (316-ac) stormwa-
ter management open space system as interconnecting element for the urban residential,
commercial, and industrial neighborhoods surrounding the industrial Gowanus Canal,
Brooklyn, NY.

392  •  December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4

productive urban landscape design
involves collaboration among mul-
tiple public and private constituencies.
The design will achieve its goals of
reducing stormwater runoff volumes
and pollutant loads into the Gowanus
Canal, activating cultural and envi-
ronmental resources, and reducing
pressure on expensive sewer systems
with Low Impact Development (LID)
strategies. We intend to promote infil-
tration, evapotranspiration, detention,
and remediation of stormwater gen-
erated from impervious street and
sidewalk surfaces through a Sponge
Park™ system to be installed on cur-
rently under-utilized space within the
public rights-of-way (ROWs). Water
management within the Sponge Park™
design is based on re-configuration
of sewer and storm water systems
to include vegetative and biological
structures that green the streets while
reducing reliance on mono-functional
hard engineered systems.
The Gowanus Canal, Kings County,
New York, was constructed in 1881 to
assist commercial shipping, barge traf-
fic, and other commercial uses within
the New York Harbor Estuary. Formed Figure 2. The Gowanus Canal has historically been a shifting landscape. Originally a brackish
by the excavation of Gowanus Creek, water wetland, it has transformed from a natural waterway to an industrial landscape to today’s
light industrial, residential, and commercial neighborhood.
the Gowanus Canal is a narrow chan-
nel passing through an industrial zone
of Brooklyn, and is surrounded by the Brooklyn’s Park Slope, Carroll Gar- The zone surrounding the Canal
residential communities of Park Slope, dens, and Boerum Hill neighbor- is classified by the New York City
Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, and hoods. Surface water runoff from the Department of Environmental Pro-
Red Hook (Figure 2). The banks of the 711-ha (1758-ac) watershed flows tection (NYCDEP) as a target area
Canal are stabilized with bulkheads, into the Gowanus Canal by means of for immediate intervention to reduce
providing shipping access for many CSOs, storm outfalls, and direct street CSO inputs. As stated above, CSOs
industrial operations. Past uses have surface runoff (Figure 3). The area is are the greatest current source of
resulted in a number of contaminant served by the Red Hook and Owls pathogens in the Gowanus Canal,
releases over the past decades, and Head Treatment Plants in Brooklyn, with the 8 CSO discharge points
now pollutant-rich urban stormwater NY. Within the total of 8 CSO out- lining the Canal annually discharg-
runoff and combined sewer outflows falls on the Gowanus Canal, there are ing over 1.1 billion L (300 mil gal) a
(CSOs) continue to impact water 2 Tier 3 CSO outfalls. Tier 1, 2 and year of combined sewage (U.S. Army
quality in the Canal (U.S. Army Corps 3 CSO outfalls drain large catchment Corps of Engineers 2005). As a result,
of Engineers 2005). areas and provide most of the drainage the Gowanus Canal was listed on the
The Gowanus Canal is 30.5 m for New York City. The Tier 3 outfalls New York State Section 303(d) list of
(100 ft) wide and 2.25 km (1.4 mi) located in the New York Harbor col- impaired water bodies in 1998 (U.S.
long from its head at Butler Street lectively discharge 192–946 million L Army Corps of Engineers 2005).
to where it opens to the Gowanus (50.7–250 million gal) of effluent per Inputs to the Gowanus contribute to
Bay, varying in depth from 1.2–4.9 m year, equivalent to 10% of the overall the 1.1 billion L (300 mil gal) average
(4–16 ft). Physiographic and juris- CSO volume for the city of New York annual output of combined sewage
dictional boundaries of the Gowanus (PlaNYC 2010). effluent into the NY Harbor Estuary.
Canal include 647 ha (2.5 sq mi) of Industrial contaminants in the Canal

December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4  •  393

 Figure 3. Comparison of Gowanus watershed, sewer-shed and study area, Brooklyn, NY. The analysis for the conceptual master plan focused on
understanding the coexisting relationship between urban and natural hydrologic systems.
include poly-chlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs), coal tar wastes, heavy metals,
and volatile organics (U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers 2005).
Paved surfaces (i.e. streets and side-
walks) collectively make up 32% of
the total land area of the Gowanus
CSO-shed and are one of several criti-
cal land cover categories that must be
addressed in efforts to demonstrate the
applicability of low impact develop-
ment (LID) green infrastructure in
New York City (NYC), NY. Poor water
quality is exacerbated by the high cost
of remediation, leaving little incentive
for private investment. With its trans-
formation from an almost exclusively
industrial landscape to a mixture of
light industry, residential, and com-
mercial use, the streets terminating at
the Canal receive lighter traffic loads
and are ideal locations in which to
introduce green infrastructure systems
in the ROWs.
Gowanus Canal Sponge Park™ is
a proposed conceptual open space
master plan designed to mitigate
environmental contamination in the
canal by minimizing ongoing water
contamination from CSO discharges
and direct runoff as described by U.S.
394  •  December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4
Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) Gowanus Canal Remediation
Investigation Report (EPA 2011). The
plan includes a new 12.2-m (40-ft)
canal edge setback, conversion of street
ends to park spaces, and transforma-
tion of residual urban spaces, resulting
in 6.5 ha (16 ac) of available land with
which to work. Our design concept
consists of 2.8 ha (7 ac) of waterfront
esplanade, 1.8 ha (4.4 ac) of recre-
ational open space, of which a 1.4-ha
(3.5 ac) permeable water remediation
and retention area manages the runoff
from the 132-ha (326 ac) catchment
area adjacent to the canal (Figure 1).
When realized, planted basins, sand
filters and cisterns sized for local drain-
age areas will mediate extreme weather
conditions and provide additional
storage and irrigation capacity to the
vegetated Sponge Park™.
Methods
Working with EPA and NY State
Department of Environmental Con-
servation (NYSDEC) through a grant
from the New England Interstate
Water Pollution Control Commission
(NEIWPCC), the 1st pilot Sponge
Park™ system is scheduled to begin
construction in spring 2012 on 2nd
Street on the west side of the Gowanus
Canal, within sewer drainage area of
outfall RH-035. Second Street was
chosen based on EPA and NYSDEC
recommendations. Historical land use
and previous soil testing suggest that
minimal soil contamination is present
at this location.
The potential catchment area
includes 2 blocks abutting the canal
and the volume of stormwater runoff
and local drainage patterns determined
the potential deployment locations
for the street-end bioretention basin
and curbside bioswales along 2nd
Street (Figure 4). As the longest non-
through street on the Gowanus Canal,
2nd Street generates approximately
96,107 L (3,394 ft3) of runoff, which
enters the sewer system (Hoyt St to
Bond St) via catch basins at the inter-
section of 2nd Street and Bond Street.
Approximately 81,000 L (2,864 ft3)
of roadway runoff originating east of
Bond Street (Bond Street to Gowanus
Canal), directly drains into the Canal
at the street end. The system will be
designed to capture direct drainage
from Bond Street to Gowanus Canal
and, with NYC Agency approval, half
of runoff from Hoyt Street to Bond
Street (Figure 5). The runoff collec-
tion and management strategies are
contingent upon soil contaminant
testing, identification of the lowest
elevation of the proposed stormwater
facility, and further discussion with
NYSDEC and NYCDEP. The sizing
criteria are based on the Water Quality
Volume (WQv) Short Cut Method for
calculating the storm water volume
to be managed by the facility. Per
NYSDEC Stormwater Management
Design Manual (2010), the street-end
facility follows stormwater filtration
system guidelines. Pretreatment area
will be sized to manage 25% of the
total WQv, and treatment facility area
will be sized to hold 50% of the total
WQv. Figure 4. Local hydrology analysis of 2nd Street maps the distinct catchment area of streets per-
The goal of the project is to capture pendicular to Gowanus Canal. Stormwater runoff currently enters the canal via combined sewer
overflows and direct surface drainage.
and treat approximately 129,465 L
(4,561 ft3) of the projected runoff for
the 90% storm, per NYSDEC Storm-
water Management Design Manual
guidelines (2010) for public ROWs
that include areas within 2 blocks of
2nd Street from Hoyt St to the Gowa-
nus Canal. With permission from the
NYCDEP, we will direct stormwater
across the intersection of 2nd Street
and Bond Street and into curbside
bioswales and the street-end biore-
tention basins. Runoff will be filtered
through a pre-treatment catch basin
to trap floatables, such as garbage and
litter, and allow sediments and small
debris to settle. The treatment basins
include planting media and native
plants with phytoremediative quali-
ties to promote groundwater infiltra-
tion and capture of contaminants.
We are in discussion with NYCDEP
Figure 5. The pilot Sponge Park™ utilizes upland sidewalk swales and street-end bioretention
and NYC Department of Parks and basins as a system to manage stormwater runoff. Upland sidewalk swales are designed for high
Recreation (DPR) about plantings infiltration for groundwater recharge. The street-end basin incorporates bioretention cells and a
that will be attractive to people and sand filter to maximize detention while enhancing public open space and microhabitat.

wildlife as well as easy to maintain.

Locally sourced plants from NYCDPR
nurseries on Staten Island, NY are
being investigated. Excess runoff will
be released into the canal, pending
results from soil tests and approval
from NYSDEC.
Street-End Bioretention Basin
Unlike conventional bioswales, the
street-end bioretention basin (approxi-
mately 139 m2 [1,500 ft2]) will con-
sist of modular planted basins that
will utilize native plants to remediate
contaminants and a sand filter to con-
trol and clean surface water inputs
(Figures 6 and 7). Stormwater will
enter the street-end basin through 2
inlets along the existing northern and
southern curb lines of 2nd Street.

December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4  •  395


Figure 6. Existing 2nd Street street end abutting the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY.
Figure 7. Integrated pedestrian passage and sand filter, bioretention basin and phytoremedia-
tive plants create a hybrid Green Infrastructure mediating between urban context and ecology.
The restored microhabitat will provide an educational opportunity for the visitor to learn about
stormwater management and urban ecology.
The bioretention basin is a 2-tiered
system, where water flows down by
gravity from one level to another. A
sedimentation chamber is located at
the highest elevation, then the mod-
ular bioretention basin, and at the
lowest level the sand filter. A series
of apertures and scuppers will allow
runoff to enter the bioretention basin
from the sedimentation chamber.
396  •  December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4
When the bioretention basin soil is
saturated and runoff ponds up to
15.2 cm (6 in), overflow water will
enter the sand filter via weirs. The
street-end facility is designed to retain
stormwater based on catchment and
water volume analysis to minimize
ponding of water over 36–48 hr.
The bioretention basin is in a rec-
tilinear configuration to maximize
filter bed area, and a cellular layout is
utilized for economical construction.
Waterfront zoning parameters, width
of ROW, and EPA-recommended
setbacks from the existing bulkhead
determined the choice and layout of
the site.
At the up-gradient tier, water is
treated through the phytoremedia-
tive qualities of the plant communi-
ties and then slowly infiltrates though
the structural soil. Employing plants
to absorb, accumulate, or metabolize
pollutants through their roots, phy-
toremediation reduces or eliminates
pollutant concentration in the soil and
water. Plants are targeted at removing
first flush contaminants, such as heavy
metals and hydrocarbons. Organic
pollutants, such as oil, are metabolized
by the plants and microbes and broken
down into simpler, non-contaminat-
ing compounds through phytotrans-
formation and rhizosphere bioreme-
diation (EPA 2001). Alternatively,
non-organic pollutants, such as heavy
metals, are absorbed and accumulated
or stabilized through phytoextraction,
rhizofiltration, and phytostabilization
(EPA 2001).
Phytoremediation has gained con-
siderable momentum in recent years
as research has continued to show the
economic and ecological advantages
of the technology, such as brown field
remediation, stormwater and ground
water remediation and carbon sinks.
Specifically, the EPA has monitored a
number of full scale and demonstra-
tion scale projects that have shown
the effectiveness of phytoremediation
technologies (EPA 2001). Criteria for
plant selection not only included phy-
toremediative attributes but also native
species that are salt tolerant, able to
withstand various levels of inunda-
tion, and readily available to the NYC
Department of Parks and Recreation
(NYCDPR). A representative planting
palette is listed on the Sponge Park™
website (www.spongepark.org).
Community members and visi-
tors will be engaged through educa-
tional opportunities provided by the
pilot Sponge Park™’s goal of urban
ecological regeneration. An educa-
tional sign explaining the stormwater
management strategy and its ecologi-
cal benefits will be integrated with
the design. At a planned pilot Sponge
Park™ community presentation,
Center for Urban Pedagogy (Brook-
lyn, NY) will exhibit its “sewer in a
suitcase” demonstration to provide an
understanding of how CSOs function
in NYC.
These street-end bioretention basins
will form the foundation of small pock-
ets of habitat along a highly industrial
zone. Vegetation and moisture will
attract insects, which will provide a
stable food source for birds. In addi-
tion, the vegetative structure of these
cells will provide long absent refuge
for urban wildlife. This adds a differ-
ent character to the streetscape, and
additional ecoservices, to complement
the water treatment values.
Curbside Bioswales
The curbside bioswales included in
our design will be depressed below the
street surface and extend up to 4.3 m
(14 ft) along the sidewalk based on
spatial availability. These bioswales will
incorporate an infiltration system that
utilizes phytoremediation processes in
plants and microbes that slowly absorb
and filter surface water runoff similar
to Green Infrastructure pilot swales
and tree pits installed by NYCDEP.
If water ponds to a depth >15.2 cm
(6 in) in the bioswales, runoff will
bypass the curb and continue to flow
down the block to the street end, as
it does under existing conditions.
Stormwater that enters the curbside
swale will be gradually distributed over
the soil surface, maximizing infiltra-
tion, evaporation, and evapotrans-
piration capacity. At the downgradi-
ent end of the infiltration spectrum,
a curb cut will reintroduce water in
excess of 15.2 cm (6 in) of ponding
to be released back into the curb. To
ensure that water will not be held on
top of the soil surface for more than
48 hr, we will engineer the soil media
to allow for maximum retention and
infiltration based on the existing soil
percolation rates.
Desired Outcomes
With this design, we aim to achieve
the following goals:
1. reduce the quantity of storm water
entering the combined sewer system
by promoting the infiltration of
stormwater through soil media and
increasing the retention and deten-
tion capacity of the Gowanus Canal
watershed;
2. reduce contaminated stormwater
(first flush) entering the Gowanus
Canal through direct drainage;
3. minimize floatable debris entering
Gowanus Canal;
4. directly remove pollutants through
phytoremediation processes;
5. develop a Quality Assurance Project
Plan (QAPP) with NEIWPCC and
EPA to measure the performance of
the Sponge Park™ system by moni-
toring stormwater volume and pol-
lutant load. This study will be acces-
sible to the public as a resource to
promote and improve future green
infrastructure projects;
6. reduce pressure on expensive sewer
infrastructure;
7. promote ecological stewardship
through active community engage-
ment, and promote environmental
awareness in the community;
8. develop a stormwater manage-
ment facility design innovation that
will result in universal applicabil-
ity and reduce a future green infra-
structure implementation cost, as
shown in the 2009 Boston Society
of Architects 2009 Urban Regenera-
tion Award in Unbuilt Architectural
Design Award Category (Boston
Society of Architects 2009);
9. utilize the street-end bioretention
and curbside bioswales as an edu-
cational opportunity for local resi-
dents and students engaged by the
Center for Urban Pedagogy and
Manhattan College (New York,
NY);
December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4  •  397
10. improve existing habitat by reintro-
ducing native plant palette to pro-
vide waterfront micro habitat.
The Sponge Park™ system will
decrease the volume of CSOs and
reduce pollutant loads reaching the
Gowanus Canal. In addition, the pro-
posed bioretention basin and curbside
bioswales will detain and remediate
stormwater runoff flowing directly
into the Gowanus Canal. An incre-
mental reduction in CSO volumes
and improvement in water quality in
the immediate vicinity of RH-035
is expected. In addition to reducing
CSO volumes, our proposed work
will increase the retention and deten-
tion capacity of the Gowanus Canal
watershed and directly remove first
flush pollutants.
One way that our proposal will
reduce the frequency and volume of
overflows is by detaining stormwater
upgradient of the existing catch basin
inlets. The proposed work will divert
and detain a significant percentage
of runoff from the study area away
from the catch basin inlets on street
intersections. Our goal, however, is
to produce a replicable design that
can be implemented across many of
the streets in the Gowanus Canal
watershed that have under-utilized
street ends and wide sections of side-
walks. If an approach similar to the
one described in this proposal were
implemented more broadly across the
Gowanus Canal watershed, a mean-
ingful reduction in the frequency and
volume of CSOs to the Canal would
be expected, resulting in significant
improvements in Canal water qual-
ity, especially immediately after wet
weather events.
We will evaluate environmental
outcomes by computing the volume
of water entering the pilot Sponge
Park™ system and the mass and per-
cent of various pollutants that are
removed. We have partnered with the
Manhattan College, who has devel-
oped a plan to monitor the efficacy of
the Sponge Park™ system. The initial
plan consists of testing 2 samples of
 Figure 8. Potential continuous public and private waterfront esplanade intersects federal, state and city agency jurisdictions. Upland and canal
sediment contamination presents a greater complexity to working on a waterfront site.
accrued sediment and monitoring the
water flow rate and pollutant removal
efficiency of the pilot Sponge Park™
system for 2 storms of at least 1.3 cm
(0.5 in) of rainfall within 8 months
of project construction. During the
construction phase of the project, we
will work with the NEIWPCC and
EPA to develop a QAPP for our data
collection. At the end of 8 months, we
will also measure the amount of sedi-
ment and its associated pollutant load
trapped by the Sponge Park™ system.
A final report of the monitoring results
will be available to the public.
To compute inflowing and outflow-
ing water and pollutant load, we will
measure water flow rate and pollutant
concentration during 2 storms. We
will estimate flow rate via a continuous
modeling approach, applying a well
known ‘storage-indication’ method. To
monitor pollutant concentration, we
will collect samples during the storm
and install passive automatic samplers
398  •  December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4
to ensure that we catch the first flush
of the storm. We will analyze each
sample for dissolved and particulate
metals, PCBs, and volatile and semi-
volatile organic compounds (VOCs
and SVOCs, respectively) as described
above. We will also analyze the sam-
ples for total suspended solids (TSS),
chemical oxygen demand (COD), and
nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen,
and total nitrogen, which are espe-
cially important because nitrogen is
the most important pollutant affect-
ing eutrophication of saline waters
(Howarth and Marino 2006).
To monitor sediment accumulation,
the project team will install sediment
horizon markers (3 replicates) using an
appropriately-sized material (i.e. feld-
spar, colored coarse sand or colored
pea gravel, chosen based on calculated
water shear stress). These markers form
a base layer on top of which sediment
will accumulate. Six months after the
construction of the project, we will
take a sediment core through each
horizon marker and measure the depth
of sediment accumulated above the
maker. We will then dry and weigh the
accumulated sediment and compute
an estimate of the mass of sediment
retained in each basin. We will then
composite the sediment into 1 sample,
analyzing it in duplicate for the metals
and organic contaminants mentioned
above. The proposed system requires
interagency cooperation and should
only be deployed when there is a clear
understanding of who is responsible
for long term care and maintenance,
with a thorough analysis of the envi-
ronmental systems affecting the water
body.
Social and Regulatory Obstacles
Many prior studies collected data and
presented abundant analysis regarding
the need for effective stormwater man-
agement strategies for the Gowanus
Canal, but none considered how the
ecology of the system combined with
cultural data might suggest design
solutions. Consideration of ecologi-
cal systems, whether urban or rural,
involves understanding the inputs
from a geographic perspective.
Agency and community buy-in was
critical to the early success of the idea.
Perhaps this was the right plan at the
right time, as the community process
has progressed without major oppo-
sition or controversy. Likewise with
agency buy-in, all parties expressed
eagerness to make the project happen.
Early meetings with the NYC Depart-
ment of City Planning stressed the
importance of inclusion of broad
waterfront setback in the re-zoning.
Community meetings that conveyed
a flexible framework that could bend
and adapt to community concerns fol-
lowed. This was concluded by a public
exhibit hosted by the American Insti-
tute of Architects New York Chapter
(AIANY) and a symposium co-hosted
by the AIANY and the Design Trust
for Public Space held at the Center for
Architecture (New York, NY). Con-
stant advocacy for the project is nec-
essary. Without the professional and
financial commitment of dlandstudio,
the project would not be a reality.
In the audience at these well-
attended lectures and public meetings
were representatives of the Mayor’s
Office of Long-Term Planning and
Sustainability, NYC Department
of Transportation (NYCDOT),
NYSDEC, NYCDEP, and the
NYCDPR. NYCDPR officials became
committed supporters of the project
and are planning to establish proto-
type ‘green streets’ on site that utilize
our concepts. Moving forward, the
strength of the plan lies in the clar-
ity of the idea and the flexibility of
the framework to maintain a unified
feeling with disparate agency input
(Figure 8). The potential for incre-
mental development will enable sec-
tions of the design to be developed
as prototypes over the next 2–5 yr.
Discussions are underway between
responsible agencies to include the
project in a broader Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) between
NYCDPR, NYCDOT, and NYCDEP
concerning long term maintenance
funding.
Cost
Based on examples of similarly planted
urban remediation systems in other
cities with a NYC multiplier factored
in, the estimated project budget for the
Sponge Park™ system within public
ROW is $46 million. This cost would
not include restoration of the exist-
ing bulkhead or full clean up of the
Gowanus Canal itself. Remediation
initiatives by the EPA, NYSDEC, and
NYCDEP are underway to manage
the contaminated water and silt in
the Canal and soil contamination on
former manufactured gas plant sites.
Future phases that include restoration
of cultural facilities and additional
remediation wetlands within the canal
are intended to work in concert with
agency initiatives through a combina-
tion of private and foundation fund-
ing as the scope and program is better
define.
It is important to recognize how sig-
nificant development of the Gowanus
Canal Sponge Park™ is to the future
of urban infrastructure development.
Sponge Park™ is a multi-functioning
system, integrating stormwater man-
agement, to reduce pressure on expen-
sive sewer infrastructure while also
cleaning the water, and providing
programmable urban open space. It
is an idea that is applicable for towns
and cities across the country, includ-
ing mature cities where infrastructure
is taxed by age and growth, as well
as in areas where industrial develop-
ment has left behind inhospitable
toxic landscapes. We have witnessed
the very commendable trend in new
development to set aside natural cor-
ridors. With the Sponge Park™ consid-
eration of the environment becomes
an integral part of the way the system
functions. The design proposes realis-
tic strategies for fixing broken infra-
structure in a manner that supports
the promise of a cleaner future.
December 2011  Ecological Restoration 29:4  •  399
A potential outcome of the pilot
project will be a universal implemen-
tation of the stormwater management
system on the existing street ends and
along the 40' waterfront setback on
the Canal, as designed in the con-
ceptual master plan (www.spongepark
.org). The microhabitats constructed
along the Gowanus Canal will create
an urban ecological corridor connect-
ing the Gowanus Bay into the devel-
oping post industrial neighborhood.
A hybrid ecosystem of existing nature
and green infrastructure will provide
an evolved urban habitat supporting
and promoting estuarine ecology. The
infusion of nature, public space, and
stormwater management will create an
ecological green infrastructure, inter-
twining and balancing the needs of
ecology and urbanity.
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Yong Kim (ykim@dlandstudio.com), Asso-
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