When a Real Estate Boom Came to a Toxic Corner of Brooklyn

In 2010, the Gowanus Canal was listed as a national Superfund site, a designation the Environmental Protection Agency uses to prioritize cleaning up the most toxic places in the country. Yet since then, Gowanus has emerged from its industrial past to become one of Brooklyn’s hottest real estate markets and is in the midst of a construction boom. Fifty-two new buildings are either under construction or are expected to be built over the next five years.