It should have been simple.
Just a quick online search for a one night stay in Brooklyn in the middle of summer. Of course, I wanted to be as economical as possible after a no-holes-barred 5 days on the Cape for a family history trip with hubby, son and daughter-in-law.
And it was simple.
At first.
The website listing that caught my eye showed a photo of a modern platform bed with tightly tucked sheets and a throw laying crosswise at the foot. A large undressed window, mid-century end table, and a potted Ficus Lyrata completed the decor of this $115 a night room. Other photos showed an updated bathroom in shades of white and a smart-looking lobby.
"What do you know about The Gowanus Inn and Yard?" I asked my son who lives in Bed-Stuy. He had lived in New York for a good five years and knew the Brooklyn boroughs better than this Floridian who only flew in sporadically.
"It's a great area. We go to the Whole Foods there and my favorite brewery is in the area. It's really up and coming. You should book it," he said.
And I was about to until I paused to look up some reviews. Even before I finished typing in the google search bar, autofill finished my sentence choices.
Gowanus Inn and Yard...deaths
What?
I clicked over to read about a computer hacker who was found hanged in one of the rooms.
Another news report read about a woman found dead in her bed, not of natural causes.
And still another more grim about a mother who killed her 6-year-old son during her stay at the Gowanus Inn.
"But how long ago were those incidents?" My son asked me after I called him back quickly.
"The oldest was in 2013. the latest was 2021," I replied.
"Because," he explained, "Gowanus has a rough history, but it's been cleaned up over the past few years.
Before then, that creek was a hub of criminal and Mob activity. The stream grew so murky and polluted, it served as the perfect dumping ground for the latest homicide.
Gowanus Canal, which runs through the town has a long checkered history.
The Dutch settled on what was a conflagration of several creeks where livestock drank and nearby farms were tilled. The brackish water, created by the bay and the freshwater creek fostered the perfect marine environment in which oysters could flourish. The Dutch harvested the little crustaceans and shipped them to England, Brooklyn's first real export, some say.
In the early part of the 20th century, industry began to swell along the rivulet's banks. 700 buildings rose up in one year in nearby Brooklyn. All those new residences needed a place to dump their sewage. That was beginning of the virgin creek's deflowering.
Chemical plants and tanneries replaced cattle, cement plants marred the grassy banks. Oil refineries and machine shops blighted the pastures, while the fumes of coal gas and Sulfur production exuded odors that swallowed up the meadows' natural fragrances. The lake became so choked with pollutants that locals referred to it as "Lavender Lake" (Gowanuscanal.org).
As New York grew, so did crime. The fast influx of rival ethnicities spilled into the streets--and also the creek. Gowanus' murky, frothy water became the perfect place to dump, not only, factory run-off, but the latest homicide.
In my mind, the current Gowanus rejuvenation was not complete enough for my comfort, regardless of my son's assurance.
I called Vrbo and canceled as quick as you could say, "Get-me-outta-here!"
We found a lovely room with a garden in a classic brownstone on Sterling Street, instead.
