A transformation is happening along the Gowanus Canal, one of the most polluted waterways in New York City. 

It's part of an effort to combat pollution. 

There's been a lot of development in Gowanus. 

"Everything that is being done in this neighborhood right now is, in some way, thinking about the flooding and sewage issues," said Andrea Parker, executive director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. 

Parker said she can see a bright future for the Gowanus Canal because of all the hard work that's been underway. 

"We're very much in the middle of the superfund cleanup right now," Parker said. 

The top third of the canal has been dredged, and the so-called "black mayonnaise" the canal is famous for has been removed in that area. The rest of the canal should be remediated by the early 2030s. 

"We still have raw sewage coming into the canal"

Combined sewer overflows, however, continue to cause problems. 

"With storm events like last Thursday's, we still have lots of raw sewage coming into the canal, which is disgusting," Parker said. 

The smell is unavoidable. 

By the end of the decade, two sewage holding tanks will start doing the dirty work of keeping the canal clean. Parker said she believes the biggest change in the canal will come once the sewage storage tanks are operational. 

Until then, every project tackles the problem.   

"All of the new developments are required to manage way more stormwater than previous developments," Parker said. "If you can build a roof garden, a green roof, you have to do that. If you can't, you can also build a tank in the basement." 

"Within a decade, we're going to see a very different, transformed water body"

New public spaces are transforming the waterfront. At Sackett Place, you can dine al fresco at newly installed picnic tables. It's one of two projects by SCAPE as part of the Gowanus Lowlands Master Plan. SCAPE works with the conservancy to visualize and realize public and private spaces along the Gowanus. 

"For many decades, the edges of the canal have not been open to the public," SCAPE's Gena Wirth said. 

Wirth said both projects make the waterfront accessible again, and are just the beginning. 

"As the phases of the master plan are complete, there will be this whole new connective circuit of public realm that centers on the canal," Wirth said. 

At 420 Carroll, a lot that was filled with junk is now a lush landscape surrounding a main feature of the space, called the "street creek." Stormwater gets funneled in from the sidewalk and filtered by native plants as it moves toward the canal. 

"Within a decade, we're going to see a very different, transformed water body," Wirth said. 

And a transformed neighborhood.

"It's losing a bit of its inherent grittiness"

"I would not have thought in my lifetime that Gowanus would kind of be like a trendy place to be," Gowanus resident Jennie Shulman said. 

Shulman moved in just under a year ago. She said she's excited for the evolution. 

"I think it's losing a bit of its inherent grittiness," 30-year Gowanus resident Rachel Kueny said. 

A less gritty, more green Gowanus where wetlands replace trash and kayaks float instead of sewage.