Gowanus

A new musical, The Fish Queen of the Gowanus Canal, takes inspiration from the history of the polluted waterway.

An unusually positioned stair and new window openings bring light and calm to a formerly dilapidated 19th century storefront building.

In celebration of the canal’s sordid past — and slightly sunnier present — Arts Gowanus held its inaugural Gowanus Art Parade.

Officials granted a temporary certificate of occupancy on the basis that the operator would put in a round-the-clock fire watch guard. But the company in charge of security at the site is being investigated elsewhere for billing the city for fire guards who were never there.

The opening of the facility without advance testing from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation is unexpected.