Vital waterway

Aerial photograph. Gowanus Canal with view to elevated Smith and Ninth Street subway station and Hamilton Avenue bridge; docked barges and tugboats on canal; warehouses, silos, smokestacks, and industrial debris on both sides of canal; warehouse at left reads, "Cirillo Bros. Coal and Fuel Corp."; silo at right reads, "Cranford Ready Mixed Concrete"; large water tank behind elevated subway tracks; Brooklyn skyline in background. Caption: "Vital waterway -- Old Gowanus, victim of a multitude of gags, rolls along with the help of an impeller which keeps the water moving. Industrial installations important to the life of the borough flank its turgid sides and in the right background may be seen the Williamsburgh Bank Building . . . ."