2 Best Sights in Gowanus, New York City

Sprawled across a 22,000-square-foot space, Brooklyn Boulders is the go-to for climbing enthusiasts as well as novices interested in learning the ropes. All visitors must first complete a short safety course before taking to the walls, which vary in size and difficulty. Private lessons and group classes are also available, along with open climbing sessions. Acro yoga is one of several nonclimbing classes offered.

Once a bustling commercial waterway serving the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Park Slope, the nearly 2-mile Gowanus Canal is now one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States and is designated an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Seven bridges cross the 100-foot-wide canal, which may sometimes smell, but is still photogenic. Juxtapositions of nature and industry—and a wealth of sunlight—make the waterway an urban charmer. The Gowanus Canal Conservancy organization is a nonprofit dedicated to making the canal and its shores a healthy part of the community.