New York Daily News
One cure for Lavender Lake? Lavender!
Perfumer Jo Malone joins city and Bette Midler in adding a nice smell to the banks of the Gowanus Canal.
BY MATT CHABAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013, 7:00 PM
A London perfumer has brought some scents to the infamous Lavender Lake.
Sweet-smeller Jo Malone has joined Bette Midler and the Bloomberg administration on a $600,000 renovation of the Gil Hodges Community Garden, run by Midler’s New York Restoration Project. The Divine Miss M will be on hand Wednesday for a ribbon cutting.
The main goal of the renovation is to retain thousands of gallons of stormwater, which would otherwise overwhelm New York’s old pipes and flush raw sewage into the Gowans Canal.
So old planters and broken pavement is now five-feet of specially engineered soil and a Jo Malone fragrance garden featuring aromatic Aster, Orange Azalea, Rosemary and Swamp Milweed.
“We feel there’s no reason state-of-the-art stormwater management can’t be married to a beautiful garden people want to visit anyway,” said Deborah Marton, a vice president at the Restoration project.
Jo Malone contributed $300,000 to the project, and the Department of Environmental Protection matched it.
“The Gowanus is a high priority for us, so anything that can help address the canal is an obvious candidate for funds,” said Margot Walker, the department’s director of Green Infrastructure Planning and Partnerships.
The city has tried numerous ways to fix the Gowanus since it was designated a Superfund site, including the construction of a new, $190 million flushing tunnel and pumping station at the head of the canal.
The administration is also trying “soft” infrastructure solutions. An 11-acre “sponge” park on the banks of the canal will serve as a larger version of Gil Hodges, helping soak up rainwater. The city is also working on smaller measures, like medians and more than 100 street tree planters that can absorb stormwater runoff.
Gil Hodges recycles more than rain.
Locals can compost their food there, too, a favorite feature of Josh Ehrenberg. The 22-year-old lives just across the street, and had come by in his bare feet to deposit leftovers.
“The canal can get pretty bad, so every little bit helps,” Ehrenberg said of the sweet-smelling, storm-sequestering garden.
