It’s great, cheap waterfront living — if you don’t mind the view of abandoned factories, the disgusting smell and the risk that if you fall in the water, you’ll corrode before you drown.
A group of intrepid Brooklynites have spent at least a year living on four houseboats moored on the ultra-toxic Gowanus Canal, where they’ve been floating under the radar of city agencies that monitor safety regulations.
A recent study by the US Environmental Protection Agency — which is overseeing a $500 million Superfund cleanup of the 1.8-mile canal — has warned boaters not to fall in because the waterway is a cancer-causing cesspool.
Three of the houseboats, occupied by hipster 20-somethings, are docked behind a truck lot off President and Bond streets. Neighbors said they’re known for late-night canal parties and pretty girls sunbathing on the decks.
One female boater Thursday stripped down to her black bra and orange thong to sunbathe, giving passersby walking and biking over the nearby Union Street and Carroll Street bridges an eyeful.
A few blocks south, off a First Street trailer lot, Adam Katzman, who has described himself as an environmentalist, lives in a fourth houseboat.
His two-story vessel, the “Jerko,” has its own homemade rain-harvesting system for water, solar panels for electricity and a composting septic system, according to Web sites documenting his exploits.
Katzman even set up a floating water garden with bamboo to promote new wildlife by filtering pollutants out of the canal and putting oxygen back.
He and the other boaters declined to discuss their murky living arrangements.
Gowanus activist Eymund Diegel said it “ironic” that the “city legally dumps about a million gallons of sewage daily into the canal, but it’s technically illegal [without government approval] to dock houseboats in the Gowanus – even one helping clean the water.”
The EPA declined comment on whether the canal should host houseboats, but local residents had mixed opinions.
“I think the boaters are nuts to live there. It toxic and it stinks!” said Lorraine Vazquez.
But Raymond Howell, co-founder of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, said such concern is unwarranted.
“I’ve fallen in 12 times the past 10 years, and I’m still here,” he boasted.
While the boaters have docking permission from property owners, the floating homes still must pass city Buildings and Fire department safety inspections to be considered legal.
One top city official said it’s “highly unlikely” the city would allow houseboats on the Gowanus, adding the residents could face fines for docking “illegally.”
Daniel Tinneny, who owns the President Street lot where the three boats are docked rent-free, said he’s “under the impression no one lives there full time.”
However, his neighbors told the Post the hipsters are there day and night.
City houseboat owners don’t pay property tax, but many pay city fees to park along designated docks, such as the Boat Basin in Manhattan.