Clean Monday
Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food, a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" () and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin's critically acclaimed story, "Pure Monday".
Gowanus Canal
Attempts have been made to reintroduce oysters and other shellfish to the canal, because they can filter out toxins and help clean the water. One oyster can process as much as of water a day. The NY/NJ Baykeeper environmental group gives oysters to volunteers who then monitor their health and growth in local waterways. They have helped Katie Mosher-Smith and The Gowanus Community Oyster Garden's Stewards to partner with teachers, students and the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club to install and monitor oyster cages in the canal. In 2012, landscape architect Kate Orff proposed a design for a park with a living reef containing oysters, mussels, and eelgrass. As part of a pilot program, ropes were hung off of a pier to attract ribbed mussels.