Brooklyn Navy Yard Wins Grant to Build Commercial Rooftop Farm
June 23, 2011 at 3:21 pm Leave a comment
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection earlier this month named the winners of $3.8 million in grants for infrastructure projects to reduce storm water runoff in the city.
The biggest winner? The Brooklyn Navy Yard. It received a $592,730 grant to build a 40,000-square-foot commercial rooftop farm at Building No. 3, one of more than 40 buildings in the 300-acre industrial park.
The farm will be built in partnership with the Brooklyn Grange, the one-acre rooftop farm operation in Long Island City, Queens.
Seven other green roof projects received funding, including real estate developer ATCO Properties, recipient of a $418,073 grant to build an 8,335-square-foot green roof at one of its office buildings in Gramercy Park in Manhattan, and non-profit group Osborne Association, winner of a $288,000 grant to install a 12,334-square-foot green roof atop its building in the Longwood section of the Bronx.
“I don’t think we know what the vegetation will be – something that has relatively shallow roots but also blooms would be good, such as clover,” said John Valverde, director of the Osborne Association’s Green Career Center, in an e-mail statement.
The commercial rooftop farm at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will manage over 1 million gallons of storm water annually, reducing what are known as “CSOs” —combined sewer overflows — into the East River. The green roofs to be installed at the ATCO and Osborne buildings will manage over 274,000 gallons and 240,000 gallons, respectively.
The other green-roof project grant recipients were AWISCO Welding Services ($206,188), a welding materials supplier in Maspeth, Queens; real estate company Durst Organization ($174,667); Chinatown co-op building at 217 Park Row ($166,608); 61 Local (($41,975), a local bar and restaurant in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; and nonprofit organization Lenox Hill Neighborhood House ($40,000).
“The owner and staff of 61 Local intend to grow a few varieties of drought-tolerant herbs on the green roof that can be used in the food and drinks served at the bar,” states the Department of Environmental Protection in its press release.
The remaining funds went to a variety of storm water-management projects, including the installation of bioswales, infiltration planters, cistern systems, rain gardens and porous concrete.
Click here to read the full press release. For a related New York Bounty post, click here.
Entry filed under: City Farmers, Local Food Production, Rooftop Gardening, Urban Agriculture. Tags: 217 Park Row, 61 Local, ATCO Properties, AWISCO Welding Services, bioswales, Brooklyn Grange, Brooklyn Navy Yard, cistern systems, commercial rooftop farm, Durst Organization, green roofs, infiltration planters, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Osborne Association, porous concrete, rain gardens, rooftop farm.
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