Rooftop Farm Company Expands Into Brooklyn Industrial Park

Queens-based organic farm company Brooklyn Grange has unveiled plans to make the Brooklyn Navy Yard home to its newest project – "a 45,000-square-foot rooftop farm to supply local restaurants, shops and foodies with fresh, organic produce," Calder writes.

Decommissioned in 1966, the shipyard now operates as an industrial park, where its 275 businesses (such as the Kings County Distillery) will have access to the fruits and vegetables grown just overhead. Brooklyn Grange also intends to host a weekly farmer's market outside the gates. "We were looking to be creative, and we found a perfect use for this underutilized roof," said Andrew Kimball of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.

"The project is being funded with a $592,730 grant in start-up costs by the city's Department of Environmental Protection," explains Calder, "because the farm is expected to soak up enough rain to keep more than 1 million gallons of sewage out of the East River per year."