August 2010

BNYDC Announces Selection of Admirals Row Site Development

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Rendering of Admirals Row Plaza by Architects Greenberg Farrow for PA Developers.

In a major step toward acquiring the Admirals Row site from the federal government and redeveloping it for the benefit of the community, BNYDC recently announced the designation of PA Developers and ShopRite supermarket for a six-acre site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

In addition to providing the first full-sized neighborhood supermarket that will meet the needs of the communities surrounding the Navy Yard, PA Developers will also develop an additional 30,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space and 125,000 square feet of industrial space as part of the $60 million project. The project includes aggressive goals for Local, Minority and Women-owned business contracting and is expected to create 500 full-time jobs.

View the full press release or and recent stories in the New York Post and the New York Times.

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Tenant News

The Gilt Groupe

Often referred to as "the online Mecca" for deeply discounted luxury and fashion brands, Gilt Groupe has become one of the fastest growing e-commerce sites in the nation. With onsite photo studios, sales fulfillment and distribution, Gilt employs about 130 staff at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and nearly all of their distribution comes out of the Navy Yard.

Find out more about the Gilt Groupe

Michelle Greene

Navy Yard tenant and sculptor Michelle Greene rose to the challenge to help BNYDC create a park area. Using the Yard for inspiration, Greene designed and fabricated tables and benches using recycled materials from the Yard. The table top's ship doors were salvaged from a Yard ship and the bench's glass blocks were reclaimed from nearby Building 128, future site of the Green Manufacturing Center. Michelle is one of 30 green manufacturers in the Yard.

To learn more about her work, click here.

Employment Center

> BNYDC's Employment Center has screened and placed 1,000 individuals over the past six years for employers both inside and outside of the Yard across various industries.

Summer intern at tenant HITN

> In recognition of the difficult economy, BNYDC has increased the number of summer intern placements from 25 to 42. The full-time paid positions are open annually for college-age youth and typically serves members of the surrounding communities. This year, BNYDC and over 30 of its tenants will accept interns.

Chase Office Supplies Owners David and Flo Vallone

> The Employment Center has successfully placed two local Brooklyn residents Lance Ardis and Krasiem Johnson through the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development's Fatherhood Initiative. Ardis and Johnson were among the first participants from the program to obtain a 14-week subsidized internship at Chase Office Supplies, a Navy Yard tenant. Each paid internship assignment led to permanent employment with the company and BNYDC looks forward to continuing to work through this program and offer fathers in transition work-readiness skills and subsidized employment.

Did you know?

...from 1880s-1941 nearby Wallabout Market was Brooklyn's major produce market, and at one point, the second largest in the world. Its closure in 1941 drew major protest from the local community and vendors. BNYDC's recent supermarket announcement in Admirals Row will bring fresh produce back to the community.

Navy Yard Small Businesses Continue to Go Green

Tenant synergies: Scott Jordan and John DeVore (photo courtesy of Buck Ennis for Crain's NY)

Greening your supply chain, using another businesses waste as your raw material, or simply being able to walk down the hall to your supplier is as close as it comes to running a green business.

Two recent articles in Metropolis Magazine and Crain's New York, wonderfully highlight the growth of small green manufacturers at the Navy Yard and the ways in which their location has helped them to create a synergy which big businesses spend millions to replicate.

NYC Regional Center Pegs Brooklyn Navy Yard For First Project

NYC Regional Center-funded projects will include the Green Manufacturing Center

In a first for New York City, an innovative program that raises capital for economic development projects in high unemployment areas across the nation has generated $60 million in investment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The New York City Regional Center (NYCRC) is providing the financing through the EB-5 Visa program of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The EB-5 program allows for foreign investors to invest in job-creating projects in areas of high unemployment in exchange for expedited access to green cards. The money will be used to develop new industrial space and upgrade the Yard's infrastructure. Combined with the $81 million in City-funded infrastructure investment, the three-year project will result in more than 1,200 construction-related and permanent jobs.

Last fall, Senate Conference Leader John Sampson joined his colleagues Senators Montgomery, Squadron, and Kruger to announce a $15 million State Senate capital commitment to the Green Manufacturing Center and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92. Early this summer, Brian P. McGowan, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development also visited the Yard to announce a $2.5 million federal Economic Development Administration grant to the Green Manufacturing Center. (Review Senator Sampson's press release and Senator Schumer's press release. View recent coverage in the Wall Street Journal).

Construction and Exhibit Design Underway at BNYC92

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The 1857 Thomas U. Walter-designed building will house the exhibits within BNYC92

Construction and exhibition design are in full swing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92 (BNYC92), the exhibition and visitors center slated to open in late 2011. Restoration has begun on the 1857 Marine Commandant's House which will house a six-gallery exhibit. Surrounding site work includes an unearthed 19th century sewer tunnel that will be used as a rainwater cistern to capture graywater for use in the building's restrooms. The original anchor from the USS Austin (LPD-4), one of the last ships built in the Navy Yard, was recently returned to the Yard to be integrated into the atrium design. Navy Yard tenant and acclaimed National Geographic photographer Robert Clark was onhand to capture its arrival at GMD Shipyard, another long-time Yard tenant.

Developing the rich content has been equally successful. In fact, a recent Brooklyn Public Library exhibit 'Over Here!' New York City During World War II featured several Navy Yard artifacts and an interview conducted with former Navy Yard worker Sidonia Levine as part of our oral history project. Get an insider's view of the progress and make other historically rich stops on one of our public tours.

Community Corner

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Bridge Cleaners' Victoria Aviles flanked by Mayor Bloomberg, NYC Council Speaker and others as they announce changes that affect small businesses

> After much input from BNYDC, Navy Yard Tenants and community leaders, the NYC Department of Transportation has decided against converting Flushing Avenue to one-way vehicular traffic and recently unveiled a new plan that allows for a phased implementation of the Brooklyn Greenway, maintaining two-way traffic with new and improved bike lanes. The first phase is underway. Read more.

> Mayor Bloomberg recently visited Navy Yard tenant Bridge Cleaners to announce changes that will affect small businesses in the City and soften the punitive enforcement mechanisms in place.

> Our tour program partnership with the Brooklyn Historical Society goes back many years. BHS recently found a listing from the New York Times dated in October 1965 promoting fall tours of the Yard.

> Neighbor and community partner Pratt University recently installed a solar/wind powered street lamp on Stueben Street as part of its Campus as a Living Lab demonstration project. The lamps are designed and partially manufactured by Navy Yard tenant Duggal Energy Solutions.