BROOKLYN GRANGE BEGINS OPERATING THE FARM AT THE JAVITS CENTER

New York - (September 20, 2021) - Brooklyn Grange, the New York City-based rooftop farming, design/build, and events business, has commenced operation of The Farm at the Javits Center, a rooftop farm and orchard atop the recently-completed expansion of the convention center on Manhattan’s West Side. Brooklyn Grange worked closely with the Javits Center and its partners to customize designs and operating plans for The Farm to meet the unique needs of the world’s busiest convention center. The project includes a one-acre green roof farm, all-season greenhouse, 10,000 square foot orchard and food forest with dozens of fruit-bearing trees, and 344,000 gallon underground cistern for recovering and recycling rainwater runoff. The Farm builds on two shared priorities of the Javits Center and Brooklyn Grange: modeling sustainable practices for the events and real estate industry, and acting as an accessible resource and green space for the community. 

The Javits Center, which already hosted a 6.75-acre passive green roof, sought to deepen its existing commitment to sustainability and community engagement by including an active green roof space in its expansion plans, supportive of both commercial agriculture and public programming. Excited by the opportunity to share its years of expertise as an urban agricultural business operating simultaneously as an events and educational space, Brooklyn Grange’s consulting arm responded to a 2017 RFP issued by the Javits Center for design consultation and 5-year operating contract.

“The Javits Center is more than a convention center, and Brooklyn Grange is more than a farm, so we recognized the need to think outside the box with our design approach. We spent many months working with the Javits Center, TVS, Lendlease Turner, the design build joint venture responsible for construction of the expansion, as well as other key stakeholders and subcontractors to make sure the project would accomplish the myriad goals and functions of the client. “

 - Ben Flanner, CEO & co-founder of Brooklyn Grange

“We’re taking sustainability to the next level – literally. We’re excited to work with Brooklyn Grange to create a unique roof-to-table experience for our guests in the new heart of New York City. This innovative farm will enable our staff to push the boundaries of sustainability and further explore how to improve the quality of life for our neighbors – those with wings and those without.”

  - Alan Steel, President and CEO of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation (Operator of the Javits Center)

”It is widely recognized that the cities of today were not designed to adequately meet the challenges of tomorrow’s climate. We design all our green spaces to draw in and engage the community with positive conversations about sustainability, and we aim to inspire every visitor to The Farm at the Javits Center to think what cities of the future might look like.”

-Gwen Schantz, co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Brooklyn Grange. 

 The rooftop on which the farm is located is a focal point of an ambitious expansion of the convention center that prides itself on modeling sustainable practices. The farm and orchard surround a 15,000 square-foot, glass-enclosed space that can host events with up to 1,500 individuals throughout the year, as well as a massive outdoor terrace, giving guests the chance to enjoy native wildflowers maintained by Brooklyn Grange’s landscape maintenance team.

 The result is nothing short of unprecedented: with 18” of agricultural soil, the one-acre green roof farm is expected to grow up to 40,000 lbs of produce per year, which will be served onsite by the Javits Center’s caterer, CULTIVATED, with whom Brooklyn Grange collaborated closely to determine a seasonal crop plan tailored to the kitchen’s needs. In addition to vegetables grown seasonally in the soil-based green roof, Brooklyn Grange’s farmers will harvest year-round from a greenhouse fitted with the latest AgTech innovations, designed with early consultation support from the experts at Agritecture. Finally, farmers will reap fruit from the 32 apple and 6 pear trees growing in 3’6” of soil on the rooftop, and will tend a landscape of native and pollinator-friendly plants that provide additional environmental benefits as well as draw in visitors and beautify the space.

Beyond functioning as a source of food, The Farm at the Javits Center provides critical ecosystem services: for starters, the intensive green roof and 344,000 gallon underground rainwater cistern will prevent millions of gallons of stormwater from entering New York City’s sewer system each year, mitigating Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO). The rainwater drained into the cisterns will be used to irrigate crops and trees after being filtered, and tested regularly for bacteria, reducing the farm’s municipal water use by upwards of 50%. Additionally, the soil depth will help reduce surface and air temperatures above and below the roof, helping to combat urban heat island effect in a rapidly warming city. Finally, the farm and orchard will increase the biodiversity and habitat for native and migratory pollinators alike, many of whom already rely on the Javits Center’s existing extensive green roof for refuge.  

 A valuable addition to the 5.6 acres of rooftop space already being farmed by Brooklyn Grange, the impact of The Farm at the Javits Center will be massive, challenging millions of visitors per year to think differently about food, farming, and even cities.

Photos Courtesy of the Javits Center

ABOUT BROOKLYN GRANGE

Founded in 2010, Brooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. Brooklyn Grange operates the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on three roofs in New York City; consults, designs, builds, and maintains urban green spaces, and hosts events and educational programming aiming to connect community with food, farming, and green space. For more information, please visit: www.brooklyngrangefarm.com

ABOUT THE JAVITS CENTER

Designed by I.M. Pei & Partners, the Javits Center opened in 1986 and has since become New York City’s primary venue for large conventions, trade shows and special events and serves as home to many of the world’s top 250 trade shows, hosting millions of visitors a year. These large-scale events have generated more than $2 billion in annual economic activity for New York City and New York State, supporting as many as 18,000 jobs in and around the facility. Located on 11th Avenue between West 34th and West 40th Sts. in Manhattan, the Javits Center has more than 850,000 square feet of total exhibition space, two new floors of meeting room and pre-function spaces and a wide range of catering, security, sustainability, and technology services. For more information, please visit: www.javitscenter.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Victoria Yan
Communications & Content Manager, Brooklyn Grange
victoria@brooklyngrangefarm.com