Photo courtesy of BrightFarms.com
The world ’s heavy rooftop garden is being built in Brooklyn , N.Y.
A newhydroponicgreenhouseset atop an old storage warehouse in Brooklyn , N.Y. ’s Sunset Park is localise to begin structure this fall — and just might transform New York City into the young theoretical account for urban agriculture . announce in April , the greenhouse will break out ground in September and is scheduled for completion in early 2013 . When it ’s finished , it anticipate to be the world ’s largestrooftop farm , spanning 100,000 square foot and farm up to 1 million pound of garden truck per twelvemonth , include several varieties oftomatoes , lettucesandherbs .
The farm ’s home , an eight - story , 1.1 million - substantial - pes storage warehouse built in 1916 and formerly known as Federal Building # 2 , has been rename the Liberty View Industrial Plaza . A former Navy storage warehouse — and the former home of the Food and Drug Administration , which resided on the seventh floor — the building is currently being reformulate by Salmar Properties . The ultimate plan : transform the long - hibernating building into a state - of - the - art industrial shopping centre . The framework , including heap of parking and multiple loading docks that will certainly get along in handy when it ’s harvest time on the ceiling , is already in place .
Created byBrightFarms Inc. , an organization that designs , finances and manages hydroponic greenhouse farms across the United States , the farm will produce enough vegetables and herbs to meet the vegetable consumption needs of 5,000 New Yorkers . And with a newly announced partnership with A&P shop , it truly will . The partnership with the New Jersey - based chain to trade the farm ’s green groceries locally will let BrightFarms to satisfy its delegation of “ eliminating time , distance and cost from the solid food provision chain . ”
This partnership between rooftop farm and market chain will produce a hyperlocal food for thought chain in Industry City , Brooklyn ’s industrial waterfront area , which has been a major focal point of revitalization for the urban center ’s Bloomberg governance . The farm ’s produce is expected to hit the shelves in neighborhood A&P , The Food Emporium , Pathmark and Waldbaum ’s stores by next saltation . proficient of all , since these vegetable wo n’t have far to trip , they will be some of the unused — if notthefreshest — produce sold in the city .
“ As a New York - free-base society , we are thrilled to demonstrate the substantial role that cities can roleplay in forgather the nation ’s insatiable demand for sustainable , local green groceries , ” BrightFarms CEO Paul Lightfoot says . “ Our mission is to increase the availability of locally grown green goods nationwide ; build the world ’s gravid rooftop farm is a vast step towards our goal . ”
But the greenhouse ’s environmentally well-disposed benefits extend beyond the supply mountain range . Built to gather and recirculate rain , the farm will prevent as much as 1.8 million gallons of storm water per year from entering local waterways — using the metropolis ’s water only as a backup informant . In an interview with theWall Street Journal , Lightfoot revealed that the company also skip to partner with areaschools , and hold classes and workshops in the glasshouse .
