Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today a $140 million upgrade to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to renovate one of the massive industrial complex’s half vacant warehouse buildings into a 21st century manufacturing facility.
Upon completion, the project, which was started under the Bloomberg Administration, is expected to bring 3,000 good paying jobs.
“We are jump-starting a new wave of manufacturing and job creation at the Navy Yard. It will mean more opportunity for people in this community to not only secure a job, but also get the skills and upward mobility they need to support a family,” said de Blasio. “We believe in the kind of economic investments that will spur good jobs and spark the type of growth that can lift up whole neighborhoods. We’re thrilled to work with all our partners to get this project moving.”
De Blasio also announced that the City and Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) will expand the yard’s highly successful Employment Center, which recruits, screens and trains area residents for jobs created in the industrial park.
Since the employment center opened in the Navy Yard, 600 New Yorkers find jobs. On average, 70 percent of them are Brooklyn residents, 24 percent from immediate surrounding communities, 21 percent are public housing residents, 11 percent formerly incarcerated and 10 percent veterans. Through the Employment Center, BNYDC will continue to work with all Navy Yard tenants to ensure that jobs in the city-owned industrial park remain accessible to New Yorkers across all skill and education levels.
The project is financed through a combination of BNYDC investment, $73.1 million of Mayoral City Capital and $3.7 million from the City Council and Brooklyn Borough President. Earlier this year, the City invested $100 million in Sunset Park’s Brooklyn Army Terminal to transform the neglected building into a hub for technology and modern manufacturing.
On hand for the announcement was Borough President Eric Adams, and City Councilmembers Laurie Cumbo and Stephen Levin, both of whose districts join up in the Navy Yard area.
“For over two hundred years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been an economic engine, as well as a source of civic pride, for our borough, city, state and nation. I am proud to have helped fund the transformation of the Navy Yard’s Building 77, which will advance Brooklyn’s reputation as a 21st century manufacturing hub. Where we once built the great ships of our naval fleet, we are now building great jobs that are advancing opportunities for the middle class,” said Adams.
“The Brooklyn Navy Yard is already bringing jobs to Brooklyn, and with this major investment in Building 77, we are taking it to the next level. Building 77 will provide the Navy Yard a brand new, modern manufacturing facility, and with it, the types of jobs that will help New Yorkers support their families,” said Levin.
“As a longstanding hub for media and technology, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been a tremendous resource for the economic empowerment of local residents through job training and placement. I am ecstatic that the modernization of Building 77 into a manufacturing facility will spur job creation for the men and women of our vibrant, diverse community,” said Cumbo.
