THE FARM AT THE JAVITS CENTER

In 2021, Brooklyn Grange planted the first seeds on The Farm at Javits Center — a rooftop farm and orchard atop the expansion of the convention center in Manhattan. This launch is the culmination of a 3-year consulting and design project, where Brooklyn Grange collaborated with the Javits Center's sustainability team along with dozens of architects, engineers and other professionals to create this truly state-of-the-art urban farm. 
The Farm spans an acre of green roof vegetable growing beds, a 3,500sf climate-controlled greenhouse, and a 10,000sf rooftop orchard and food forest with 38 apple and pear trees. Adjacent to the farm is a massive "mobile garden" with over 100 movable planters full of native perennials.
Unlike our farms in Brooklyn and Queens, this farm is managed under an operating contract, where Brooklyn Grange’s team grows vegetables specifically tailored for the needs of Javits Center’s catering program, CULTIVATED. 
The Farm at the Javits Center will challenge millions of visitors per year to think differently about food, farming, and the future of our cities.
Brooklyn Grange farmers creating beds at the Javits Center rooftop farm

Photos Courtesy of The Javits Center

CIRCULAR SYSTEMS

In many ways, this rooftop farm is identical to the farms that Brooklyn Grange has built and operated in Brooklyn and Queens over the past decade, but given the unique purpose and ambitious sustainability goals of the Javits Center, the rooftop boasts several unique and exciting features. Because the farm was included in initial plans for the building’s construction, the structure was designed to accommodate a 344,000 gallon underground cistern for recovering and recycling rainwater runoff, preventing millions of gallons of stormwater from entering New York City’s sewer system each year, and reducing the farm’s municipal water use by upwards of 50%.
 

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FOOD FOREST

In April 2022, Brooklyn Grange completed the installation of a unique food forest to the Javits Center rooftop. The food forest is designed to mimic the ecosystems found in New York’s forests, and further educate New Yorkers about their local ecology. Incorporated into the orchard, the forest includes a biodiverse variety of plants and creates a more complex and resilient space in which to grow food for humans, as well as other species that rely on green infrastructure in the built environment.