Pratt Center for Community Development's new report, "Brooklyn Navy Yard: an analysis of its economic impact and opportunities for replication,"  is the most-in-depth look to date at the successful industrial park and the culmination of a multi-year effort.

 Pratt Center conducted a thorough investigation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard (BNY), a 300-acre city-owned industrial park and one of the fastest growing green manufacturing centers in the country. The report demonstrates that New York City’s strategy of retaining ownership of the Navy Yard, placing it under mission-driven, nonprofit management and investing a total of $250 million in capital funds since 1996 has paid off:  the Navy Yard generates $2 billion in economic output and sustains 10,000 jobs and $390 million in earnings each year. 

Though large scale production has declined across the United States and in New York City, the report reveals the emergence of a new generation of small, specialized companies. The Navy Yard’s 330 tenants are increasingly linked to the city’s high-profile industries like architecture and design and film and media, as well as the city’s burgeoning cleantech sector.

The report provides analysis that can help other cities strengthen their manufacturing sectors by replicating all or part of the Navy Yard model; Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit were analyzed.  The report also offers recommendations for tools that federal, state and city governments can implement to help private and nonprofit developers acquire and renovate older industrial buildings and make them attractive to today’s modern urban manufacturer.

Download the report... (15MB, 130 pages)