EXPERT FACULTY

Joan Byron
Director of Policy, Pratt Center for Community Development

For Joan Byron, the Pratt Center for Community Development's recent study of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is representative of the center's mission to create a more just, equitable, and sustainable city by empowering communities to plan their futures. Authored by Senior Fellow Jen Becker, the center's recent report on the economic success of the area draws on research conducted by Center fellows, including interviews with more than 80 Navy Yard tenants. 

The fellows found that the 300-acre, city-owned industrial park is now one of the fastest-growing green manufacturing centers in the country. The study concludes that New York City’s strategy of retaining ownership of the complex and investing capital funds has paid off. It generates $2 billion in economic output and sustains 10,000 jobs and $390 million in earnings each year.

Endorsed by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the report identified the Navy Yard as a successful model for economic development that should be considered in other American cities. The Pratt Center is now in conversations with the cities of Newark and San Francisco about what elements they might replicate.

For more information about the Pratt Center and to see their report on the Brooklyn Navy Yard, visit their website. 

Text and Production: Bay Brown
Video and Production: Peter Tannenbaum