Mayor Adams visits several life sciences-related businesses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard following the announcement of a $20 million biotechnology center there. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
On March 3, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Economic Development Corporation, and Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation announced the City will open a new sustainability-focused biotechnology center at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The $20 million center will open in 2025 and be the first commercial center for sustainable biotechnology development in the United States. More than 400 jobs will be created and supported through the center’s office spaces, research laboratories, and programming spaces.
The center will open as part of the City’s LifeSci NYC project, an initiative with the goal of establishing New York City as a global leader in life sciences. Read CityLand‘s past coverage of the LifeSci NYC project here.
Brooklyn Navy Yard is already home to several sustainability life sciences businesses, including Next-Steps Labs, which focuses on developing cosmetic and personal care products out of natural ingredients and TomTex that makes biodegradable alternatives to synthetic and animal leathers.
As an additional effort to bring New York City into a leadership role of sustainable life science and biotechnology, New York City Economic Development Corporation is actively seeking a location and operator for a Materials Innovation Hub, which will focus on research and development to bring new materials to the market.
Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development, was exciting about the job prospects the center would create while also combatting climate change, stating, “The Brooklyn Navy Yard is an engineer of innovation for New York City, and it demonstrates that when we work together, we can find ways to create jobs, stimulate the economy, accelerate small business growth, and address some of the most challenging issues of our time, climate change top among them.”
Lindsay Greene, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation President & CEO, expressed enthusiasm that the new center would aid sustainability-oriented companies in improving their work, stating, “A first-of-its-kind incubator, this new life science hub will…provide the resources sustainably-minded companies need to advance their work in food tech, fashion, or building materials, and more.”
By: Vanessa Cameron (Vanessa is a CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2024.)