Nonprofit leases seven acres of Floyd Bennett Field for $60 million learning campus
Runway Green signed a 60-year lease on part of the old Brooklyn airfield. Plans include an urban farm, a public high school, a ropes course and campgrounds.
Seven acres of Floyd Bennett Field, the historic Brooklyn airfield, will become a $60 million education campus. The National Park Service gave the nonprofit Runway Green a 60-year lease on the land. Its programs could eventually serve up to 50,000 students from the city’s public schools.
The site is inside Gateway National Recreation Area. Students will learn through hands-on work such as farming, caring for the natural environment and trying out careers.
What is planned at the Floyd Bennett Field campus
The first phase is a three-acre urban farm developed with The Campaign Against Hunger, and construction is expected to begin in 2027. Later plans add a public high school, a welcome center, campgrounds and a ropes course. Programs will cover marine science, clean power, sustainable farming and cutting carbon emissions from buildings.
Runway Green is designing the campus as shared infrastructure that links schools with employers, nonprofits, colleges and public agencies. The idea is to use the airfield’s natural, historic and physical assets for experiences that one school could not offer by itself. Pilot programs with city schools and partner organizations are already underway. Over time, the nonprofit expects to bring in young people from hundreds of schools in every borough.
Founder and executive director Geoff Roehm said the lease “turns a bold vision into a public commitment to New York City’s young people.”
Who is paying for Runway Green
Public commitments so far add up to $9.3 million of the $60 million budget. The City Council contributed $3.3 million in an effort led by Council Member Mercedes Narcisse. Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, put in $1 million, and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand secured $2 million in federal money. Another $3 million in public funds is reserved for site improvements.
Other parts of the airfield are changing too. This summer a new operator took over the former Aviator Sports and Event Center, which now runs as the Floyd Bennett Sports Complex and still offers recreation programs.
Quick answers
When does construction start at the Runway Green campus?
The first phase, a three-acre urban farm, is expected to break ground in 2027.
Who is the campus for?
It is for New York City public school students, up to 50,000 of them. Runway Green expects to eventually serve students from hundreds of schools in every borough.
