Not an Incidental Incubator Anymore.
By Katja Schroeder, Expedition PR
This week TNW and Business Insider ran a story about the best Tech hang outs in New York City. While the Business Insider list focused on the schmoozing in restaurants and bars, TNW included a number of popular co-working spaces, such as WeWork Soho and General Assembly. Collaborative work spaces and incubators have sprouted up across the city and become the breeding ground for a new generation of tech companies.
ClimateWeek NYC brought me to the The Brooklyn Navy Yard this week. 3DP Media has organized a panel on the new industrial revolution, led by innovations such as 3D-printing. It was a perfect location to discuss sustainable product development and green manufacturing.
Situated on the Brooklyn side of the East River, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a giant industrial park that currently houses more than 330 companies. Its 4 million square feet site is home to the greatest concentration of manufacturing and green businesses in New York City. With its commitment to sustainable development, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has become the poster child for the comeback of (green) manufacturing.
With a mix of creative and manufacturing the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been incidental incubator in the past. Now that role could be more formalized. In March 2013 the Brooklyn Navy Yard entered the beta phase for a new experiment: The New Lab, a work space that houses a mix of creative, engineering and product development companies that collaborate to create more sustainable products and a more sustainable living environment. While the concept is being tested with a small group of companies, the Yard is developing a 100,000 square feet complex that will become home to the New Lab in 2015.