Help Navy Yard businesses stay afloat

BY DANIELLA ROMANO

Like other Zone A areas in the City, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was hit hard by Sandy, with approximately 25 of our 275 ground floor businesses suffering significant losses to machinery, equipment and inventory.

Their businesses range from designers, clothing manufacturers and furniture makers, to artists, metal fabricators, and food distributors – and the Navy Yard Development Corporation is working closely with each of them to facilitate access to city, state, and federal assistance to get these businesses back on their feet.

You can also help support these local businesses by buying local this holiday season, which happens to coincide with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92’s one-year anniversary!

Join the nearly 30,000 visitors who have taken advantage of free admission to the museum to engage in public programs, free school tours, and viewing of our exhibit, “Brooklyn Navy Yard: Past, Present & Future” and our new exhibit, “Reflections on Rosie.”

This exhibit features the work of four of our tenant businesses – run by women artisans – who worked together to create an art installation exploring the transformation of women during World War II. See how these first-hand accounts of women industrial workers coming from all walks of life to fill some of the first jobs available to American women – as machinists, parts inspectors, and welders – in support of the WWII war effort from 1942-1945, resonate in the experiences of the women who are picking up that legacy today in 21^st century Brooklyn.

Another exhibit to support is the new “Designing the Future” project, featuring designs from students at local schools such as City Tech, NYU-Poly, and Pratt Institute. Cutting edge designs in ergonomic furniture, 3-D printing, and an innovative application of organic phosphorescent material compliment the exquisite craft of high-end jewelry inspired by neighborhood maps and large-scale infrastructure.

If you are a teacher or parent, then sign your class up for a free school tour, which shows support for the work of the Brooklyn Historical Society. Current tours include:

• “Ingenious Inventions” (grades 2-5) introduces students to technological innovations in shipbuilding in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries and includes a trip to a working dry dock!
• “People of Your Navy Yard” (6-12) introduces students to the men and women workers of WWII and Today’s Yard through oral history

If you need help finding a job to support yourself or your own business, then stop by the Navy Yard Employment Center on the third floor of BLDG 92. It has linked more than 1,600 people to jobs throughout the borough over the past 10 years.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has undergone many changes in the more than two centuries since it was built. And it will continue to change as Brooklyn’s economy grows and Brooklynites adapt to the new realities that Hurricane Sandy brought. So stay a part of the Navy Yard and BLDG 92 family and join us as we connect past and present in upcoming programs like December’s “Gingerbread Shipbuilding,” about the renaissance of industrial Brooklyn.

Join us in helping to shape the Brooklyn of the future!

Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92 exhibits are free and open to the public Wednesday to Sunday from Noon to 6 p.m.  www.BLDG92.org

Daniella Romano is Vice President of BLDG 92 Exhibits and Programs where she directs operations of the exhibition and visitor center.  She conceives content for programs and exhibits and also facilitates growth of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Archive.