US (NY): Sky Vegetables officialy open 8,000 sqf commercial rooftop greenhouse
February 21st, as part of the opening of the new Arbor House affordable housing
complex, Bronx residents and the greater New York area were introduced to a
new form of sustainable urban agriculture: a rooftop greenhouse that will grow
fresh, pesticide-free, produce all year long.
After what was an emotional ribbon cutting ceremony for many Bronx residents,
filled with rousing speeches from active community members and investors keen to
build resilient, affordable, and healthy housing options, the rooftop farm opening brought new meaning to “I’ll take that with a cherry on top”.
Sky Vegetables is the company behind the newly constructed 8,000 sqf rooftop
greenhouse. While rooftop greenhouses are a growing trend in NYC, this project
could be the first example of commercial hydroponic agriculture integrated
into a residential structure, demonstrating a deep commitment towards
providing healthy living options for residents in every way.
This will be Sky Vegetables' first rooftop hydroponic greenhouse in NYC as they expand from their home state of Massachusetts where they already have several others up and running. Their team includes Joe Swartz, who has been consulting the hydroponics industry throughout the country bringing with him 46,000+ hours of hydroponic greenhouse experience, and Laurie Schoeman, who has collaborated with every building-integrated agriculture company in NYC.
As an established leader in sustainable urban agriculture, Sky Vegetables brings
even more innovation, opportunity, and fresh local food to NYC where buildingintegrated agriculture is taking off.
"We dissolve all the nutrients that plants need for growth - we dissolve them
into water and we feed them to the plants and then reclaim all the water
nutrients that are not used by plants; so it's a completely closed system," said
Master Farmer Joe Schwartz.
A new Bronx building will soon have residents going green in more ways than
one. Known as "Arbor House", the nearly $38 million project built on land
purchased from the New York City Housing Authority's Forest Houses property in
Morrisania boasts a hydroponic rooftop farm for growing fresh vegetables. The eight-story building located at 770 East 166th Street features 124 units of
affordable housing and a variety of green perks like a living green wall in the
lobby and "stair music", in the hopes that people will take the stairs and get
some exercise.
But perhaps best of all, residents and the surrounding community will get to
enjoy fresh food grown in their very own building.
"This is cutting edge, we're really leading the way citywide and statewide, and
the best is yet to come," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. Sky Vegetables, the company that built the rooftop garden, is also hoping to
expand to other residential buildings.
"Local, fresh, nutritious food is what the people of the cities need. And there is
no reason why we can't turn all of these rooftops into living farms," said Sky
Vegetables CEO Bob Fireman.