Undergraduate students working with Kevin Sievers prepared a comprehensive plan for the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, addressing economic, environmental, public health, and sustainability issues for both the redevelopment of the BNY and the surrounding community. Specific public health recommendations include flood mitigation, creation of greenways, and a hierarchy of curbless streets, creating internship opportunities for BNY tenants, and prioritizing lower-income residents for newly created job opportunities.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard was first established in 1801 as the premier naval shipbuilding facility for the Navy. The yard built numerous naval ships from steamboats to massive aircraft carriers. At the height of World War II, a total of 70,000 people wereemployed in the yard. Over the years as ships grew larger, it was impossible for newer ships to be serviced at the yard. The Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges limited the sizes of ships that could come in, so the Navy decided to move locations. In 1969, it the yard was bought by the City of New York for $22.5 million. The control then shifted to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that oversees, manages, and controls all development within the yard. Due to the yard’s immersive role in American history, it was registered and listed as a place of historical significance under the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Corporation, as well as its tenants, has made an effort to preserve and maintain historical buildings as well as retrofit them for adaptive reuse.