New York’s largest rooftop farm takes root in Long Island City, thanks to a bunch of Brooklynites

Green skies ahead

Written by Rebecca Flint Marx
Photographed by Donnelly Marks
Edible Queens
Fall 2010

Excerpt:

When all was said and done, it cost $200,000 to get the Grange up and running. According to Parachini, the farm has some 20 bona fide shareholder, with two or three people making private loans. This is not to mention the support of hundreds of smaller donors from around the country and the world, each planting their own cash seeds in the new farm’s soil.

Even with funding and a roof, Brooklyn Grange wasn’t quite out of the woods. In mid-May, as a small army of volunteers was helping to spread 600 tons of soil across the Standard Motor Products roof, the Department of Buildings showed up. They brought a stop-work order, slapping its founders with a violation for working without a permit. After paying a fine of about $5000, filing architectural plans and securing the necessary permit, the Grange was allowed to proceed with the installation.

Despite low moments like this, she remembers the installation as an overwhelming positive experience. “We had folks showing up at 4:30am to direct traffic on Northern Boulevard from the loading dock to the warehouse where the crane was operating,” Cole recalls. “Folks worked so hard. It was really mind-blowing and incredibly heartening. You see that and it really motivates you.”

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