Old Marine Station to Gain New, Green Life

In the latest step along a lengthy quest for green redevelopment of a former marine transfer station on West 135th Street, the Waterfront and Economic Development Committee of local Community Board 9 met Tuesday to finalize and approve planning recommendations to the board at large.

The committee estimated that a retrofitting project would cost $26 million but would create jobs, localize food production, and make the West Harlem neighborhood more sustainable.
Savona Bailey-McClain, committee co-chair, said their goal isn’t just to make the facility itself go green. “We’re trying to have green jobs in the facility and increase income for a lot of local people for different types of jobs they might not otherwise get the opportunity for.”

The marine transfer station that once stood on the lot closed in 1998. Since then, its walls and panels have been heavily vandalized, but the structure remains intact.

The plan to redevelop the station includes construction of a “detached vertical greenwall” at the entrance, a “green roof with solar panels and room to harvest rainwater,” “interior space for a restaurant that will support a small aquafarming and hydroponic program,” “space for an ecology center,” and other environmental features. Committee members emphasized that the proposed changes will also have economic benefits for the community.

The resolution distributed at Tuesday evening’s meeting states that CB9 “sought to pro-actively examine the possibilities of water related and environmentally based job opportunities, which would further advance our community’s desire to be self-sustaining and sufficient.”

The approved resolution will now go to the New York City Economic Development Corporation for a feasibility study. Committee members say they intend to call upon Mayor Michael Bloomberg to support the project, as the station is city-owned property.

Bailey-McClain said of aquafarming and hydroponics—two related, environmentally-friendly resource production systems—that the projects are “budding and could possibly work for us since we are a waterfront community.” Aquafarming is a process by which fish and shellfish are raised under controlled conditions, and hydroponics is a process of growing plants by substituting mineral nutrient solutions for soil.

Both methods are relatively new and still in experimental stages. They are also expensive, so the committee emphasized that the plan would be a pilot program and subject to revision.
Bailey-McClain said the bulk of the project’s funding would likely come from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, which works to “sustain the economic revitalization of Upper Manhattan through job creation, corporate alliances, strategic investments and small business assistance,” according to the program’s Web site.

According to Bailey-McClain, CB9 has not received substantial criticism of the plan. “But the city has made it clear that whatever happens must be self-sustainable,” she said. “It must be responsible.”

“The city would like to hear from others in the community, and we are not opposed to that,” Bailey-McClain said.

Katherine Meduski contributed reporting.