Checking in on our Green Partners | Eagle Street Rooftop Farm

We thought you would be interested in hearing how our Green Partners have fared during the pandemic, so we are featuring a series that does just that.  And we begin with Eagle Street Rooftop Farm.  We checked in with urban agriculture expert Annie Novak, founder and director of Growing Chefs and, co-founder and farmer at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm that grows atop one of our sound stage facilities in Greenpoint.  We have been working with Annie for more than 10 years now.  In fact, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm was our first green rooftop initiative.  While this year has been challenging, this innovative urban rooftop farm has found a way to survive.

In the world of farming, it’s all about planning for the growing season, and COVID-19 just happened to overlap with growing season, which allowed Eagle Street to proceed with plans for planting seeds and starting transplants.  But a lot had to change in order to ensure the safety and health of staff, volunteers and the community.  So, they postponed the apprenticeship program, volunteer days and farmers market. Without the cast of volunteers, growing the crops would be a challenge.  Fortunately, last year’s apprentice, Jacob Parsons, reached out to offer a hand. A tag-team system ensued, and the Farm was able to plant and care for the years’ crops.  The next challenge was how to sell the produce.  Annie reached out to Archestratus Books and Foods, a local Greenpoint shop. Like most businesses, owner Paige Lipari, was looking for a creative way to keep her shop going. She decided to establish an online store for her books and fresh food, which has been quite popular. Paige graciously accepted the rooftop grown produce into her lineup of great food and today, customers [four at a time] can safely walk into Archestratus and purchase the produce directly. And Eagle Street continues to make progress. 

With the City entering Phase 4, the apprenticeship program has been reinstated, albeit in a limited and COVID-adjusted fashion. While the other programs remain on hold, we are optimistic that Eagle Street will be able to resume their full suite of offerings next spring.  In the meantime, the crops are producing, being sold at Archestratus, and our community remains engaged and anxiously awaiting the opportunity to visit the Farm. While we wait for things to get ‘back to normal’, head over to Archestratus at 160 Huron Street and pick up some delicious produce or order online. A sincere thanks to Eagle Street Rooftop Farm for their support and commitment to make environmental sustainability more than a movement, but a way of life, even in the face of a pandemic.