'Radical' Cutbacks Coming To LIC Urban Farm; CSA, Farm Stand End

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — An urban rooftop farm that's been supplying northwest Queens with fresh produce for over a decade decided to "radically scale back operations" this year, much to the dismay of neighbors.

Brooklyn Grange, a commercial urban farm that manages sites atop buildings in Brooklyn and Queens, will no longer be growing dozens of market crops — and distributing those in CSA shares and a weekly Saturday market — at its nearly one-acre-large Long Island City site, located at at 37-18 Northern Boulevard, the farm recently announced.

Since Ben Flanner opened Brooklyn Grange's flagship location in Queens in 2010 (the name comes from a smaller pilot operation in Greenpoint), the farm has grown to include two (even bigger) farming and programming sites in its namesake borough and other projects across Manhattan and Staten Island — all of which the farm will be focusing on in 2022 in lieu of its flagship farm.

"The space won't go completely dormant," the farm wrote in its announcement — a low-maintenance crop of peppers will be planted for the farm's signature hot sauce, and it will still host periodic events — instead Brooklyn Grange will just "dramatically reduce the time we spend on that roof and increase focus on our various other endeavors."

In addition to its other rooftop farms, those endeavors include Brooklyn Grange's citywide landscaping services, which bring urban agriculture projects (like living green walls and perennial flower planters) to senior housing and private stoops alike.

Neighbors closer to home, though, are disappointed to hear about the closure of the Long Island City Brooklyn Grange CSA and farm stand.

One, who has been going to the stand "almost every Saturday" since it opened, described it as the spot in the city with the "cleanest, freshest produce."

"I cannot imagine a greater loss for the neighborhood. I am so upset about this," they wrote in a neighborhood comment thread, which got dozens of upvotes.

Brooklyn Grange acknowledged that cutting back on this site feels like "closing a chapter," but was sure to say that the Long Island City roof won't be gone for good, inviting neighbors to reach out with ideas about what could come next at the site.

"Thanks to all of our neighbors in LIC for your support, patience, and trust, as we rest this field," they wrote.

The Brooklyn Grange declined to provide Patch with more information about why operations would be scaled back aside from what was in the written statement.

Read the full statement from Brooklyn Grange here.