
promised for Sunset Park hub
COURIER LIFE, F 6 EBRUARY 18-24, 2022
‘City of swagger’
500 new jobs in sustainable fashion
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
Before London, Paris,
Milan and Tokyo, the Big
Apple kick-started 2022’s
series of fashion weeks
— with Brooklyn’s Bush
Terminal at the center.
After attending a nonprofi
t fashion show in
Manhattan, the city’s
mayor, Eric Adams, announced
the fi rst anchor
tenant at Sunset Park’s
fashion- and fi lm-centric
Made in New York Campus:
sustainable fashion
and design school Slow
Factory.
The institution will
A rendering of the Made in New York Campus in Sunset Park.
Courtesy of nARCHITECTS & W Architecture and Landscape Architecture
be the fi rst to call the hub
home after the media production facility’s
ongoing restoration, and is expected
to facilitate the creation of 460
fashion jobs onsite, train 500 people
and grow existing jobs in related businesses
— bringing in an estimated $57
million in direct economic output to
New York City.
“Prioritizing sustainability can go
hand-in-hand with the fashion industry,”
said Adams in a statement. “The
redevelopment and creation of new
fashion jobs at the Made in New York
Campus in Brooklyn will only solidify
our place as the city of swagger.”
“Fast fashion,” or the process of
mass-producing clothing at low-cost,
has enormous environmental and social
impacts on our planet, according
to environmental advocates. The industry
is responsible for 10 percent of
human-caused greenhouse gas emissions,
20 percent of global wastewater,
and uses more energy than the aviation
and shipping sectors combined, according
to Columbia’s Climate School.
To further the city’s commitment to
a more eco-friendly fashion industry,
the Adams administration will also
partner with New York City Economic
Development Corporation — a development
nonprofi t that promotes business
expansions — to advance the MiNY
Campus project. The building will
shelter long-term free offi ce and classrooms
for organizations that advance
racial equity, diversity, and inclusion
in the media and fashion industries.
Since the $136 million project was
fi rst announced in 2017, Climate justice
organizations have called for a focus
on sustainability and green manufacturing
in Council District 38, an
area of Brooklyn home to the secondlargest
concentration of garment manufacturers
and employment in New
York City.
“Sunset Park is an environmental
justice community to its core and
that is why it is so important to have
Slow Factory’s focus on sustainable
fashion and racial equity lead the Garment
Manufacturing Hub,” said US
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who represents
the area on the federal level. “The
path to reducing climate change runs
straight through neighborhoods like
Sunset Park, and the Garment Hub
ought to stand as a model for communities
across the country to create sustainable
products while empowering
residents to be a part of this change
through meaningful workforce development
and empowerment.”
Slow Factory will establish a multidisciplinary
institute with accessible
educational programming on climate
justice and climate solutions, work
training, a research and development
lab and a manufacturing facility for
regenerative material like plant-based
leather under the same roof.
“We are working diligently to fi ll a
critical educational gap that focuses
on climate justice and human rights
while creating a community hub for
education and skills training,” said
Slow Factory Executive Director Céline
Semaan.
Gilbane Development Company is
constructing the MiNY campus, outsourcing
60 percent of the participation
needed for the project to New York
City-certifi ed Minority- and Women-
Owned Business Enterprise subcontractors
and suppliers.
The hub will also include workspaces
— ranging from 2,000- to
40,000-square-feet — for Brooklynbased
companies. The installations
are expected to be ready before the end
of this year.
“We expect to work closely with
Slow Factory and all partners to create
career pathways that connect residents
to jobs on our working waterfront,
for local residents and especially
youth of color — that extends all the
way into leadership roles,” said area
Councilmember Alexa Avilés.