8 The Courier sun • FEBRUARY 11, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Image courtesy of Gotham Greens FRESH FROM QUEENS: New produce greenhouse opens in Hollis By Robert Pozarycki [email protected]/@robbpoz The latest urban farm in New York City is sprouting atop a factory near the Long Island Rail Road in Hollis. Gotham Greens opened this week its new 60,000-square-foot facility inside a former warehouse at the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 185th Street, featuring a rooftop greenhouse where herbs and leafy greens are on the grow. The new venture nearly triples the production of produce for Gotham Greens, which began in 2009 atop a warehouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Seven years later, Gotham Greens produce is grown from three rooftop gardens in New York City and another in Chicago; their harvest is sold in retail markets and to restaurants in both cities. The company’s expansion into Hollis was touted by Governor Andrew Cuomo in a Feb. 2 press release. He noted that Gotham Greens received $1 million from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority toward the project and other efforts to make the company’s New York greenhouses more energy efficient through the installation of high-efficiency lighting, cooling and crop production systems. Gotham Greens is also receiving Excelsior Jobs Program Tax Credits to create and sustain no fewer than 46 full-time jobs through 2024. Many of the new employees are from Hollis and surrounding communities, according to Gotham Greens spokesperson Nicole Baum. “Gotham Greens’ expansion into Queens is creating jobs and offering New Yorkers greater access to healthy, locally grown produce,” Cuomo said. “By partnering with local businesses that utilize energy-saving practices, we are helping them expand their operations while growing the economy and building a sustainable future for New Yorkers.” “Opening this new state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in the middle of winter underscores the innovative story of Gotham Greens,” added Gotham Greens CEO Viraj Puri. “Never before have consumers in our marketplace been able to get locally grown produce this fresh at this time of year. After the recent record-breaking blizzard, our freshly harvested produce was on supermarket shelves the very next day.” The Hollis greenhouse, which is set to year-round summer conditions ideal for growth, will hydroponically farm various leafy greens including many different types of lettuce as well as arugula and bok choy. Hydroponic farming yields up to 30 times more produce than traditional farming methods; a head of lettuce can fully grow within 30 to 40 days, depending on its variety, Baum said. The company prides itself on being able to quickly harvest and distribute leafy greens to local markets and restaurants the same day. “They’re the things that traditionally travel the furthest and are not locally available in the winter months,” Baum said, pointing out that during New York winters, most basil is imported from Mexico or Israel. Lettuce produced and packaged from California is a week old by the time it reaches the New York market, she noted. “A product harvested that morning” from Gotham Greens “you might find on a local supermarket shelf or in a local restaurant by the end of that day,” Baum said. “Our whole model is to harvest in the morning so it can be on your plate by the afternoon.” A view of Gotham Greens’ new rooftop greenhouse in Hollis. NEW DIGITAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AT QNS.COM Schneps Communications announced that it has named Katarina Hybenova as the new digital editorin chief for QNS.com, the digital media partner of The Queens Courier, Courier Sun, Ridgewood Times and BORO magazine. Hybenova owns and remains the editorial director of Bushwick Daily, a website she founded in 2010 highlighting news and events in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Originally started as a photoblog, the website quickly grew in popularity; now, the website has 250,000 visitors each month. “We are thrilled to have Katarina join our team to lead our focus on being the dominant digital platform in Queens,” said Joshua Schneps, co-publisher of Schneps Communications. “I have a great deal of respect for what she has accomplished in the digital space and know that, with her experience and passion for local new websites, she will help surpass our goals and expectations for QNS. com and beyond.” “It is a very exciting challenge for me to join Schneps Communications, which has a long tradition of publishing traditional print newspapers,” Hybenova said. “My aim is to elevate the company’s digital strategy, making QNS.com the number one source of quality news in the borough of Queens. I personally live in Ridgewood, and as an immigrant I appreciate that every country of the world has its little nook in Queens. This borough’s diversity is a large reason why I love it so much, and working on QNS.com is such a pleasure.” Born and raised in Slovakia, Hybenova originally studied law in the Czech Republic, Belgium and New York. In 2014, on a full scholarship from the Knight Foundation, she attended the prestigious Tow Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School for Journalism. Hybenova lives in Ridgewood with her husband and their four cats.
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