Green Economy
New York City’s green economy will host nearly 400,000 jobs by 2040, becoming the anchor of a prosperous, equitable, and just future for New Yorkers.
Guided by the City’s Green Economy Action Plan, NYCEDC’s green economy initiatives span from developing programs that accelerate climate innovation to supporting the growth of renewable energy such as offshore wind and energy storage. We build and develop physical infrastructure to enable the growth of the green economy, and we support workforce development and business development opportunities that enable a just green transition.
NYC’s Green Economy by 2040
jobs
annual earnings
annual contributions to NYC GDP
jobs
annual earnings
annual contributions to NYC GDP
The Green Economy in NYC
Building from the foundation set in the 2023 PlaNYC, we define the green economy in New York City as the ecosystem of activities that have emerged since the turn of the century that directly and intentionally contribute to achieving our climate goals. NYC’s green economy spans eight sectors and 21 subsectors which consist of many different types of public and private organizations and workers.
The City is taking bold steps to grow innovation across key industries of the future, particularly within the green economy. In January 2024 during the State of the City Address, former mayor Adams committed to transforming NYC's waterfronts into the Harbor of the Future, an initiative that includes robust investments in emerging City-supported innovation centers, from the Bronx to the Sunset Park District in Brooklyn, that are poised to become global hubs for the green economy.
NYCEDC Projects
Below is an overview of some of the key Green Economy initiatives led by NYCEDC.
- Pilots at BAT enables emerging climate innovation companies including Proptech to pilot, test, de-risk and demonstrate their products for New York City’s complex urban environment at the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT).
- Mass Timber Studio is a grant and technical assistance program supporting active mass timber development projects in the early phases of project planning and design. Project focus areas include navigating regulatory frameworks, innovative project delivery, technical feasibility, sustainability and resiliency, and community and equity.
- Circular Design and Construction Guidelines is NYCEDC’s operational guide to reduce waste and embodied carbon within our capital projects, help develop knowledge and capacity across industry stakeholders, and drive demand for cleaner and more circular design and construction across NYC.
- BATWorks will grow NYC’s climate tech ecosystem, accelerate the commercialization of climate technologies, and build shared prosperity for New Yorkers to advance a just transition.
- Green Economy Advisory Council consists of environmental justice groups, leading community organizations, investors, and industry leaders who will work together to advance a just transition towards a clean energy future and achieve New York City’s ambitious climate goals.
- Resilient Energy Studio is designed to cultivate local energy storage capacity through entrepreneur-led pilot projects and regulatory wayfinding.
- Offshore Wind Port at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) is being developed in close collaboration with Equinor to be utilized for staging and assembly, operations, and maintenance and as an interconnection point to support the development of Empire Wind 1 and future OSW projects. Read about NYC’s OSW Vision Plan here.
- We Source NYC supports local manufacturers, suppliers, and construction service providers seeking to enter a new $4 billion OSW supply chain.
- Waterfront Pathways Program helps increase opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (M/W/DBEs) in the OSW and waterfront industries.
- Offshore wind workforce training programs are offered by CUNY Kingsborough Community College KBCC) funded by NYCEDC. The training at CUNY KBCC provides certification for relevant offshore wind occupations including OSW welding training and maritime pathway program with Seafarers International Union (SIU).
The Harbor Climate Collaborative
In addition to driving many key green economy initiatives, NYCEDC is part of the Harbor Climate Collaborative, which is a joint initiative between three mission-aligned public entities with sites along the New York Harbor connected by NYC Ferry—the Trust for Governors Island (TGI), New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC)—to make NYC the global capital of climate innovation.
The Harbor Climate Collaborative is a joint initiative between three mission-aligned public entities along the New York Harbor to serve as the center of a burgeoning climate innovation ecosystem in New York City.
View Video Transcript
00:04 [Aerial view of the Statue of Liberty with New York City skyline in the background. Text overlay reads: “New York City’s Harbor Climate Collaborative.”] [Music.]
00:06 New York City has always been a leader in sustainability but we must have an impact on a global scale. The Harbor Climate Collaborative, a marquee initiative in the Green Economy Action Plan, is one path to realizing this vision.
00:18 A $725 million investment from NYCEDC, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Trust for Governors Island will catalyze climate Innovation, building on the impact piloting, tenanting, and workforce development efforts already underway.
00:35 [Lindsay Greene, President & CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.] The Harbor Climate Collaborative is in many ways you could think of it as economic development at the next level.
00:43 [Andrew Kimball, Former President & CEO, New York City Economic Development Corporation.] Three mission-driven entities that are geographically nearby all connected by fast ferry run by NYCEDC have all pivoted massive former industrial campuses to now being focused on the fight of our time really tackling climate change.
01:02: [Clare Newman, President & CEO, Trust for Governors Island.] The Harbor Climate Collaborative, I think, is really one of a first-of-a-kind partnership between a few City agencies on solutions for our city in response to the climate crisis, whether that's preparing our buildings for storm events, or whether it's thinking about how we can make our city much more sustainable, and doing climate mitigation initiatives through our City assets.
01:24 [Andrew Kimball, Former President & CEO, New York City Economic Development Corporation.] Within the Climate Innovation Hub, the core mission will be incubating and accelerating um climate tech, green tech companies in a supportive ecosystem with technical assistance provision, business growth provision, whether it's the adaptive reuse of those buildings using circular economy construction techniques, or using the buildings themselves to pilot their technologies on.
01:49 [Lindsay Greene, President & CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.] It's in our DNA to keep an eye on what the skills look like in middle-class career Pathways that operate in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, and we're just really trying to say, let's be further intentional about that, and always make sure that we have a way to connect people to those jobs and help them obtain those skills as those sectors involve and get created.
02:10 [Andrew Kimball, Former President & CEO, New York City Economic Development Corporation.] The unique thing is the size and scope of these campuses. You're talking about 600+ acres over 10 million square feet of space where academia is going to mix with business is going to mix with workforce development and opportunity. All of them right up on the waterfront. One of the, really the hallmarks of the Adams administration is the collaboration that happens at the agency level, and the Harbor Climate Collaborative will be a really important manifestation of that, with maybe the most important outcomes, which is fighting climate change. [Music.]
02:49 The Harbor Climate Collaborative will build an industry ecosystem with 5,000 permanent jobs, education and training for more than 2,000 students and $55 billion of economic impact for New York City. [Music.]
03:05 [Aerial view of Lower Manhattan with text: “Learn more at edc.nyc/HCC.” Logos for Brooklyn Navy Yard, Governors Island, and NYCEDC appear at the bottom.] [Music.]
