From naval history to sustainable architecture to innovations in manufacturing, there are a wide range of private group tour programs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92, Turnstile Tours offers tours that can be adapted to complement the goals of your group visit, whether for a family outing, corporate retreat, K-12 customized school group, or specialized tours for undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional development programs. Discounted rates are available for non-profit organizations and educational institutions for all group tours and programs offered by BLDG 92 and Turnstile Tours.
Click the links below to view information about different group tour options at the Brooklyn Navy Yard:
Private Groups & Individuals • Academic & Professional Groups • K-12 Students
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD TOURS FOR PRIVATE GROUPS
Turnstile Tours offers group tour packages and customized itineraries on behalf of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 that range in theme from World War II and maritime history to sustainable architecture and 21st-century manufacturing practices. The 1-hour, 1.5-hour, and 2-hour tours highlighted below explore the 300-acre (126-hectare) historic Yard that is today a city-owned industrial park home to more than 330 businesses. Any of these tour programs can be adapted based on your interests and goals for one visit or multiple visits. Packages are also available and can include guided or self-guided explorations of the exhibits at BLDG 92, pre-ordered lunches, and customized half-day or full-day itineraries of Brooklyn (contact us for a proposal and pricing information).
Tour Programs:
For 165 years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a leading naval shipyard, building some of America’s most famous fighting Naval ships, including the USS Maine, USS Arizona, and USS Missouri. Today the Yard is a city-owned industrial park and a center of manufacturing, technology, and craft, home to over 400 industrial and creative businesses, creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. This guided tour offers an overview of the vast 300-acre property and its history, from its founding in 1801, through major political and technological eras – including the Civil War, World War II, and its transition to a civilian industrial park – that are still visible in the Yard’s historic landscape.
This tour offers opportunities to take a closer look at the Yard’s most intriguing sites, including a dry dock that’s been used continuously for ship repair since 1851, several historic buildings that are being adaptively reused for modern industry, and development projects that will more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future. Along the way, we will use oral history clips and historical photographs from the site’s naval past, as well as stories of the people at the Yard today, to bring this place to life. While we use a bus to get from place to place, we do get off the bus at several locations throughout the Yard to take a closer look.
🏢 Sustainable Architecture & Industry Tour
Once America’s premier Naval shipyard, today the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a mission-driven industrial park and a hub of industry, technology, and craft. Explore the Navy Yard’s unique architecture and examine the many layers of history visible in the landscape, from Civil War-era machine shops to innovative LEED-Certified structures, and see how these buildings have been adapted for modern manufacturing. Learn about development projects currently underway at the Yard, which are projected to more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future, the greatest expansion of the Yard since World War II.
This tour showcases the role the Brooklyn Navy Yard plays in providing economic opportunities for thousands of New Yorkers, from small business owners to manufacturing workers to technology startups, and looks at the infrastructure that keeps the Yard – and all of New York City – running, including stormwater management, transportation, and energy. The tour covers most of the massive 300-acre campus, including visits to the still-active 1851 Dry Dock No. 1, the newly-renovated World War II-era Building 77, the sites of the Admiral’s Row and Dock 72 projects, and the LEED Platinum-certified Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard played a pivotal role in World War II, building battleships and aircraft carriers, repairing over 5,000 ships, and sending troops and supplies to fronts across the globe. Not only did the Yard construct the USS Arizona a generation before the war, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but it is also where the battleship Missouri was constructed, where the instrument of surrender ending the war was signed in 1945. Thanks to the efforts of its 70,000 workers, the Brooklyn Navy Yard became the world’s busiest shipyard, earning the nickname “The Can-Do Yard” for its ability to patch up wounded ships and put them back in action.
This tour examines the role of the New York City waterfront in the war effort, explores connections between the Yard and famous battles of World War II, and visits sites of significance that remain from this era, including the former ship assembly shops, the Yard’s headquarters at Building 77, and the landmark Dry Dock No. 1. Throughout the tour, we listen to clips of oral histories recorded with sailors and shipworkers who were at the Yard during the war, including from women working in industrial jobs, and from people of color, for whom the war presented both challenges and new opportunities. This tour aims to evoke a sense of what the Yard was like during the war – a place of tremendous energy, innovation, and achievement, but tempered by terrible loss.
Discover the natural world in the midst a thriving urban industrial park on this 2-hour tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where we will explore New York City’s waterways, terrestrial ecosystems and urban farms. The highlight of the tour is the stunning 65,000-square-foot Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, where we will learn how they produce thousands of pounds of vegetables annually and are a national leader in the development of rooftop and urban farming techniques. From the rooftop, we’ll also have amazing views of the Yard, including an extensive green rooftop and one of the largest rooftop solar installations in New York City.
Descending to the bank of the East River, we will visit an oyster restoration project led by students from the New York Harbor School and will discuss the improving health of the city’s waterways, and the challenges that remain. We will also explore planned and unplanned natural landscapes of the Yard, including the landscape architecture surrounding BLDG 92, identifying native and exotic plant species along the way. Finally, we will the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative‘s Naval Cemetery Landscape, a meadow designed to restore the natural habitat, provide a space for environmental education, and commemorate the thousands of sailors, marines, and others once interred at the site. This tour will reveal that the natural world truly is all around us, even in the heart of the city.
⚓ Explore the Exhibits at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92
BLDG 92 offers three floors of exhibits about the past, present, and future of the Yard. The galleries are open to the public Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm, and admission is always free. If you would like to incorporate a 1-hour guided tour of the exhibits into your visit to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, that can be arranged, subject to availability.
[tabs=”default”][tab title=”Length”]Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours are available for 1 hour, 1.5 hours, or 2 hours.
The tours are designed to be 2 hours in length, so only the full 2-hour tour will include all the sites and themes listed in the description. We are happy to discuss any modification to the tour in order to accommodate your desired itinerary.[/tab][tab title=”Rates”]All rates below include a knowledgeable and engaging guide from Turnstile Tours and a map of the site. Bus tours include a 32-passenger bus and driver provided by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and bicycle tours include a bicycle safety sweep in addition to the tour guide.
All tours require a minimum of 15 participants or equivalent payment.
2-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $30 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $27 per person
1.5-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $24 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $21.60 per person
1-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $18 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $16 per person
1-Hour BLDG 92 Exhibit Tour at BLDG 92: Rates below include a knowledgeable and engaging guide from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 and an exhibit pamphlet.
- Standard Rate for all groups: $5 per person (minimum of 10 people)
Customized Itineraries and Tour Packages: Please contact us for customized requests and quotes.
Groups that provide their own bus transportation will receive a discount. Private buses must provide proof of commercial vehicle insurance in order to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
[/tab][tab title=”Transportation & Availability”]The Brooklyn Navy Yard covers 300 acres, so transportation by bus or bicycle is required to get around the site safely and efficiently. The Yard is a secure industrial park, and their is no public access except for Yard tenants, their guests, and tour participants accompanied by a guide.
Tours using BNYDC Bus:
All tours can be offered year-round using the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s 32-passenger bus for private group tours. The BNYDC bus is generally available during the following times (subject to availability):
- Saturday-Sunday 10:30am-1pm
- Monday-Tuesday 10:30am-3:30pm
- Wednesday-Friday 2:30-3:30pm
- These times apply during the academic year; more dates are available during summer months
Tours using Private Buses:
For groups of 33 or more people, or if the BNYDC bus is unavailable, Turnstile Tours can charter private buses seven days per week, subject to availability, but please note that pricing will differ based on charter rental fees. Groups may also provide their own bus transportation and will receive a discount on group rates. Private buses must provide proof of commercial vehicle insurance in order to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard and be accompanied by a tour guide.
Tours by bicycle:
All tours can be offered by bicycle only on Saturdays and Sundays during daylight hours. Groups must provide their own bicycles, and everyone must wear safety helmets in order to participate. Upon request, Turnstile Tours can arrange for bicycle rentals and safety gear with partner bicycle rental companies.[/tab][tab title=”Group Size”]Private tours require a minimum of 15 participants, or equivalent payment. Tours that utilize the Brooklyn Navy Yard bus are restricted to 32 participants. We can accommodate larger groups, including coach buses.[/tab][tab title=”Lunch Packages”]For groups visiting the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we can arrange for catered lunch from nearby establishments in a private room, which can accommodate up to 60 guests.
Please contact us for information on menu options and pricing.[/tab][tab title=”Submit an Inquiry”]Click here to fill out an inquiry form, which will help us to better serve your needs. We are usually able to respond to your inquiry within 2 business days.[/tab][/tabs]
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD TOURS FOR ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL GROUPS
Turnstile Tours offers group tour packages and customized itineraries on behalf of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 that range in theme from World War II and maritime history to sustainable architecture and 21st-century manufacturing practices. The 1-hour, 1.5-hour, and 2-hour tours highlighted below explore the 300-acre (126-hectare) historic Yard that is today a city-owned industrial park home to more than 330 businesses. Any of these tour programs can be adapted based on your interests and goals for one visit or multiple visits. Packages are also available and can include guided or self-guided explorations of the exhibits at BLDG 92, pre-ordered lunches, and customized half-day or full-day itineraries of Brooklyn (contact us for a proposal and pricing information).
Tour Programs:
For 165 years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a leading naval shipyard, building some of America’s most famous fighting Naval ships, including the USS Maine, USS Arizona, and USS Missouri. Today the Yard is a city-owned industrial park and a center of manufacturing, technology, and craft, home to over 400 industrial and creative businesses, creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. This guided tour offers an overview of the vast 300-acre property and its history, from its founding in 1801, through major political and technological eras – including the Civil War, World War II, and its transition to a civilian industrial park – that are still visible in the Yard’s historic landscape.
This tour offers opportunities to take a closer look at the Yard’s most intriguing sites, including a dry dock that’s been used continuously for ship repair since 1851, several historic buildings that are being adaptively reused for modern industry, and development projects that will more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future. Along the way, we will use oral history clips and historical photographs from the site’s naval past, as well as stories of the people at the Yard today, to bring this place to life. While we use a bus to get from place to place, we do get off the bus at several locations throughout the Yard to take a closer look.
🏢 Sustainable Architecture & Industry Tour
Once America’s premier Naval shipyard, today the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a mission-driven industrial park and a hub of industry, technology, and craft. Explore the Navy Yard’s unique architecture and examine the many layers of history visible in the landscape, from Civil War-era machine shops to innovative LEED-Certified structures, and see how these buildings have been adapted for modern manufacturing. Learn about development projects currently underway at the Yard, which are projected to more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future, the greatest expansion of the Yard since World War II.
This tour showcases the role the Brooklyn Navy Yard plays in providing economic opportunities for thousands of New Yorkers, from small business owners to manufacturing workers to technology startups, and looks at the infrastructure that keeps the Yard – and all of New York City – running, including stormwater management, transportation, and energy. The tour covers most of the massive 300-acre campus, including visits to the still-active 1851 Dry Dock No. 1, the newly-renovated World War II-era Building 77, the sites of the Admiral’s Row and Dock 72 projects, and the LEED Platinum-certified Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard played a pivotal role in World War II, building battleships and aircraft carriers, repairing over 5,000 ships, and sending troops and supplies to fronts across the globe. Not only did the Yard construct the USS Arizona a generation before the war, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but it is also where the battleship Missouri was constructed, where the instrument of surrender ending the war was signed in 1945. Thanks to the efforts of its 70,000 workers, the Brooklyn Navy Yard became the world’s busiest shipyard, earning the nickname “The Can-Do Yard” for its ability to patch up wounded ships and put them back in action.
This tour examines the role of the New York City waterfront in the war effort, explores connections between the Yard and famous battles of World War II, and visits sites of significance that remain from this era, including the former ship assembly shops, the Yard’s headquarters at Building 77, and the landmark Dry Dock No. 1. Throughout the tour, we listen to clips of oral histories recorded with sailors and shipworkers who were at the Yard during the war, including from women working in industrial jobs, and from people of color, for whom the war presented both challenges and new opportunities. This tour aims to evoke a sense of what the Yard was like during the war – a place of tremendous energy, innovation, and achievement, but tempered by terrible loss.
Discover the natural world in the midst a thriving urban industrial park on this 2-hour tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where we will explore New York City’s waterways, terrestrial ecosystems and urban farms. The highlight of the tour is the stunning 65,000-square-foot Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, where we will learn how they produce thousands of pounds of vegetables annually and are a national leader in the development of rooftop and urban farming techniques. From the rooftop, we’ll also have amazing views of the Yard, including an extensive green rooftop and one of the largest rooftop solar installations in New York City.
Descending to the bank of the East River, we will visit an oyster restoration project led by students from the New York Harbor School and will discuss the improving health of the city’s waterways, and the challenges that remain. We will also explore planned and unplanned natural landscapes of the Yard, including the landscape architecture surrounding BLDG 92, identifying native and exotic plant species along the way. Finally, we will the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative‘s Naval Cemetery Landscape, a meadow designed to restore the natural habitat, provide a space for environmental education, and commemorate the thousands of sailors, marines, and others once interred at the site. This tour will reveal that the natural world truly is all around us, even in the heart of the city.
⚓ Explore the Exhibits at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92
BLDG 92 offers three floors of exhibits about the past, present, and future of the Yard. The galleries are open to the public Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm, and admission is always free. If you would like to incorporate a 1-hour guided tour of the exhibits into your visit to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, that can be arranged, subject to availability.
[tabs=”default”][tab title=”Length”]Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours are available for 1 hour, 1.5 hours, or 2 hours.
The tours are designed to be 2 hours in length, so only the full 2-hour tour will include all the sites and themes listed in the description. We are happy to discuss any modification to the tour in order to accommodate your desired itinerary.[/tab][tab title=”Rates”]All rates below include a knowledgeable and engaging guide from Turnstile Tours and a map of the site. Bus tours include a 32-passenger bus and driver provided by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and bicycle tours include a bicycle safety sweep in addition to the tour guide.
All tours require a minimum of 15 participants or equivalent payment.
2-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $30 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $27 per person
1.5-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $24 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $21.60 per person
1-hour Tour (by bus or bicycle):
- Standard Rate: $18 per person
- Non-profit & Educational Rate: $16 per person
1-Hour BLDG 92 Exhibit Tour at BLDG 92: Rates below include a knowledgeable and engaging guide from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 and an exhibit pamphlet.
- Standard Rate for all groups: $5 per person (minimum of 10 people)
Customized Itineraries and Tour Packages: Please contact us for customized requests and quotes.
Groups that provide their own bus transportation will receive a discount. Private buses must provide proof of commercial vehicle insurance in order to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
[/tab][tab title=”Transportation & Availability”]The Brooklyn Navy Yard covers 300 acres, so transportation by bus or bicycle is required to get around the site safely and efficiently. The Yard is a secure industrial park, and their is no public access except for Yard tenants, their guests, and tour participants accompanied by a guide.
Tours using BNYDC Bus:
All tours can be offered year-round using the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation’s 32-passenger bus for private group tours. The BNYDC bus is generally available during the following times (subject to availability):
- Saturday-Sunday 10:30am-1pm
- Monday-Tuesday 10:30am-3:30pm
- Wednesday-Friday 2:30-3:30pm
- These times apply during the academic year; more dates are available during summer months
Tours using Private Buses:
For groups of 33 or more people, or if the BNYDC bus is unavailable, Turnstile Tours can charter private buses seven days per week, subject to availability, but please note that pricing will differ based on charter rental fees. Groups may also provide their own bus transportation and will receive a discount on group rates. Private buses must provide proof of commercial vehicle insurance in order to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard and be accompanied by a tour guide.
Tours by bicycle:
All tours can be offered by bicycle only on Saturdays and Sundays during daylight hours. Groups must provide their own bicycles, and everyone must wear safety helmets in order to participate. Upon request, Turnstile Tours can arrange for bicycle rentals and safety gear with partner bicycle rental companies.[/tab][tab title=”Group Size”]Private tours require a minimum of 15 participants, or equivalent payment. Tours that utilize the Brooklyn Navy Yard bus are restricted to 32 participants. We can accommodate larger groups, including coach buses.[/tab][tab title=”Subject Areas”]Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours can be customized and adapted to focus on specific themes or areas of the Yard.
Past, Present & Future Tour:
- Industrial history of Brooklyn’s waterfront
- History of shipbuilding and technological advancements
- Labor history on Brooklyn’s waterfront
- Military history of New York City
- Placemaking
Sustainable Architecture & Industry / Urban Ecology Tours*
- LEED-certified building
- Landscape architecture
- Adaptive reuse of historic sites
- Current redevelopment projects
- Urban planning and Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront
- Models for socially- and environmentally-responsible business practices
- Industries, businesses, and manufacturers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard today
- Economic development, employment programs, and community engagement
- Marine and terrestrial ecosystems in an urban industrial setting
- * Participants on these tours are eligible to receive American Institute of Architects Continuing Education credits.
World War II Tour:
- Oral histories with former civilian and military personnel
- New York Harbor’s maritime industry and related infrastructure
- Labor history on Brooklyn’s waterfront
- Issues of race, class, and gender in the armed forces and wartime workforce
- Military history of New York City
[/tab][tab title=”Testimonials”]Below are some testimonials from organizers of academically-focused tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard:
“Andrew at Turnstile Tours catered an amazing custom experience for my fellow classmates and I. We are all third-year M. Arch graduate students who were looking for some insider tips and unpublished intel on one of the many buildings in the Navy Yard in preparation for a studio project dealing with the building’s re-imagination and re-development. Andrew spent the full hour focused on the building in question, providing context but really diving deep into the specifics – which is just what we asked him to do. He was friendly and knowledgable and very willing to spend time answering our questions as they popped up. I would definitely recommend a custom tour with Turnstile like this for any academic group looking for more in-depth expert info about the Navy Yard.”
– Whitney Shanks, Parsons New School for Design
“I will say this about our tour: it had a profound effect on our production. Our production of On the Town could have felt as fanciful and as fictional as a fairytale but it found its grounding and its urgency in the visceral connections to the reality of WWII during our tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We spoke about the tour and the exhibits in BLDG 92 all the time in rehearsal and I’m grateful that we were able to begin our work together on the show through this remarkable experience.”
– Virginia Anderson, Connecticut College
Select groups that have participated in specialized tours and programs:
- Parsons The New School for Design
- Pennsylvania State University School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- University of Pennsylvania Landscape Architecture Program
- Etsy
- German-American Chamber of Commerce
- St. John’s University
- Columbia University
- NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate
- New York City College of Technology
- New York Institute of Technology
- Colgate University Department of History
- CUNY School of Professional Studies
- CUNY Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies
[/tab][tab title=”Archival Research”]Additional archival resources may be available depending on your area of study and interest. The bulk of the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s archival collections consist of architectural drawings created when the Yard was a federal facility and mostly date to between the 1910s and 1960s. In most cases the BNY Archive does not have complete sets of drawings for each building or necessarily drawings that cover the lifespan of each building. Currently the archive is not able to host external researchers in person; however, we can provide digital copies of select drawings.
In making your request, please be as specific as possible regarding what you need, as requests such as “all drawings for building X” cannot be accommodated. Due to the high volume of requests, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation cannot guarantee an immediate response. While the primary mission of the archive is to support the day-to-day operations of BNYDC, archive staff endeavor to respond to all external inquiries within 10 business days. If several groups or students in one course are working on a project related to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, consolidated requests will ensure a more timely response.[/tab][tab title=”Lunch Packages”]For groups visiting the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we can arrange for catered lunch from nearby establishments in a private room, which can accommodate up to 60 guests.
Please contact us for information on menu options and pricing.[/tab][tab title=”Submit an Inquiry”]Click here to fill out an inquiry form, which will help us to better serve your needs. We are usually able to respond to your inquiry within 2 business days.[/tab][/tabs]
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD TOURS FOR K-12 SCHOOL & YOUTH GROUPS
School programs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard are offered by the Brooklyn Historical Society in partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92, and these tours are offered free of charge to New York City public schools. If you are interested in these programs, please click below:
>> Info on Brooklyn Historical Society Programs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard <<
If no Brooklyn Historical Society programs are available, or if these programs do not fit your specific needs, please read below for more information on our programs.
Turnstile Tours offers group tour packages and customized itineraries on behalf of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 that range in theme from World War II and maritime history to sustainable architecture and 21st-century manufacturing practices. The 1-hour, 1.5-hour, and 2-hour tours highlighted below explore the 300-acre (126-hectare) historic Yard that is today a city-owned industrial park home to more than 330 businesses. Any of these tour programs can be adapted based on your interests and goals for one visit or multiple visits. Packages are also available and can include guided or self-guided explorations of the exhibits at BLDG 92, pre-ordered lunches, and customized half-day or full-day itineraries of Brooklyn (contact us for a proposal and pricing information).
Tour Programs:
⚓ Past, Present & Future Tour
For 165 years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a leading naval shipyard, building some of America’s most famous fighting Naval ships, including the USS Maine, USS Arizona, and USS Missouri. Today the Yard is a city-owned industrial park and a center of manufacturing, technology, and craft, home to over 400 industrial and creative businesses, creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. This guided tour offers an overview of the vast 300-acre property and its history, from its founding in 1801, through major political and technological eras – including the Civil War, World War II, and its transition to a civilian industrial park – that are still visible in the Yard’s historic landscape.
This tour offers opportunities to take a closer look at the Yard’s most intriguing sites, including a dry dock that’s been used continuously for ship repair since 1851, several historic buildings that are being adaptively reused for modern industry, and development projects that will more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future. Along the way, we will use oral history clips and historical photographs from the site’s naval past, as well as stories of the people at the Yard today, to bring this place to life. While we use a bus to get from place to place, we do get off the bus at several locations throughout the Yard to take a closer look.
🔎 Yard Inspectors
Ideal for groups K-5th grade, this 1-hour, hands-on exploration acquaints students with this working waterfront. Following clues to navigate the yard, students find FDNY fireboats, see a dry dock and simulate how it’s used to repair ships, and earn badges at the end as “certified” Yard Inspectors.
🏢 Architecture & Infrastructure Tour
Once America’s premier Naval shipyard, today the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a mission-driven industrial park and a hub of industry, technology, and craft. Explore the Navy Yard’s unique architecture and examine the many layers of history visible in the landscape, from Civil War-era machine shops to innovative LEED-Certified structures, and see how these buildings have been adapted for modern manufacturing. Learn about development projects currently underway at the Yard, which are projected to more than double the Yard’s workforce in the near future, the greatest expansion of the Yard since World War II.
This tour showcases the role the Brooklyn Navy Yard plays in providing economic opportunities for thousands of New Yorkers, from small business owners to manufacturing workers to technology startups, and looks at the infrastructure that keeps the Yard – and all of New York City – running, including stormwater management, transportation, and energy. The tour covers most of the massive 300-acre campus, including visits to the still-active 1851 Dry Dock No. 1, the newly-renovated World War II-era Building 77, the sites of the Admiral’s Row and Dock 72 projects, and the LEED Platinum-certified Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92.
🚢 World War II Tour
The Brooklyn Navy Yard played a pivotal role in World War II, building battleships and aircraft carriers, repairing over 5,000 ships, and sending troops and supplies to fronts across the globe. Not only did the Yard construct the USS Arizona a generation before the war, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but it is also where the battleship Missouri was constructed, where the instrument of surrender ending the war was signed in 1945. Thanks to the efforts of its 70,000 workers, the Brooklyn Navy Yard became the world’s busiest shipyard, earning the nickname “The Can-Do Yard” for its ability to patch up wounded ships and put them back in action.
This tour examines the role of the New York City waterfront in the war effort, explores connections between the Yard and famous battles of World War II, and visits sites of significance that remain from this era, including the former ship assembly shops, the Yard’s headquarters at Building 77, and the landmark Dry Dock No. 1. Throughout the tour, we listen to clips of oral histories recorded with sailors and shipworkers who were at the Yard during the war, including from women working in industrial jobs, and from people of color, for whom the war presented both challenges and new opportunities. This tour aims to evoke a sense of what the Yard was like during the war – a place of tremendous energy, innovation, and achievement, but tempered by terrible loss.
🌻 Urban Ecology Tour
Discover the natural world in the midst a thriving urban industrial park on this 2-hour tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where we will explore New York City’s waterways, terrestrial ecosystems and urban farms. The highlight of the tour is the stunning 65,000-square-foot Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, where we will learn how they produce thousands of pounds of vegetables annually and are a national leader in the development of rooftop and urban farming techniques. From the rooftop, we’ll also have amazing views of the Yard, including an extensive green rooftop and one of the largest rooftop solar installations in New York City.
Descending to the bank of the East River, we will visit an oyster restoration project led by students from the New York Harbor School and will discuss the improving health of the city’s waterways, and the challenges that remain. We will also explore planned and unplanned natural landscapes of the Yard, including the landscape architecture surrounding BLDG 92, identifying native and exotic plant species along the way. Finally, we will the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative‘s Naval Cemetery Landscape, a meadow designed to restore the natural habitat, provide a space for environmental education, and commemorate the thousands of sailors, marines, and others once interred at the site. This tour will reveal that the natural world truly is all around us, even in the heart of the city.
⚓ Explore the Exhibits at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92
BLDG 92 offers three floors of exhibits about the past, present, and future of the Yard. The galleries are open to the public Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm, and admission is always free. If you would like to incorporate a 1-hour guided tour of the exhibits into your visit to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, that can be arranged, subject to availability.
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