Runway Green to Build Campus at Floyd Bennett Field

The nonprofit plans to develop a seven-acre educational center featuring a high school and urban farm in New York City.

Updated on Oct. 27, 2026 in Higher Education

Screen-print poster illustration of a garden bed and distant hangar silhouette, representing a new urban educational farm. — Runway Green will establish a new educational campus and three-acre urban farm at the historic Floyd Bennett Field in New York City. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Runway Green has finalized a 60-year lease with the National Park Service to create a specialized educational campus at Floyd Bennett Field. The facility will integrate a high school with green job training and a three-acre farm to provide hands-on environmental learning for New York City students.

Why it matters

The $60 million project aims to bridge the gap between classroom education and environmental careers by offering practical training. By partnering with organizations like The Campaign Against Hunger, the initiative addresses both academic growth and community food security.

The seven-acre campus project requires a total investment of $60 million to serve 50,000 New York City students. Runway Green has currently secured $9.3 million in public funding and is fundraising for the remaining $50 million.

The players

Runway Green

This is a nonprofit organization focused on developing environmental educational facilities and green job training.

National Park Service

This federal agency is responsible for managing the site at Floyd Bennett Field and approved the long-term lease.

The Campaign Against Hunger

This community organization serves 15,000 families per week and is partnering on the project to develop an urban farm.

The details

The development will feature a three-acre farm created in collaboration with The Campaign Against Hunger, an organization that currently supports 15,000 families weekly. This project effectively reuses a segment of the historic Floyd Bennett Field property for public educational use.

October 27, 2026: Nonprofit Runway Green signed a 60-year lease.
2027: The campus project is expected to break ground.

Culture Shift

This project mirrors the development of the Brooklyn Navy Yard's vocational training centers by transforming underutilized municipal land into a specialized hub for green-economy skills. It reflects a shift toward integrating career-based education directly into the public park infrastructure.

Local students will gain access to specialized green-sector training and a functional farm within the city. For residents, the development aims to repurpose public land to address both educational needs and food access in partnership with local hunger-relief programs.

The takeaway

The project demonstrates how nonprofit partnerships can leverage federal land for public benefit. Residents can look forward to new educational resources as the site transitions from its historic footprint to a modern vocational campus by 2027.