Runway Green Signs 60-Year Lease With National Park Service
Seven-acre campus at Floyd Bennett Field expected to serve up to 50,000 New York City public school students through hands-on learning, career exploration, and partnerships across education and industry
BROOKLYN, NY — Runway Green announced today that it has signed a 60-year lease with the National Park Service for a seven-acre campus at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, establishing a permanent home for a new education ecosystem that expands access to real-world learning for New York City students.
The long-term lease marks a major step toward transforming an underused portion of the historic airfield into a campus where students can learn through career-connected education, agriculture, environmental stewardship, and other real-world learning opportunities. Runway Green ultimately expects the campus and its programming, budgeted at $60 million, to reach as many as 50,000 New York City public school students.
The project’s first phase is expected to break ground next year on a three-acre urban farm in collaboration with The Campaign Against Hunger. Longer-term plans for the campus include a public high school, a welcome center, a ropes course, and campgrounds, alongside facilities and programs for career-connected learning in fields such as clean energy, sustainable agriculture, building decarbonization, and marine science.
Located within Gateway National Recreation Area, the Runway Green campus is designed as shared educational infrastructure bringing together schools, employers, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies to create learning experiences connected to the world beyond the classroom. The campus will draw on the distinctive natural, historic, and physical resources of Floyd Bennett Field while giving students access to spaces, expertise, and resources that individual schools and organizations could not provide on their own.
Years of planning and collaboration with the National Park Service, public agencies, educators, community organizations, funders, and civic leaders have brought Runway Green to this point. The lease gives the organization the long-term stability to invest in permanent infrastructure and build a network of organizations serving students from across the city.
The project has already attracted $9.3 million in public investment toward its $60 million budget. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso has committed $1 million, and the New York City Council has invested $3.3 million, championed by Council Member Mercedes Narcisse. Runway Green has also received $2 million in federal funding secured with the support of U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, while an additional $3 million in public funding has been designated for site improvements supporting the campus’ development and activation.
“I am proud to have secured federal funding for this important project, which will transform a portion of Floyd Bennett Field into a hub for hands-on education, environmental stewardship, and career pathways. Runway Green will equip New York City students with the skills and experiences they need to succeed while making one of Brooklyn’s great public assets more accessible, engaging, and meaningful to the communities it serves.”
“This lease turns a bold vision into a public commitment to New York City’s young people,” said Geoff Roehm, Founder and Executive Director of Runway Green. “At Floyd Bennett Field, we will build an educational ecosystem where schools, employers, nonprofits, colleges, and public agencies work together to create learning experiences no single institution could provide on its own. We are enormously grateful to the National Park Service and to the public partners and early supporters who helped make this possible.”
Runway Green has already begun piloting student experiences with New York City schools and partner organizations while planning for phased development of the permanent campus. The organization plans to expand programming over time to students from hundreds of schools across all five boroughs.
Runway Green is also in planning discussions with a growing network of prospective partners, including City University of New York, NYC Outward Bound Schools, Solar One, NY Sun Works, Billion Oyster Project, and The Urban Assembly.
“Floyd Bennett Field is an incredible public asset, and this investment with Runway Green is about making sure our young people can experience everything it has to offer,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “We are giving young Brooklynites the space and resources to discover what is possible for their futures by creating opportunities for hands-on learning and career exploration. Our young people deserve investments that match their potential, and I’m proud to help build something that will open doors for generations of Brooklynites to come.”
“I have been proud to champion the City Council’s investment in Runway Green because the young people and communities of Southeast Brooklyn deserve access to extraordinary educational opportunities close to home,” said Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, NYC District 46. “The signing of this 60-year lease ensures that the public funding we secured can help build something lasting at Floyd Bennett Field — an educational campus that will serve students from our community and across New York City for generations.”
“This lease is the culmination of years of vision and planning — and a clear commitment to what New York City’s young people deserve,” said Jonathan D. Harber, Chairman, Runway Green. “With a 60-year home at Floyd Bennett Field, Runway Green now has the certainty to serve generations of students with hands-on, nature-based learning connected directly to industry. It’s time to lift off.”
Additional Statements of Support
“Transformational public projects require both an ambitious vision and the long-term commitment to realize it. This 60-year lease gives Runway Green the foundation to create something truly significant at Floyd Bennett Field: a new kind of educational ecosystem serving young people and the city for generations.”
— Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the Trust for Governors Island
“Philanthropy is at its best when it helps visionary leaders turn promising ideas into durable public institutions. Runway Green’s 60-year lease provides the stability needed to leverage public investment, attract partners, and build something that can serve young people for generations. This is exactly the kind of long-term, catalytic opportunity that merits broad support.”
— Alex Calder, Executive Director, The Louis Calder Foundation
“Runway Green’s 60-year lease creates the foundation for an ambitious public-private partnership capable of bringing together civic leadership, philanthropy, employers, and education partners around a shared commitment to New York City’s young people. It is a powerful example of how long-term vision, disciplined execution, and cross-sector collaboration can unlock the potential of an extraordinary public asset.”
— Tom Franco, Partner Emeritus, CD&R
“Schools cannot — and should not — be expected to provide every opportunity young people need on their own. Runway Green will create shared infrastructure that gives schools access to extraordinary partners, places, and experiences that would otherwise be difficult to reach. Its 60-year lease at Floyd Bennett Field is a significant step toward building a more connected and equitable educational ecosystem for New York City.”
— David Adams, CEO, The Urban Assembly
“Runway Green is creating more than a campus. It is building the connective infrastructure that allows schools, employers, community organizations, higher education, and public agencies to work together around the needs and aspirations of young people. The 60-year lease at Floyd Bennett Field gives this emerging ecosystem a permanent home and creates the conditions for an entirely new model of learning to take root.”
— Kim Smith, CEO, LearnerStudio
“The most powerful learning environments are not simply buildings; they are places that invite exploration, discovery, collaboration, and a deeper relationship with the natural world. At Floyd Bennett Field, Runway Green has the opportunity to create a campus rooted in the extraordinary character of the site and designed around how young people actually learn.”
— Alexis Landes, Managing Principal, SCAPE Landscape Architecture
“Runway Green embodies a central idea of learner-centered education: meaningful learning does not have to be confined to a classroom or a single institution. By bringing together young people, educators, employers, community organizations, higher education, and public resources, Runway Green is building an ecosystem in which the whole city can become part of the learning experience. Its 60-year lease at Floyd Bennett Field gives that vision an extraordinary place to grow.”
— Demi Edwards, CEO, Education Reimagined
About Runway Green
Runway Green is creating a new model for real-world learning at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. From a seven-acre campus within Gateway National Recreation Area, Runway Green brings together schools, employers, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies to give New York City students access to hands-on learning, career exploration, and experiences connected to the natural, civic, and economic life of the city. By creating shared spaces and infrastructure that no single school or organization could provide on its own, Runway Green is building an education ecosystem designed to serve students from across all five boroughs.