This report documents the findings of a pilot project to assist churches in Bedford-Stuyvesant to conduct energy audits and retrofits. The project, funded by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery,demonstrated that assisting congregations to upgrade their buildings for energy efficiency, will not...

This paper identifies opportunities for federal policy to support Small Urban Manufacturers (SUMs), and to do so within a thoughtful framework for urban development. The report presents an overview of America’s manufacturing today: decentralized networks of small, specialized firms, many...

This report documents the RenewableNY program managed by the New York Industrial Retential Network (NYIRN), a project of Pratt Center. RenewableNY provided grant funding and project management support for industrial facilities to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy measures,...

This report focuses on the economic activity and impact of New York’s Diamond District, an extraordinary block on 47^th Street between 5^th and 6^th Avenues, which employs 22,300 people, many of which are historically disadvantaged workers. The report...

This report, commissioned by the Low Income Investment Fund, provides evidence that energy efficiency retrofits of nonprofit facilities would increase and improve if financing, energy assessments, and assistance in implementation of retrofit measures were offered as a package. The report...

This report details a successful pilot project aimed at demonstrating the potential to meet New York City food processors’ demand for local ingredients grown in New York State- at both small and large scales.  Pratt Center surveyed food manufacturers in the five boroughs, revealing a...

The Green Agenda is a plan crafted by the people of Jackson Heights to address their ecological, economic, and social concerns. From November to March 2010, Pratt Center helped facilitate a community visioning process, bringing together over 400 Jackson Heights residents to imagine a greener...

Community Board 9 Manhattan 197-a Plan, completed in 2007, is the compilation of work begun by the Community Board in 1998, and later revised and supported by the Office of Manhattan Borough President, a Columbia University Planning Studio, the New York City Council, the Harlem Community...

This article, written by Pratt Center’s Joan Byron and Adam Friedman in MIT’s Innovations journal,  promotes a definition of “Advanced Manufacturing” that derives value from human as well as technological inputs. Cities that serve as hubs of both cultural...

This report summarizes a local food pilot project undertaken by Pratt Center for Community Development and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM).  Farm to Bakery sought to capitalize on the demand for quality locally-grown grains and flour by both New York City...