A prototype for what might be the urban future of sustainable farming ”“ on the rooftops of schools and commercial office buildings ”“ is afloat off a Manhattan pier on the Hudson River. Nudged by a tugboat, the ersatz truck farm ”“ whose backup biodiesel generator eats up waste vegetable oil from New York City restaurants ”“ will head this week or next from Riverside Park South to a mooring at Chelsea Piers.
It”™s the Science Barge, a two-year project of the nonprofit New York Sun Works to demonstrate that soil-short urban communities can grow large quantities of vegetables in relatively small rooftop spaces with a resourceful mix of greenhouse hydroponics, renewable energy systems such as solar photovoltaic panels and wind turbines and recycled waste building heat and rain water. Building-integrated agriculture, its advocates at New York Sun Works point out, reduces both the distance of pollution-producing transport from grower to consumer and the environmental impact of buildings, which in the United States account for 39 percent of total energy use, 12 percent of water consumption and 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
 “The barge size and shape really mimics a rooftop” in its size limitations and weight distribution requirements, said Sara Hanna, Sun Works education coordinator, on a recent tour of the basil-aromatic barge. Unlike a not easily accessible rooftop, “As far as demonstrating, a barge is a nice platform for us.” And it”™s “a great metaphor,” she said, for being both off the electrical grid and off the ground.
But the Science Barge won”™t be afloat and open for free tours in the city much longer. Come November, it will be moved to Erie Basin in Brooklyn”™s Red Hook. Lacking a permanent home, the floating farm will be dismantled by the staff of New York Sun Works, which plans to take on other sustainable-engineering projects
In Yonkers, the head of Groundwork Hudson Valley wants to save the Science Barge and give it a Hudson River home. Rick Magder, executive director of the nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on hands-on and often hands-in-the-garden-soil community improvement projects, said discussions with New York Sun Works began a year ago. “At this point, we are the only organization that can do this,” he said.
Part of a national network, Groundwork Hudson Valley recently changed its name from Groundwork Yonkers and plans to expand its work along the Hudson possibly as far north as Kingston. Last year, the group was awarded for its work with the city of Yonkers, the city”™s master developer, Struever Fidelco Cappelli L.L.C., and Scenic Hudson to “daylight” the Saw Mill River.
The Groundwork Hudson Valley board of directors is scheduled to vote this week on adopting the barge project. But to show adults and school groups what going green might look like on rooftops in the lower Hudson Valley, Groundwork must raise the financial green needed to keep the barge afloat.
“We”™re definitely looking for a major corporate sponsorship,” said Magder. “Realistically, bare-bones, its $250,000 a year” to operate the Science Barge. Depending on the number of educators employed and programs offered, the annual operating cost could be up to $350,000.
“We”™re pretty confident we could raise that and maintain that,” Magder said. But it could be more difficult to quickly raise the transition funding needed to maintain the barge from November to the start of the tour season in April. That funding could range from $30,000 to $50,000 at the minimum and ideally from $75,000 to $100,000, he said.
Magder said though Yonkers city officials have not yet officially committed money to the Science Barge project, “They”™re very interested and excited. They think it”™s another great amenity for the waterfront.” A potential waterfront neighbor of the tourist attraction, Domino Sugar Inc., as well as the New York Power Authority and Consolidated Edison Inc., also are “very interested” in supporting the project, he said. Magder also has contacted IBM Corp. and PepsiCo about possible sponsorship. “We”™re bullish on the future,” he said.
The Science Barge could be moored at or near the City Pier, though river depths and silt there could prevent that, Magder said. The city”™s JFK Marina Park is another possible location, he said. Â Â Â Â
If the Groundwork board decides not to adopt the Science Barge and give it a home, the urban-farming prototype could be moved to a site on land. Magder said Westchester County officials have expressed interest in supporting a land-based project in Yonkers.
The Science Barge could arrive in Yonkers and travel up the Hudson in time for the anniversary celebration of Henry Hudson”™s arrival and travel on the river in 1609. “For the quadricentennial, it could be something that brings attention to the issue of future sustainability and overall green energy,” Magder said.     Â