On a brisk Friday morning, the windswept runways of Floyd Bennett Field were less a relic of aviation history and more a proving ground for the next generation of New Yorkers. Students from nearby schools clustered around raised garden beds and solar panels, guided by instructors from Runway Green—the nonprofit now breathing new life into the city’s first municipal airport.
After years of behind-the-scenes planning, Runway Green has begun transforming a swath of the sprawling field into an open-air laboratory for urban sustainability. The site, tucked at the southeastern edge of Brooklyn, is now home to outdoor classrooms, composting stations, and job training modules designed to introduce city kids to careers in green technology and environmental science.
Geoff Roehm, executive director of Runway Green, walked a group of sixth graders past rows of pollinator plants. “This is about more than just getting out of the classroom,” he said. “It’s about showing kids that they can shape the city’s future, one project at a time.”
The initiative comes at a moment when New York’s public schools are searching for ways to make climate education tangible. This autumn, Runway Green’s programs are already drawing teachers and principals from districts across Brooklyn and Queens, keen to supplement textbooks with hands-on lessons in everything from renewable energy to urban farming.
By twilight, as the city’s skyline glimmers to the west, the former airfield echoes with the sound of children’s voices and the whir of drones—part of a new course in environmental monitoring. For the thousands of students expected to pass through Floyd Bennett Field this season, Runway Green’s experiment is more than a novel field trip. It’s a glimpse of what education in New York City could look like when the city itself becomes the classroom.
Leave a Comment