Sky Farm LIC (Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, New York City)
Long Island City, Queens, New York, United States · Operator: Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens
Overview
A roughly one-acre farm on the roof of the Standard Motor Building in Long Island City, Queens, run by the non-profit Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens, with children doing the growing and harvesting. Some 1,200 children took part in the 2025 season, producing over 4,500 pounds of food; the 2026 season opened on 23 April with targets of 1,500 children and 5,000 pounds. A $798,000 New York Power Authority investment added greenhouses, pathways, a covered wash-and-pack area with a freezer and an indoor classroom. Three-quarters of the harvest goes to the participating children and a quarter to local food banks.
Citizen participation
Local children work the farm through after-school and seasonal programmes — about 1,200 in the 2025 season, with 1,500 projected for 2026 if the weather holds. Alongside growing, it is set up as a place to learn about sustainability, healthy eating, climate change and climate justice.
Operating model
Run by a non-profit youth club, with facilities built through outside investment. For the 2026 season opening on 23 April, a $798,000 investment from the New York Power Authority added greenhouses, pathways, a covered wash-and-pack area with a freezer, and an indoor classroom. Produce is not sold: 75% goes to the children who worked the farm and 25% to local food banks and pantries.
Impact
A rooftop farm designed as a place for children and food education rather than as a revenue business. Because the harvest is not sold but given to the children who grew it and to neighbourhood pantries, the return on their labour reaches them directly. The funding route — an existing commercial rooftop, equipped through a public power authority's investment — is also a useful model for how a non-profit can sustain a rooftop farm.
Land tenure
Uses the roof of a commercial building; the form of the arrangement is not stated in the article.
Crops
- 野菜
Scale
スタンダード・モーター・ビル屋上の約1エーカー（37-18 Northern Blvd）
In the media（1）
Web articles and features that cover this case.
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