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Navy Yard, Brooklyn: The Can-Do Shipyard's Second Life

Navy Yard, New York

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A basin at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Inside a dry dock at the Navy Yard Building 92 at the Navy Yard

The name descends from Joris Jansen Rapelje, a Walloon from Belgium who bought roughly 335 acres around the bay in 1637; the water became known as Waal-boght, Walloon's Bay, which wore down into Wallabout. Federal authorities bought forty acres and the docks on them from the shipbuilder John Jackson for $40,000 in 1801, and the yard went into service in 1806 under its first commandant, Jonathan Thorn. The USS Ohio launched in 1820, the Brooklyn Naval Hospital opened in 1838, and Dry Dock 1 was completed in 1851. The USS Monitor was commissioned here in February 1862, and the battleship USS Maine launched in 1895. At its Second World War peak the yard employed 75,000 people and was nicknamed the Can-Do Shipyard. It closed formally on June 30, 1966, and New York City bought it in 1970.

  1. The 225.15-acre former shipyard, on the National Register since May 2014 and still a working industrial park.

  2. Turnstile Tours runs ticketed walking and bike tours of the Yard, departing from inside the grounds.

  3. The Building 77 food hall, open to visitors without a tour reservation.

  4. Bagels and lox, babka and challah at the appetizing shop's Market @ 77 counter.

  5. Naturally leavened breads from organic regional grains, weekdays only.

  6. Farmhouse-style beers brewed on site at Market @ 77.

  7. Neapolitan-style pizza, plus breakfast pastries and coffee.

  8. Wings, sliders and mac and cheese at the Market @ 77 counter.

  9. Austin-style breakfast tacos, taco bowls and guacamole from a Brooklyn salsa maker.

From the Monitor to the industrial park

The yard grew with every war it served. During the Civil War its workforce went from 3,700 to 6,200; it built fourteen large vessels and retrofitted 416 commercial ships for the Union blockade, and the USS Monitor was commissioned there in February 1862. In the First World War the payroll climbed from 6,000 to 18,000 within a year, and the yard turned out 49 submarine chasers over eighteen months.

The Second World War was its peak: 75,000 workers, the battleships North Carolina, Iowa and Missouri, two aircraft carriers, eight tank landing ships, 250 vessels outfitted and 5,000 repaired. By January 1945 women made up ten per cent of the workforce, 4,657 of them in skilled trades.

The end came quickly. Renamed the New York Naval Shipyard in November 1945, the yard launched its last ship, the USS Duluth, in August 1965 and closed on June 30, 1966 under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's base closures. New York City bought the site in 1970 for $22.5 million. Seatrain Shipbuilding became the largest tenant by 1973 with 2,700 employees and shut in January 1979; by 1978 thirty-eight tenants employed 5,500 people across 3.5 million square feet. It runs today as a mixed-use industrial and commercial complex under the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. The 225.15-acre site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 2014.

Getting there

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has no subway station. The Yard's own directions page names none within walking distance, and offers instead a free shuttle, weekdays only, connecting to the Dumbo station cluster on the A, C and F and to Atlantic Terminal, where the Long Island Rail Road meets the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center subway complex: the 2, 4, D, N, Q and R serve it at all times, the 3 at all times except late nights, the 5 and B on weekdays during the day, and the W at rush hours only.

Buses are the direct public route. The Yard's directions page lists the B67, B48, B57, B62 and B69 as stopping within or near it.

NYC Ferry's Astoria route calls at the Brooklyn Navy Yard landing at Dock 72, which sits inside the Yard itself.

What is open to the public

The Yard is a working industrial park, and its buildings are not generally open to unguided entry. Three things are.

Market @ 77, the food hall inside Building 77 at 141 Flushing Avenue, is open without a tour reservation and holds a run of Brooklyn vendors: Russ & Daughters, She Wolf Bakery, Transmitter Brewing, Pizza Yard, Rustik Tavern and Jalapa Jar among them. At Admiral's Row, Wegmans opened its first New York City store on October 27, 2019.

For the historic yard itself, Turnstile Tours runs ticketed public walking and bike tours from inside the Yard — an introductory 'Past, Present & Future' tour, an Architecture & Infrastructure tour, 'The Yard & WWII,' and Urban Ecology bike tours. Quarters A, the commandant's residence and a National Historic Landmark, and the city-landmarked Dry Dock 1 both still stand within the grounds.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to the Navy Yard?
Not by subway: the Yard's own directions page names no station within walking distance. It runs a free shuttle on weekdays connecting to the Dumbo station cluster on the A, C and F and to Atlantic Terminal, where the Long Island Rail Road meets the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center subway complex, served by the 2, 4, D, N, Q and R at all times, the 3 at all times except late nights, the 5 and B on weekdays during the day, and the W at rush hours only. Five bus routes — the B67, B48, B57, B62 and B69 — stop within or near the Yard, and NYC Ferry's Astoria route calls at the Brooklyn Navy Yard landing at Dock 72 inside the grounds.
Can the public go inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard?
Partly. The grounds are a working industrial park and individual buildings are not generally open to unguided entry. Market @ 77, the food hall in Building 77, is open without a tour reservation, and Turnstile Tours sells ticketed public walking and bike tours that depart from inside the Yard.
Where can I eat in the Navy Yard?
At Market @ 77 in Building 77, 141 Flushing Avenue. Its vendors include Russ & Daughters, She Wolf Bakery, Transmitter Brewing, Pizza Yard, Rustik Tavern and Jalapa Jar. Wegmans also operates a store at Admiral's Row, opened on October 27, 2019.
Where can I stay near the Navy Yard?
No hotel is recorded inside the Yard. The nearest verified option is the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, a 32-story tower on Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn — the neighborhood the Yard's weekday shuttle connects to at Atlantic Terminal.
What was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard?
The USS Ohio in 1820 and the battleship USS Maine in 1895; the USS Monitor was commissioned there in February 1862. In the Second World War the yard built the battleships North Carolina, Iowa and Missouri, two aircraft carriers and eight tank landing ships, outfitted 250 vessels and repaired 5,000. The last ship launched there was the USS Duluth, in August 1965.

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