An example of the kind of urban industrial buildings that still line many of Brooklyn's neighborhood streets, and that manufacturer entrepreneurs are moving back into.

We cover a lot of different buildings and stories here at the National Trust, and it gives us a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever we can report back on a successful project. Today's example comes straight from the New York Times, with a shout-out to an old Brooklyn industrial building that now houses Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center.

Preservation magazine first covered Greenpoint in the March/April 2011 issue, which shared the story behind the company's efforts to keep industry in Brooklyn. Then yesterday we opened the Times to find a report on how the niche factory trend is continuing apace.

Turns out more and more manufacturing enterprises and small businesses are launching every day that need access to Manhattan’s many museums, magazines, advertising firms, and artists to thrive, and Brooklyn is the reported popular place to do it -- in large part because of its available building stock.

It’s great to see that Greenpoint continues to thrive and that the neighborhood of East Williamsburg is able to preserve its manufacturing identity. As Greenpoint's chief executive Brian T. Coleman said to the Times, "We think this is the future of urban manufacturing." Places from the past playing a functional role in the cities of the future? That's a vision we're behind 100%.

Julia Rocchi

Julia Rocchi is the managing editor for the National Trust. By day she wrangles content; by night (and weekends), she shops local, travels to story-rich places, and walks around looking up at buildings.

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