New Brownsville community center has green roofs and large-scale public artwork
Images courtesy of NYC Mayor’s Office
A new $128 million community center in Brownsville has been completed two years ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Unveiled Monday at 444 Thomas S. Boyland Street, the new Brownsville Multi-Service Center is a four-story, all-electric facility with 10 office spaces, flexible conference rooms, a community garden, green roofs, and other spaces designed to serve community-based organizations and Brooklyn Community Board 16. Adorning the building is “I Am Protected,” a four-part, large-scale public art installation by East New York-native artist Jazmine Hayes.
Designed by Marvel, the center spans 60,000 square feet and includes ample office space, three flexible conference rooms that can be combined into a large meeting center, and a commercial kitchen.
Sustainability was a central focus of the project, with roughly 11,000 tons of material removed during demolition, 85 percent of which was diverted to recycling facilities. Expected to meet or exceed LEED Gold certification, the center features green roofs, solar panels across three floors, and large windows that maximize natural light.
Outside, a 1,600-square-foot community garden offers a place for gathering and growth while also featuring one part of Hayes’ installation. The piece, “In my mother’s garden,” depicts a person planting a seed as a deity pours water onto the land. Behind the figures, a map of patterned designs depicts an aerial view of NYCHA’s Brownsville Houses.
The next part of the installation, “I am divinely guided,” features a suspended spiral made of 44 cowry shells. Historically used as currency across Black and Brown diasporas, the shells are rendered in resin, with 111 incorporating upcycled materials and practices that further the facility’s commitment to sustainability while connecting the artwork to water and environmental justice.
“Like the seeds in my cornrows,” the next part of the installation, draws on the history of storytelling and braid maps. It features braid-pattern motifs designed by Brownsville youth, layered over panels that replicate the mapping used in the community garden.
The final part, “I shall grow tall to the skies,” is a massive mural of a Moko Jumbie, a stilt walker rooted in West African and Caribbean traditions and regarded as a protector.
“There are many themes in each work that honors the history, the now and the tomorrow of Brownsville, Brooklyn and communities alike,” Hayes said. “With each design at an entry point across the multi-service center, my intent is that every visitor and youth of the Brownsville community is met with an affirmation of curiosity, care and imagination.”
“May this space be a resourceful and united place of activity and programming for the children, families and people to come,” she added. “I am truly grateful to have been a part of this phenomenal accomplishment and team.”
The artwork was commissioned through the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art program, which follows a 1982 law requiring one percent of the budget for eligible city-funded construction projects to be allocated to public artwork.
By using a design-build method for project delivery, the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), which managed the project for the Department of Social Services, reduced construction time by at least two years and saved the city $20 million.
Marvel was joined by Gilbane Building Company on the design-build team.
The center will be operated by the Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs and host a range of organizations serving Brownsville, including Community Board 16.
“City government should deliver beautiful, sustainable public buildings that serve working people and the communities they call home,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
“And we delivered this one two years ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Brownsville deserves investment that is built with care, and that’s exactly what this center represents,” he added.
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