Bedford-Union Armory Revitalization Project

Despite Brooklyn’s renaissance over the past decade, parts of central Brooklyn still suffer from chronic poverty, high unemployment, and lower educational attainment. The Brooklyn Borough President’s Office (BBPO) is currently conceptualizing a new initiative to provide comprehensive support services to central Brooklyn residents. The BBPO envisions the Bedford-Union Armory, located in central Brooklyn, as the home for this initiative, and tasked the Capstone team with identifying how the Armory can best serve the local community. The team began the community engagement process by holding an Armory Open House and Town Hall, allowing hundreds of residents to share ideas about potential services and programs. The team also interviewed dozens of stakeholders and researched comparable armory redevelopments and place-based revitalization efforts. The team’s final product is a public document containing recommendations on programming, operations, outreach, and improvements to the facility that together create a vision of what is possible at the Armory.