Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant are two Brooklyn neighborhoods that are underserved by supermarkets and whose residents tend to suffer from a number of health problems associated with poor diet. We propose a new food infrastructure for these neighborhoods that can eventually spread to the entire city:

I. Transportation

We propose that New York be completely free of the combustion engine and that private transportation will be dramatically reduced. Most people will travel by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, or an expanded network of public transportation, including a new gondola-based personal rapid transit system which will seat up to eight people and allow each car to choose a unique destination.

II. Farm-Streets

Some streets will therefore be able to be completely liberated from vehicular traffic and transformed into vast, linear urban farms for the community – with bicycles and pedestrians alongside. Concentrating primarily on North-South running streets, this new network of fresh produce will not provide all of the district’s caloric requirements, but will introduce people to the pleasures of organically-grown fresh fruit and vegetables.

III. Bodegas, Greenmarkets, and Hubs

Bodegas are currently the main source of food. We propose each bodega specialize in one type of organic specialty food: fish, meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy etc. Bodegas will be supplemented by local greenmarkets, featuring food from small scale regional farmers. A series of distribution hubs at strategic locations will provide a new, localized food distribution.

IV. Aquaponics

Aquaponics combines fish-farming tanks and greenhouse-grown plants. The fish waste fertilizes the plants and the plants are used to feed the fish and clean the water. We propose to create an entire underground aquaponics network, allowing the fish to swim between bodegas and greenmarkets while growing to full size. Locking-gates allow full-grown fish to be locally harvested.