Launching a Global Climate Center on Governors Island

Following a more than two-year competitive procurement process led by the City of New York and the Trust for Governors Island, during spring 2023 our client Stony Brook University and a robust consortium of academic and corporate partners were selected to build the New York Climate Exchange ­– a first-of-its-kind, $700-million, 400,000-square-foot campus dedicated to climate solutions and creating green jobs. Stony Brook and its partners faced stiff competition from the likes of MIT, Northeastern University, and the City New York — and their winning strategy included not only highlighting the caliber of the institution’s climate expertise, which had been relatively low profile within NYC, but also a strong emphasis on workforce development as the climate economy grows, particularly by targeting and training communities of color who’ve long suffered disproportionately from the impacts of climate change. This major initiative fulfills the ambitious vision for the continued transformation of Governors Island into an innovative resource for the region, a process decades in the making.