Third Annual Kingsland Wildflowers Festival on Broadway Stages' Green Roof

Plans are underway for the 3rd annual Kingsland Wildflowers Festival on Saturday, September 22, from 12 noon to 4 pm.  Fun and educational, the festival is free and offers an opportunity to learn about the rooftop garden atop our sound stage at 520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, and other conservation initiatives underway in our community.  Additional activities include tours of the green roof, interactive activities for kids, live music, food, and amazing views of our beautiful city.  

ABOUT OUR GREEN ROOF
Three years ago Broadway Stages collaborated with the New York City Audubon, Alive Structures, and Newtown Creek Alliance to create the half acre green roof.  Broadway Stages donated the space and, along with initial funding from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, continue to provide financial support for the infrastructure and garden maintenance.  

The design of the garden, led by Marni Majorelle and Alive Structures, features native grasses and wildflowers designed to attract birds and other wildlife species. The NYC Audubon manages the project and oversees the wildlife monitoring through bat and bird microphones and swallow houses installed on the green roof, and is also responsible for managing the year round educational programs.  For more information about greening your rooftop visit  Alive Structures.    

For more information about the festival check out  NYC Audubon  or Kingsland Wildflowers.

Broadway Stages supports 35th anniversary of 94th Precinct's National Night Out in Greenpoint

For 35 years the NYPD's 94th Precinct has been hosting National Night Out in Greenpoint. Over the last seven years Broadway Stages has supported this community event.  This year Broadway Stages provided all of the entertainment, activities and food including Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, a rock-climbing wall, spin and sand art, games, and music.  “We believe that it is important to honor the hardworking and brave men and women who serve and protect us every day,” said Gina Argento, CEO of Broadway Stages, “especially our local precinct in Greenpoint.”  Argento said it’s a great feeling to watch residents engage with the men and women of the 94th Precinct to introduce themselves and thank them for their service.  For the full article by Mark Garzon with the Queens Ledger click here.

Thanks to a gift from Broadway Stages, beloved Park Deli in Greenpoint, Brooklyn stays in business

Broadway Stages, the New York City film and television production company with headquarters in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, paid $30,000 to cover a 110 percent rent increase faced by the owner of the Park Deli, Krystyna Godawa.  Offering a life line to keep the Park Deli in business, Broadway Stages also orders Krystyna's food for their local productions.  "She's a staple for the local community but more importantly for our TV and film industry who all eat her amazing food," said Warren Cohn representing Broadway Stages.   "Thank God for Broadway Stages who's like an angel for me," said Krystyna. To read the full article by N.J. Burkett with EYEWITNESS NEWS abc 7 please click here.

Orange Is the New Black films sixth season inside Broadway Stages' Arthur Kill Prison on Staten Island

Since acquiring the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island in 2017, Broadway Stages has opened the grounds to film crews like that of “Blindspot”, “Ocean’s 8” and "Orange is the New Black".  Filming at a former correctional facility where reminders of its former inhabitants are etched in the walls, brings authenticity and creates a sense of reality for the actors   Broadway Stages plans to invest $20 million into the renovation of the 67-acre, 400-cell prison, but much of the property will remain genuine.  Within the first five years Broadway Stages foresees the creation of more than 1,300 on-site jobs and 350 construction jobs to support improvements and expansion at the Staten Island location.  For the full article by Meghan Giannotta with amNY.comclick here.

FOX 5 tours Broadway Stages

Broadway Stages opened their doors to Fox 5 News, providing them a glimpse into the world of television and film production.  Dana Arschin, Fox 5 News reporter, saw first hand the attention to detail that goes into making television and movie sets feel so real.  Madam Secretary, The Blacklist, Blindspot, Billions, and Blue Bloods are just a few of the shows filmed at Broadway Stages.  With roots in Brooklyn, Queens and most recently in Staten Island, Broadway Stages has called NY home since 1983.  Distinguished by their commitment to relationship-driven client and community service, Broadway States is among New York's premier television and film production companies.  To view the segment and read the full article click here.  

Kingsland Wildflower Rooftop Garden

Kingsland Wildflowers green rooftop project, hosted by Broadway Stages, is in full bloom and open to the public.  To read the full article covered by Spectrum News NY1 click here.  

Broadway Stages works to save beloved local deli in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Broadway Stages has long been committed to local businesses, believing that it’s important to promote local vendors and to do whatever possible to keep our mom-and-pop shops around.   One of Greenpoint's beloved neighborhood establishments, the Park Deli run by Krystyna Godawa for the last 11 years, is among Broadway Stages' favorites for breakfast, lunch, catering or just a quick snack.  

Unfortunately the neighborhood deli may be forced to relocate due to a 100 percent rent increase.  However, long time patron Gina Argento, Co-owner and President of Broadway Stages, has been trying to help Krystyna keep her doors open for the Greenpoint community, offering to help pay half of the rent increase.  While the landlord denied the patron-sponsored financing plan, Gina is committed to find an alternative location for the Park Deli.  

"We’re working to find a new spot in Greenpoint  because we want her to remain a staple in the community," says Gina. 

To read the full article covered by the Brooklyn Paper click here

The film and tv industry encompasses an extensive list of jobs and specializations broken down by department functions. To help those interested in the industry to better gauge the depth and magnitude of the film and tv industry, Broadway Stages created a short and informational brochure differentiating the most common job opportunities for those interested. Professionals in the field can be arranged into three general departments including Production, Creative, and Camera. Broadway Stages has helped arranged the most common titles in the industry into one of the three general departments and a short description of each job. As you can see is a great number of jobs titles, while on on set, the general sweep of talents required for a singular film can easily reach into hundreds with some titles shared by more than one individual.
For the full Brochure, click the on the link below to see the full images:

Broadway Stages Brochure

Sustainability in Brooklyn Communities

Community sustainability allows businesses and independents to operate within their neighborhoods with a positive outcome that benefits the whole local ecosystem. Actions such as purchasing or servicing work locally helps boost local economic activity of the neighborhood. By doing so, we only stand to positively benefit our community and make Brooklyn even stronger!

For that reason, Broadway Stages has always understood the value of and kept true to the sustainability of local Brooklyn communities. Over the course of 30 years, we have sourced as many of our business essential from local Brooklyn shops, contractors, and services ranging from stationary to construction because we believe in the quality of our neighborhood craftsmanship and reliability of their services.

To thank the incredible relationship between ourselves and the Brooklyn Community, Broadway Stages arranges year round events that are free for all members of the community. It is common to see Broadway Stages sponsored events in the form of block parties, to celebrate the amazing community, or educational events, to foster creative and critical thinking in students. Our events can be seen throughout different Greenpoint all the way to Brighton Beach. We are proud members of the Brooklyn community and will not stop doing what we can for Brooklyn. As our saying goes we are "Made in Brooklyn."

Hydroponic Learning!

The popularity of hydroponic systems has exploded over the past few years, with more New Yorkers beginning their very own experiences in the revolutionary urban agricultural era. The demand for fresh and higher quality produce by urban dwellers has helped drive the innovation and technology in designing urban hydroponic systems. Hydroponic systems solve traditional obstacles of large scale agriculture by reimagining ways to utilize space, water, and nutrient for plants. One of the advantage of hydroponic farming is that it consumes up to 90% less water than traditional agricultural methods. The systems resembles connected channels in which nutrient rich water flow through and allow for plants to absorb.

Sharing the enthusiasm for the hydroponic movement is Gina Argento, President of Broadway Stages. When first introduced to the concept, Gina was ecstatic to learn how she could help the younger generation aware of the amazing innovations in healthier agriculture. Her search lead her to partner with Nysunworks, an organization that works with educational institutions to educate young scholars about hydroponic systems, solar energy, and fish farms. Since 2016, Gina Argento has worked with Nysunworks by sponsoring various events and donations to promote its educational programs. Working with Nysunworks has helped made it possible for dozens of school across the five boroughs to have hydroponic system learning labs. Under the name, Project Greenhouse, the hydroponic labs come fully equipped with modern tech and process for growing plants. Students are able to learn hands on with each one of them monitoring and nurturing their very own plant using the hydroponic system. The best part of the whole partnership as summed up by students that the whole process allows for exploring with their own hands! As long as the students are excited, Gina says she is excited to help continuing support Nysunworks and its green education!

Solar Power Prepared!

Summer will be in full swing within the month!

With that in mind, Broadway Stages would like to share how we are utilizing the natural solar output of the sun to power our sound stage operations. As a green leader in New York’s Film and TV soundstage companies, Broadway Stages has always been on the lookout to be a sustainable energy consumer in our environment. Following the installation of dozens of solar panels above our sound stages, our solar energy consumption has helped tremendously offset our electrical demands from traditional power grids.

During peak summer months, electrical energy output is at its highest with a majority of the solar energy converted for use by lighting, heat, and air conditioning. These energy demanding outputs would general place a great strain on our electric consumption, however, through the use of solar energy systems, Broadway Stages is partly self sustainable. In fact, the decreased draw on the power grid has an overall positive effect on the environment by reducing our reliance on carbon emitted energy resources. This only continues to benefit the environment and natural biomes.

Having made a portion of our electrical needs to solar energy, we encourage you to lead your community and do the same! The experience of producing your own power feels amazing. On one hand the energy is directly from the sun and on the other you are in control of your power production. It is a win-win situation and now is the perfect time to make the switch as summer approaches close by. So join us in being solar!

Earth Day 2018!

Welcome to Earth Day 2018!

It has been over 365 days of energy saving, water consciousness, and active environmental contributions by you and your community! For a quick recap lets talk about some of the things that has helped make this Earth Day incredible! This year the U.S has increased solar and wind generation projects, while simultaneously decreasing non-renewal energy projects such as coal. These projects produce positive benefits by reducing carbon emission released the air, over decreasing the greenhouse effect affect global temperature increases. The air will additionally be more cleared of dangerous chemical pollutants usually the byproduct of  coal plants known to pose dangerous environmental and health hazards.

And most importantly, global citizens are making it a trend to be green through social media! This year has come around to be the most successfully holistic and unified effort of global citizens in becoming environmentally conscious. From here on out, the progressive movement toward a global system of energy responsibility is one step closer to making non-renewal energy sources obsolete.

To encourage and continue the Earth Day celebration, Broadway Stages will share some more tips and tricks to help encourage a greener environment:

1. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle…. And Repair!
   Everyone knows the 3R’s Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle but not many people know its cousin Repair. Repairing goods instead of replacing them can significantly reduce your footprint and save you extra costs. For example, buying durable goods will last longer than poorly made or lower quality items which need to be replaced more often.
2. Start the Compost Station!
   A large percentage of most trash in U.S households are denoted to organic compounds and foods which can be composted. It is time to start considering the benefits of composting. Composting relieves your trashcan of most of its weight and size. Key benefits include replacing your trash bags less often and fertile soil for the basis of your gardening needs!
3. Keep the paper in the trees!
   With modern day technologies, paper, though still being produced, can easily be made obsolete by writing on tablets or other electronic alternatives. As deforestation continues destroy whole ecosystems, global citizens need to help protect our precious forests and trees. So next time you are thinking of writing down anything, make an effort to less no paper trails!