Take the train to Yonkers and walk five minutes down to the waterfront. There is a 115 foot barge tied up in the Hudson. It has a greenhouse on it, a row of little wind turbines spinning, and tomatoes growing.
It is free. Most people who live here have never been on it. And it shuts down for the winter at the end of October, so if you are going to go, this is the stretch to do it.
What It Actually Is
The Science Barge is run by Groundwork Hudson Valley and has been permanently docked in downtown Yonkers since 2008. They call it three things at once. A living classroom, a community space, an urban farm. It is genuinely all three.
Off The Grid, Completely
This is the part that gets people. The barge takes nothing from shore. No power line. No water hookup.
It runs entirely on renewable energy generated on board, from off grid solar panels and a bank of small wind turbines. Stand on the pier and you can watch them turning against the Manhattan skyline.
The Crops Drink The River
The growing systems are hydroponic and aquaponic, which means no soil. The water comes out of the Hudson and gets filtered on site before it ever reaches a plant. No pesticides. No runoff going back into the river.
And the food does not get sold. Every year the vegetables and herbs grown on the barge are donated within the community.
Going
The Science Barge is open to the public every weekend from June through October. Admission is free. Noon to five, with the last tour starting at 4:45.
Sustainability educators are on board to walk you through it. This is not a look at it from the pier situation. You actually go on.
During the week they run programs for school and community groups, and there are virtual and in classroom options in the off season.
It is an easy five minute walk from the Yonkers Metro-North station. Which means this is a completely reasonable thing to do on a Saturday afternoon with no car and no money.
After October it closes until June.
Photos: Salim Virji, ajay suresh, HamTech87 and Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons.
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