Atop a roof overlooking Manhattan’s skyline at sundown on Oct. 25, more than 300 public officials and proud parents toured a first- of-its-kind aquaponics greenhouse. The occasion was the grand opening of a collaborative project between students at the Food and Finance High School and Cornell University Cooperative Extension’s New York City Programs (CUCE-NYC).

Philson A.A. Warner, founding director of CUCE-NYC Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Aquaponics Learning Lab, offered lively, personal tours of the newly opened greenhouse. The structure is used to grow lettuce and fish through a natural process that conserves energy and the environment.
Warner designed the 1,664-square-foot greenhouse, which is now part of the New York City Department of Education’s Park West Educational Campus. The project was financed through private donations, the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office.
“The youngsters learn to do more with the sciences,” Warner said of his teenage students, whom he called “Cornell colleagues.”

Eight computers monitor “the weather situation above us,” to help control indoor temperatures, moisture and ideal humidity for growing vegetables, Warner said. “This is what we call a green, green, green greenhouse,” he said, noting it produces “clean, safe, fresh foods. Nothing goes to waste.”
Solar panels help to power the greenhouse.

Heads of lettuce that can take up to 10 weeks to grow outdoors are cultivated in just three weeks at the school on West 50th Street. Considerable amounts of tasty tilapia are also harvested as part of the scientific project in the city’s only public culinary arts high school.
About 400 students are enrolled at Food and Finance High School.

The school’s curriculum includes paid internships at restaurants and other food service businesses. The opening of the greenhouse marked the latest expansion of ongoing learning lab programs in a long-standing partnership with Cornell University.