HDC is pleased to share the summary report from our 2026 annual conference, Making It In New York: The Preservation of Manufacturing. The conference featured three panel discussions examining the history, current state, and future of urban industry in New York City. Programming also included walking tours exploring the city’s industrial heritage and active manufacturing landscapes, including the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Garment District, as well as a screening of Made in Brooklyn (1994).
The conference showed that manufacturing in the city is not obsolete. The sector continues to provide important economic, cultural, and workforce functions, particularly for immigrant and working-class communities. At the same time, it faces mounting challenges, including real estate pressure, policy fragmentation, limited citywide advocacy, weak workforce pipelines, and a lack of political prioritization.
Despite these challenges, demand for industrial space remains strong, emerging sectors are growing, and successful models—particularly nonprofit-led and cooperative approaches—offer paths forward. The conference also demonstrated that preservationists have an important role to play. Historic industrial buildings remain highly functional spaces for production, while manufacturing itself contributes to the cultural identity, economic diversity, and historic character of neighborhoods across the city.
Preservation tools—including historic tax credits, adaptive reuse, industrial heritage documentation, public education, advocacy, and community planning—can help retain the physical spaces and cultural ecosystems that support manufacturing. The report summarizes the conference discussions and offers recommendations for how preservationists can work alongside manufacturers, planners, elected officials, and community organizations to support the continued presence of making and production in New York City.