Brooklyn Navy Yard
Exposing the military-industrial connections hiding inside Brooklyn's historic shipyard. A public industrial park should not be a node in the arms supply chain.
🔍 Why Brooklyn Navy Yard matters
A public landlord should not lease to companies arming a genocide. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), a city-affiliated nonprofit, runs the 300-acre complex on behalf of the public: more than 500 businesses and over 11,000 workers (BNYDC), some tied to military supply chains. Because BNYDC controls the leases, which companies belong is a question the public can win.
The proof is recent: after more than a year of organizing, the BNYDC board declined in February 2026 to renew the lease of Easy Aerial, a drone manufacturer that contracts with the Israeli military and Elbit Systems, as Hyperallergic reported.
🏭 What is made at the Navy Yard
The Navy Yard is a production site, not a transit chokepoint: tenants build the hardware itself. Easy Aerial manufactured autonomous and tethered drones from a campus unit while listed publicly as a "fine art and photography" business, even as government records showed U.S. Air Force, Customs and Border Protection, and Israeli-military-linked contracts, per Hyperallergic.
The precedent: after more than a year of pickets, flyering, and board-meeting interventions by Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard, the BNYDC board declined on February 11, 2026 to renew Easy Aerial's lease, which was set to expire that April. Sources: Hyperallergic, Truthout.
🏢 Complicit companies at the Navy Yard
Every company below has been verified and confirmed by our research team. Each links to its full profile with role, location, evidence, and sources, pulled live from the audited database.
Drone Manufacturer
❓ Questions about this chokepoint
Why was Easy Aerial evicted from the Brooklyn Navy Yard?
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation board declined on February 11, 2026 to renew the lease of Easy Aerial, a drone manufacturer with Israeli military and Elbit Systems ties, a decision Hyperallergic reported as the Navy Yard evicting the drone maker after months of protests; the lease had been set to expire that April (Hyperallergic). The vote followed more than a year of pickets, flyering, and board-meeting interventions by Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard (Hyperallergic; Truthout), which had targeted the company since September 2024 (Truthout).
What did Easy Aerial make at the Brooklyn Navy Yard?
Easy Aerial manufactured autonomous and tethered drones from a Navy Yard unit while listed publicly as a "fine art and photography" business, even as government records showed U.S. Air Force, Customs and Border Protection, and Israeli-military-linked contracts (Hyperallergic). The company, headquartered in Brooklyn with offices in Gan HaShomron, Israel, has supplied drone software to Elbit Systems since at least 2022, and its tethered drones have been used for Israeli border monitoring, with deployment increasing after October 7, 2023 (Truthout).
Who runs the Brooklyn Navy Yard?
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), a city-affiliated nonprofit, manages the 300-acre industrial park on behalf of the public, with more than 500 businesses and over 11,000 workers on campus (BNYDC). Because BNYDC controls the leases, which companies belong there is a question the public can win: in February 2026 the board declined to renew the lease of drone maker Easy Aerial after more than a year of sustained organizing (Hyperallergic).
What is Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard?
Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard is the organizing campaign that targeted drone manufacturer Easy Aerial's tenancy at the Navy Yard beginning in September 2024 (Truthout), holding pickets, flyering, and board-meeting interventions for more than a year until the BNYDC board declined to renew the company's lease in February 2026 (Hyperallergic; Truthout). Break the Chain documents military-linked companies across the New York region in its audited database and backs the push for a transition to fully civilian industry at the Yard.
📢 What's Happening
Organizers are documenting the Navy Yard's tenants and pressing for a transition to fully civilian industry. On February 11, 2026, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation board declined to renew the lease of Easy Aerial, a drone manufacturer tied to the Israeli military and Elbit Systems, after more than a year of sustained organizing by Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard, as Hyperallergic reported. It is a model for what public pressure on a public landlord can achieve.
📚 Resources & Actions
Break the Chain Company Search
Break the ChainBrooklyn Navy Yard Evicts Drone Manufacturer After Months of Protests
HyperallergicAnti-Genocide Activists Target Israeli Drone Manufacturer in Brooklyn
TruthoutBreak the Chain Onboarding Form
Action Network✊ How to Get Involved
- Research the companies: use the Break the Chain company search to see which firms at the Navy Yard have defense ties.
- Get involved: fill out the Break the Chain onboarding form to join local organizing and actions.
- Spread the word: follow @breakthechain4pal and share the Navy Yard story with your networks.
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