In case you didn’t know, Staten Island is actually a pretty green place. In fact, New York’s least densely-populated borough is set to build the city’s first green police precinct. As reported last month by greenbuildingsNYC:

There is presently scant information available about the 47,000-square-foot, Rafael Vinoly-designed project, which will be the first LEED Silver police precinct in the city. The cantilevered structure extends linearly out from the site’s irregular footprint, connecting the public both to the natural landscape behind the precinct and, symbolically, to the NYPD housed within.

In October of 2005, Mayor Bloomberg signed Local Law 86, which requires New York City Department of Design and Construction projects to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating of Certified or Silver.

In addition to the LEED-certified police precinct, Staten Island will also develop a LEED for Neighborhood Development (”LEED-ND”) Pilot Project at the former Navy homeport site in Stapleton, along with a LEED-certified expansion of the Staten Island Museum.

For more information about green buildings in the Big Apple, visit e² online. There you can watch a program about how engineers are “greening” Manhattan’s industrial skyline.

Always wanted to explore Staten Island but didn’t know where to begin? Take A WALK AROUND STATEN ISLAND with David Hartman and Barry Lewis.