BROOKLYN NAVY YARD — Gov. David A. Paterson Thursday announced the award of $7.8 million to five projects — two of them in Brooklyn — as part of the first round of awards through the Downstate Revitalization Fund.

The governor made the announcement at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which received $1 million to develop a Green Manufacturing Center. The facility, to be made up of three connected structures, will employ 300 full-time workers and will feature the largest solar-panel installation in New York state.

In addition to the Navy Yard, $800,000 is slated to go to the Brooklyn Brewery, which is undergoing an expansion at its facility in Williamsburg. The multi-phased $6.5 million project will convert 13,500 square feet of vacant distribution space into a beer fermentation facility, increasing brewing capacity in Brooklyn from 8,000 to 50,000 barrels per year. The project is expected to result in the retention of 27 jobs and the creation of 15 new jobs.

Paterson first announced the $35 million fund last May as an investment tool to help attract businesses, improve commerce and revitalize local economies. The fund is administered by Empire State Development (ESD) and available to projects in New York City, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The fund invests in projects that advance local development and small businesses; this includes making improvement to industrial parks and providing loans for purchase of equipment, real estate or other needs. Eligible applicants include municipalities, businesses, academic institutions and non-profits.

Empire State Development Chairman added, “The Downstate Revitalization Fund is a true win-win for everyone. These redevelopment projects are essential to the economic viability of our small businesses and communities Downstate and across New York.�

One of the other grants went to the “Walkway Over the Hudson� from Poughkeepsie to Highland. This project, which opened several weeks ago, is a converted railroad bridge that dates back to 1888. It is now the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge, sitting 212 feet above the Hudson River. Eagle managing editor Raanan Geberer was one of the first people to cross the bridge soon after it opened.

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