Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Greyston bakery Lin-designed building means more do-good goodies By Jim Fitzgerald YONKERS, N.Y. - The Greyston Bakery, which was founded by a Zen master, hires the homeless and makes brownies for Ben and Jerry[base ']s ice cream, cut the ribbon Friday outside a new bakery building designed by Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The $9 million, aluminum-clad building on a once-contaminated site in southwest Yonkers is Lin[base ']s first industrial design. In a brief speech at the opening ceremony, she said the building [base "]is about food, water and light.[per thou] She used paint inside in shades of oatmeal, wheat, butter and coffee. She opened the building to light with huge skylights and sheets of clear plastic between floors. And she honored the Buddhism of Greyston founder Bernard Glassman, she said, by featuring water - in communal sinks for the bakery workers, in a still-unfinished outdoor fountain and in the views of the Hudson River from the roof. The baking machinery - including two U-shaped assembly lines, a 40-foot tunnel oven and a spiraling cooling rack - were still being tested Friday. Officials were not sure when the production will actually move from the current bakery, a cramped former lasagna factory around the corner. The move will triple the bakery[base ']s capacity and increase the number of workers, now at 60, most of whom are hired almost literally off the street. Federal, county and local officials who spoke at the ceremony praised the Greyston Foundation for its work not only at the bakery but in child care, housing and health care. Glassman said the new bakery building was [base "]the required next step so that we can create more jobs. I think it[base ']s beautiful.[per thou] Yves Couette, chief executive officer of Ben and Jerry[base ']s, the socially conscious ice cream company, said Greyston[base ']s unique structure made it [base "]a risk well worth taking[per thou] when Ben and Jerry[base ']s was looking for a brownie supplier in 1987. Greyston[base ']s expansion, he said, was [base "]near and dear to our hearts.[per thou] The ice cream company is Greyston[base ']s biggest customer, buying 2 million pounds of brownies a year. But Greyston also makes gourmet cakes sold in the best stores and restaurants in New York. The new building will include a retail outlet. After the ceremony, some Greyston delicacies were offered to the crowd of 300. After Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano excused himself, saying he was on the Atkins diet, Yonkers City Council President Vincenza Restiano said she was dieting too, but had saved her Weight Watchers [base "]points[per thou] so she could indulge in Greyston goodies. Brought to you by Peacemaker Circle International. 2:00:48 PM

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