When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the Duggal Greenhouse during the coronavirus crisis, he was enlivened and encouraged by a wartime factory for personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturing, the almost-overnight result of a production shift by printing industry comrades Brooklyn Navy Yard neighbors, Duggal Visual Solutions and Bednark Studio. This is just an inspiring, beautiful effort, and we re going to make sure New Yorkers see a lot about this and understand how powerful this is, de Blasio said. You re going to see a surgical mask, gloves, surgical gowns, all sorts of things being made right here in New York City manufactured right here to protect our fellow New Yorkers.
Throughout the can-do Navy Yard, other businesses have risen to assist the city through its darkest days in their own unique ways. Brooklyn Roasting Company began donating and delivering coffee to hospitals across the city. Kings County Distillery switched from spirits to sanitizer. Indie shoe brand, Atoms, is producing non-medical face masks. Luxury handbag maker, Roy Campos, is now producing PPE as well. The New York Daily News reports: 
Roy Campos is seen working on pieces of a hospital overalls being manufactured by his Brooklyn Navy Yard based company Justin Paul and Campos and Stitch.(Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)/caption Campos, who designs and handcrafts intricate leather clutches and bags out of his company s Brooklyn Navy Yard location, has repurposed those same skills into making hospital gowns to protect essential workers battling coronavirus. For (the time it takes to make) one handbag, I can make 200 of these, Campos told the Daily News. I wasn t equipped for this, but now I am we re getting the hang of it. Read more, including Campos American Dream since emigrating to New York City from Peru in 1970; his relatable, emotional response to the pandemic; and how chipping in has helped him feel fulfilled.
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