Historic Brooklyn Navy Yard gets modern makeover

There is a fish wholesaler to fancy restaurants, a shroud-maker for Orthodox Jewish funerals and a factory producing coffee-sweetener packets.

At Ferra Designs, Inc., partners Robert Ferraroni and Jeff Kahn use a powerful water jet to cut steel for custom-designed furniture and sculpture. They found space at the Navy yard after rising rents forced a move from the nearby Williamsburg neighborhood.

"The Navy yard is a great resource for networking with other businesses," Kahn said. "I feel like we're in a community here. We do business together, and it reinforces the feeling that we are in the right place."