Source: Commercial Observer, New York YIMBY

Date Published: 09/25/25

Link: Adams Administration Announces Two New Projects in Housing Push, City Announces Plan To Redevelop New Utrecht Library In Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has launched the “Affordable Fall” initiative, a series of announcements aimed at increasing housing affordability, by unveiling plans to redevelop two city-owned sites into roughly 1,700 new homes. The properties include 390 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, currently an industrial building slated for redevelopment into 900 units, and 1880 First Avenue in Harlem, a parking lot that will be converted into 800 units. These projects are part of the administration’s broader pledge to create 9,750 new homes across 11 city-owned sites through the City Housing Activation Task Force (CHAT). The task force was established under Executive Order 43, which requires all city agencies to identify underutilized land within their portfolios for potential housing development. Additional CHAT projects include the “Living Library” initiative, which integrates housing and public library space at sites such as the Grand Concourse Library in the Bronx, the New Utrecht Library in Brooklyn, and the Bloomingdale Library in Manhattan. “Where past administrations saw vacant lots and old office buildings, our administration saw housing,” said Mayor Adams. “That’s why we issued a historic executive order requiring every agency to look for places where we could build homes and advanced nearly 10,000 new homes on city sites over the past year alone. We have been clear that the only way out of our housing crisis is to build more housing, and that is exactly what we are doing.” The Affordable Fall announcements build on the mayor’s broader “City of Yes” vision, a plan to modernize citywide zoning to support small businesses, promote sustainability, and create new housing in key neighborhoods, including Midtown South, the Bronx Metro-North Station area, Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, and Jamaica and Long Island City in Queens.