Page 20 - The Indian EYE 051526

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MAY 15, 2026 | The Indian Eye 20

Mayor Mamdani, HPD Kick Off Public

Engagement Process for New Affordable Housing

and Community Services in Bedford-Stuyvesant

“Fulton-Howard West” marks first public site engagement launched under the Mamdani administration

OUR BUREAU
NEW YORK, NY

ayor Zohran Kwame
Mamdani, Department of
MHousing Preservation and
Development (HPD) Commissioner
Dina Levy and Department of Social
Services (DSS) Commissioner Erin
Dalton have announced the launch
of a public engagement process to
transform a City-owned site in Bed-
ford-Stuyvesant into a mixed-use
development with 100% affordable
housing and expanded social services.
The Fulton-Howard West site
includes the Bedford-Stuyvesant
Multi-Service Center (MSC) and
adjacent vacant City-owned land on
Fulton Street in Brooklyn. This spring
and summer, HPD and the Human
Resources Administration (HRA) will
lead a robust community engagement “Building affordable housing on part of this project which will not only within the completed development.
process that will inform a future Re- public land is a commonsense step to bring much-needed, affordable hous- The Fulton-Howard West en-
quest for Proposals to develop the site. deliver a more affordable city. With ing to this city-owned site, but ensure gagement process is the first public
The new project will deliver hun- the development of Fulton-Howard that the wide array of services available site engagement initiative launched
dreds of affordable homes, new com- West, we’ll ensure the project is do- at the MSC will continue uninterrupt- under the Mamdani administration
munity amenities and modernized ing double duty: not just delivering ed during the development process,” and builds on broader efforts to accel-
space for the organizations currently much-needed housing but also pro- said DSS First Deputy Commissioner erate affordable housing production
operating out of the Multi-Service viding important services from City Saratu Ghartey. “We will be work- on public land. On his first day in of-
Center, which is in significant disrepair. agencies and our partners. With the ing closely with all stakeholders at the fice, Mayor Mamdani signed Execu-
The development advances the LIFT Task Force and our work on MSC on a smooth transition and look tive Orders 4 and 5, establishing the
goals of the administration’s Land In- public sites across the city, we’ll con- forward to facilitating these critical ser- LIFT and Streamlining Procedures
ventory Fast Track (LIFT) executive tinue working to deliver even more vices within this new, high-quality site.” to Expedite Equitable Development
order, by using public lands to address vital, community-driven projects like The future development site in- (SPEED) task forces.
both the City’s housing shortage and this one,” said Leila Bozorg, Deputy cludes the Bedford-Stuyvesant MSC The LIFT Task Force is charged
longstanding community infrastruc- Mayor for Housing and Planning. at 1958 Fulton Street, including the with identifying City-owned sites suit-
ture needs. “This building will not only be former P.S. 28 school building and able for housing development, while
“New York City is facing a dire in Bed-Stuy, it will be for Bed-Stuy,” adjacent track and open space, along the SPEED Task Force is focused on
housing crisis, and we are using ev- said Dina Levy, HPD Commissioner. with neighboring vacant City-owned reducing delays in housing production
ery tool available to build the af- “Starting today, we’ll be in the neigh- land. The site was identified in the by reforming approval, financing and
fordable homes New Yorkers need. borhood at workshops and on the 2020 Bedford-Stuyvesant Housing lease-up processes.
Fulton-Howard West shows what’s streets, engaging the community on Plan as a potential location for future The administration has also
possible when we treat public land as what they want to see here. 100% per- affordable housing development. proposed the City’s first-ever Expe-
a public good. This project will help cent affordable housing on public land Organizations currently operating dited Land Use Review Procedure
longtime Bed-Stuy residents stay in with a dedicated community space at the MSC provide homelessness pre- (ELURP) to shorten approval time-
their neighborhood while creating designed for the residents that live vention services, education, arts and lines for affordable housing develop-
new space for the organizations and here—that is the investment Bed-Stuy social justice programming and men- ments and launched the Neighbor-
services that communities rely on ev- needs, and we are going to get it right.” torship programs. Those services will hood Builders Fast Track program to
ery day. And as this process moves “In order to effectively address remain in operation until construc- accelerate affordable housing devel-
forward, neighbors will help shape New York City’s housing crisis, we tion begins, and the City has commit- opment on City-owned land. Together
what gets built here, from the housing must use every resource at our dispos- ted to ensuring continuity of services those initiatives are expected to re-
to the public space to the services that al to develop more housing, and that throughout the development process. duce the predevelopment timeline for
will serve this community for decades starts with the land the city already con- The organizations will ultimately re- affordable housing projects by more
to come,” said Mayor Mamdani. trols. We are incredibly excited to be a locate into newly constructed space than two years.

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