A slate of new housing developments planned for Coney Island will help ease the area's housing affordability crisis, city officials predict. Some residents, however, worry the new construction will worsen traffic and flooding.
The developments will ultimately comprise 1,100 homes, including more than 720 affordable and supportive units, designed for homeless New Yorkers and other vulnerable populations, according to City Hall. Officials unveiled the development just as early voters were heading to the polls ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
“These homes will make sure that Coney Island is not only a great place for families to spend time together but also a great place to live as well,” Mayor Eric Adams said. He added that his administration is setting “affordable housing records, year after year.”
But some local residents said they support additional housing but are concerned about spillover effects, specifically the potential for increased traffic on Coney Island.
“Our peninsula is only three streets wide,” said Kouichi Shirayanagi, one of those residents. “If you bring too much development to the area, you could disrupt traffic.”
Angela Kravtchenko, an architect and vice chair of the land use committee for Brooklyn Community Board 13, said the additional traffic posed concerns for locals and tourists alike.
“ People say, ‘Don't get a heart attack on Fourth of July because it'll take two hours for ambulance to come to your house,’” she said.
The Adams administration said that in addition to government-funded housing construction, its “City of Yes” land-use reforms would help contribute to the construction of thousands of additional units in the area over the coming decade.
That includes near subway stations and above businesses along Mermaid Avenue and Coney Island Avenue, where prohibitions against housing have been lifted.
A spokesperson for the mayor said ground would be broken on two publicly subsidized housing projects this year.
These include Coney Island Phase III, a 420-unit development located at 1709 Surf Ave., where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment would be approximately $1,800 a month for those earning 61% of the area median income, with some units designated for residents earning 30% of the median and as high as 80% of the median. The area median income for a family of three in the city is $145,800.
Another project, the Coney Landing at 2952 West 28th St., would include 108 units of supportive housing, available to tenants earning 30% of the median, and an additional 62 units for tenants earning 60% of the median or below.
A third development on a stretch of Surf Avenue between West 21st and West 22nd streets will total more than 500 units, of which 25% will be affordable. A developer will be named later this summer, according to a mayoral spokesperson. Pricing for these units and those at the Coney Landing were not immediately available.
Jeff Nemetsky, the CEO of Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, a nonprofit that works with homeless New Yorkers, said the proposed developers represent “a great step towards adding to the affordable housing stock in Brooklyn,” particularly when the city has a 1.4% vacancy rate. The nonprofit is not associated with the development plans.
“These projects, once completed, will offer a wide range of affordable and attractive homes, helping low-income and working people remain in the community, while promoting healing and independence for those who had been unhoused,” Nemetsky said in a statement. The development also comes as developers aim to bring a massive casino and entertainment complex to the area. That initiative is still in the approval process.
The Adams administration said the housing projects were part of “back-to-back record-breaking calendar years” in terms of affordable housing generation. In February, the administration announced that it had broken city records it had set last year, including the creation of housing for seniors and formerly homeless New Yorkers.
City officials said the Coney Island area had been pumped with more than $750 million in public investment since a rezoning in 2009, leading to the creation of 3,400 new homes as well as streets and new sewers. The new developments would include a $42 million renovation of the Abe Stark Sports Center.
Kravtchenko said she is also concerned about the environmental impact of new construction. In the years since the rezoning researchers at Hofstra University determined it is significantly more susceptible to flooding, due to climate change.
“ We have a sewer overflow,” Kravtchenko said. “There is nowhere for water to run off, especially in the high tide. That’s a disaster.”
Despite the concerns, Shirayanagi said the area needed more affordable housing. He said many residents of his building — whom he described as primarily "middle-class" — had moved out in recent years.
“ What I've experienced is a lot of people in my building leave New York City entirely,” he said. “ They go to New Jersey. They go somewhere else.”
