The newest mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, was sworn in this month on a platform focused on housing affordability. Yes, that just happened in a city with the nation’s highest apartment rents. Mamdani pledged swift action to protect tenants and accelerate affordable housing construction. Instead of starting from scratch, he inherits a significant pipeline of affordable housing projects already underway or nearing completion across all five boroughs.
Throughout 2025, developers were highly active from Brooklyn to the Bronx, filing permits, securing financing, managing construction, and ultimately receiving certificates of occupancy that signal buildings are ready to welcome residents.
“We will not wait to deliver action,” Mamdani said in an early statement. “We will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city.”
Early Moves Signal Housing-First Priorities
Housing policy dominated Mamdani’s first days in office. On his opening day, he signed executive orders creating two new task forces focused on accelerating housing production and reducing bureaucratic delays. He also appointed longtime housing advocate Cea Weaver to lead the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, signaling a strong tenant-protection posture. That appointment has drawn scrutiny over past social media posts, but it underscores Mamdani’s intention to center housing equity in his administration.
The new mayor also attempted to pause a bankruptcy court sale involving 5,200 rent-stabilized apartments citywide. The proposed $450 million acquisition by Summit Real Estate Holdings raised concerns among tenant advocates, and the city sought additional time to explore alternatives that could better safeguard residents. The effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but it illustrated Mamdani’s willingness to intervene directly in high-stakes housing transactions.
Despite that activity, affordability pressures remain intense. The average asking rent in New York City is hovering near a record $3,529 per unit, according to CoStar data, roughly double the national average. Against that backdrop, the scope and composition of the city’s affordable housing pipeline take on added significance.
Major Projects Shaping the Affordable Housing Landscape
While not a complete inventory, several large-scale developments illustrate the breadth of affordable housing already underway.
North Cove at 375 W. 207th Street, Manhattan
One of the most prominent recent completions is North Cove, a 30-story mixed-use tower in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood developed by Joy Construction and Maddd Equities. The project delivers 611 affordable apartments serving households with incomes ranging from 27% to 110% of the area median income (AMI). Notably, approximately 15% of the units are reserved for formerly homeless New Yorkers.
The building features 60,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 120 parking spaces, and resident amenities including bike storage, recreation rooms, laundry facilities, and outdoor picnic areas. Its location near the Harlem River provides access to open space while remaining connected to transit.
North Cove reflects a broader trend in the city: pairing affordable housing development with supportive services and set-asides for individuals transitioning out of homelessness. Similar efforts are underway in Brooklyn, including the Brownsville Arts Center and Apartments, a 230-unit project by Blue Sea Development and Gilbane Development that also dedicates units to formerly homeless residents.
Former Stewart Hotel redevelopment at 371 Seventh Avenue, Manhattan
In Midtown Manhattan, developers Slate Property and Breaking Ground are planning a major adaptive reuse project at 371 Seventh Avenue, the former site of the Stewart Hotel. The building is slated to become a 579-unit permanently affordable housing development, with income eligibility capped at 60% of AMI. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2026.
Plans call for significant interior reconfiguration, including merging former hotel rooms into functional apartments, replacing mechanical systems, and upgrading lighting. The building will feature full-time security, on-site maintenance, and dedicated office space for social services aimed at residents who were previously homeless.
This project is part of a growing wave of hotel and office-to-residential conversions across New York City. Breaking Ground, which specializes in transforming historic hotels into housing, has completed multiple similar projects. Permanently affordable housing, units that are not subject to market-rate increases after a set period, is becoming a more common feature of these conversions.
Concern Inwood at 1320 Inwood Avenue, Bronx
In the Bronx’s Highbridge neighborhood, nonprofit developer Concern for Independent Living is constructing a 210-unit affordable housing development known as Concern Inwood. Income limits will be capped at 60% of AMI, and completion is expected in 2026.
While unit-level details remain limited, the project will include a shared terrace with community garden plots and other green spaces. Concern for Independent Living has an extensive track record across New York State, with developments in Brooklyn, Long Island, and beyond, often focusing on long-term affordability and supportive housing models.
River Avenue II, Bronx
Community Access, another nonprofit developer with a strong focus on supportive housing, is advancing River Avenue II, a 292-unit mixed-use development in the Bronx’s Concourse neighborhood. Income eligibility will be capped at 80% of AMI, and the building is projected to open in 2029.
Though still in pre-development, plans include 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 50 underground parking spaces, and roughly 6,000 square feet of shared amenities such as a gym, library, laundry facilities, and garden areas. The project will also feature 24/7 front desk security. Like many of Community Access’s 20 developments citywide, River Avenue II will prioritize residents with histories of homelessness.
Sparrow Square at 681 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn
One of the largest projects in the pipeline is Sparrow Square, a 1,090-unit affordable housing development rising on the former Kingsboro Psychiatric Center site in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Developed by Breaking Ground and Douglaston Development, the project will cap income eligibility at 30% of AMI, targeting some of the city’s lowest-income households.
Sparrow Square will be built in three phases. Phase one, scheduled for completion in September 2028, includes two 10-story residential buildings with 242 apartments. Planned amenities range from private terraces and bicycle storage to a fitness center. The site will also include space for a Brooklyn Ballet studio, integrating cultural uses into the redevelopment.
The project is part of a broader state-led effort to revitalize central Brooklyn, alongside other major developments such as Utica Crescent, a 12-story, two-building affordable housing project in East Flatbush slated for completion in mid-2026.
A Defining Moment for Housing Policy
All these developments underscore the scale of affordable housing already in motion as Mamdani begins his term. They also highlight the complexity of the challenge ahead. While thousands of units are coming online, demand continues to outpace supply, and rents remain stubbornly high.
Mamdani now faces the task of aligning his campaign promises with a development pipeline shaped by prior administrations, state agencies, nonprofit builders, and private developers. How his administration accelerates approvals, protects tenants, and builds upon existing projects will help determine whether New York can meaningfully ease its housing crisis, or whether affordability pressures will continue to define life in the city.
