NYC looks to rezone neighborhoods south of Prospect Park for new housing
McDonald Avenue and Church Avenue in Kensington. Photo by Nick Gulotta on Flickr
The first rezoning proposal under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration will target Brooklyn neighborhoods south of Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery. As first reported by Gothamist, the Department of City Planning on Wednesday kicked off the community planning process for updating zoning rules on commercial stretches of Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue in Kensington and surrounding areas, to allow new housing to be built.
The neighborhood plan, dubbed “South of Prospect,” will target McDonald Avenue, roughly from Fort Hamilton Parkway to Avenue I and Coney Island Avenue, from Caton Avenue to Avenue I. These corridors currently have “outdated single-use zoning” that has limited new housing.
“Growing up in Kensington as the daughter of immigrants, I saw how neighborhoods like ours are built and sustained by working families, small businesses, and neighbors who look out for one another,” Council Member Shahana Hanif said in a statement.
“I also saw how rising costs and decades of disinvestment have made it harder for longtime residents to stay in the communities they helped build. I’m grateful to Mayor Mamdani and the DCP for advancing a neighborhood study spanning Kensington that centers community input and engagement from the very beginning.”
In a post on X, NYC Planning said the agency will work “with community members to update restrictive zoning that limits housing and drives up rent.” The plan will include income-restricted housing and neighborhood investments, according to the city.
NYC Planning Director Sideya Sherman told Gothamist the neighborhood plan will take into consideration the Interborough Express (IBX), a 14-mile light rail that will connect Brooklyn and Queens. The project, which entered environmental review last year, connects Bay Ridge to Jackson Heights, with stops in south Brooklyn neighborhoods like Borough Park, Kensington, and Midwood.
“There’s an opportunity to create potentially thousands of housing units for our city,” Sherman told Gothamist. “South of Prospect Park is a neighborhood that is transit-rich, and also potentially will intersect with the IBX, which is exciting.”
Residents can provide feedback and priorities for the South of Prospect plan at this online survey.
The city on Wednesday also announced plans to advance the White Plains Road rezoning in the north Bronx, which began last year under former Mayor Eric Adams. The plan focuses on White Plains Road from Adee Avenue to the border of the Bronx and Mount Vernon, which is an area with a range of transit options, including the 2 and 5 trains, Metro-North, and several buses.
“We know that White Plains Road needs more investment, but how we get there makes all the difference,” Council Member Eric Dinowitz said. “This community-driven process must deliver truly affordable housing, protect the small businesses that are on this corridor, and ensure that longtime residents benefit from future development. I will be focused on making sure this plan gets that balance right.”
A public “walkshop” will be held in June for residents to provide feedback on the White Plains Road neighborhood plan. A zoning concept map will be released later this year.
“New Yorkers are being pushed out of the neighborhoods they built because our city has spent decades refusing to build enough housing where people actually want and need to live,” said Mayor Mamdani.
“These plans are about changing that. Along major transit corridors in the Bronx and Brooklyn, we have an opportunity to build more homes, create permanently affordable housing, support small businesses and invest in public spaces and infrastructure that communities deserve. And we are going to do it with New Yorkers leading the process every step of the way.”
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