Rendering of Stone House via Urban Architecture Initiatives

Construction began in 2015 for the Stone House at 91 Junius Street, a six-story, 161-unit building on the border of Brownsville and East New York. The supportive housing initiative comes via nonprofit Win, the largest provider of shelter for homeless families in New York City, who run two shelters just to the north of this site, according to CityRealty. The Stone House will reserve 96 units for homeless families and 64 for low-income households earning 50 or 60 percent of the area media income. The latter group has now become available through the city’s affordable housing lottery, with apartments ranging from $670/month studios to $1,224 three-bedrooms, all of which have access to the building’s offerings such as ground-floor retail, on-site laundry, a community room, outdoor playground, and on-site social services.

See the qualifications

Governor Cuomo announced a $1.4 billion initiative last week to bring resources like health care services and new jobs to Central Brooklyn. According to the governor, the plan, called “Vital Brooklyn,” will bring 7,600 jobs and more than 3,000 new affordable housing units to Brownsville, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. And while Cuomo’s administration found these neighborhoods to be some of the most disadvantaged in the state, residents worry about the possible gentrification and displacement effects (h/t NY Times).

Learn more about Vital Brooklyn here

As a subsection of Bed-Stuy—and with a location adjacent to rapidly gentrifying Bushwick—Ocean Hill has seen renewed interest from developers in the last few years. The approved rezoning of East New York in February has also given the neighborhood a big boost and brokers have started calling the area Brooklyn’s “last frontier.” As such, although the area median income remains very low ($35,000), home prices are quickly moving skyward and flipping is already in full effect. But not all is lost for those with lesser means. Starting today, qualifying NYC residents can apply for 27 newly constructed apartments at 1676 Broadway and 8 Rockaway Avenue. Apartments ranging from one- to three-bedrooms have been priced between $834 and $1,163 a month and are being offered to households earning between $30,000 and $63,000.

See more on if you qualify here

The affordable housing go-to’s at Dattner Architects are at it again, this time with a six-building complex in East New York known as Stanley Commons, which includes five four-story buildings and one seven-story building surrounded by a large courtyard. There will also be a 19,000-square-foot community facility operated by Good Shepherds Services, a social service and youth development organization, and Man Up Inc., a local agency focusing on neighborhood improvement.

The City Planning Commission recently approved a controversial rezoning of the neighborhood, part of de Blasio’s push to increase affordable housing here, so it makes sense that 191 units are now up for grabs through the city’s housing lottery for individuals earning 60 percent of the area media income. This ranges from a $788/month studio to $1,182/month three-bedrooms.

Find out if you qualify here

As part of his city-wide campaign, Mayor de Blasio has made a push for affordable housing in East New York, where the City Planning Commission recently approved a controversial rezoning. Local residents cited concerns that the changes would lead to displacement and gentrification in a neighborhood where the median income is $35,000 annually. But the city’s latest housing lottery offers a whopping 259 units for households earning between $18,275 (single persons) and $71,760 (eight people). The apartments, 50 percent of which are reserved for local residents, range from $494/month studios to $1,322/month four-bedrooms.

These units are within the third phase of Gateway Elton Street, a new multi-building affordable housing development with ground-floor retail and community facility space in the Spring Creek section of East New York. In total, it will offer 659 apartments and roughly 70,000 square feet of commercial space. Phase three, located at 1062 Elton Street and 475 Locke Street, was designed by Dattner Architects, who organized the two-building site around a central courtyard with parking and outdoor recreation areas.

More on the development here

Map of proposed rezoning via Department of City Planning

The New York City Planning Commission voted 12-1 in approval of Mayor de Blasio’s controversial rezoning plan for East New York, Gothamist reports. It’s the first of 15 low-income neighborhoods scheduled for rezoning as part of the Mayor’s affordable housing plan, which promises to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning this spring.

As part of what is known as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), rezoning plans for East New York’s Cypress Hills neighborhood and adjacent Ocean Hill in Bed-Stuy would have 7,000 new apartments built by 2030, 3,447 of which will be designated affordable, in addition to one million square feet of commercial space. Of those affordable units, 80 percent would be reserved for families (defined as a household of three, with any number of earners) making no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or $46,000; 27 percent would go to families making 40 percent of the AMI or $31,000.

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Recently on the Brian Lehrer radio show on WNYC, Mayor De Blasio addressed questions about the effects inclusionary development–i.e. giving developers the green light to build market rate housing if they set aside 25-30 percent of the units for low- and middle-income residents–has on the quality of life in lower-income neighborhoods. A growing concern among housing activists is that reliance on this kind of inclusionary zoning leads to gentrification that pushes out the lower income residents due to the 70-75 percent of market rate units bringing new, wealthy residents and new businesses that will cater to them.

Hear what the mayor has to say