Mamdani Targets Central Brooklyn For First Neighborhood Rezoning

A neighborhood home to heavy concentrations of immigrants from predominantly Muslim South Asian countries is the first to be targeted for a new housing plan by the city's first Muslim and South Asian mayor.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration is kicking off a neighborhood rezoning process to allow new apartment buildings along Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, it announced Wednesday.

The corridors, which include areas known as Little Bangladesh and Little Pakistan, are home to a series of single-story, car-oriented businesses. Downzoning efforts for nearby Park Slope and Windsor Terrace reached this part of the city in the 1990s, reducing future development.

The administration also announced it would advance planning efforts for White Plains Road in the North Bronx, which were initiated last year under then-Mayor Eric Adams.

“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,” Mamdani said in a statement. “These plans are about changing that.”

While no formal proposal for future zoning was revealed with the announcement, the city wants to spur the development of housing, including affordable units, as well as commercial spaces and public realm improvements.

The Brooklyn neighborhood plan is the first by the city to take into account the planned Interborough Express light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens, which is in the design and environmental review phase. Four subway lines serve the area and connect it to Manhattan, but little new development has happened in recent decades.

“As we prepare for the future Interborough Express and strengthen transit-connected corridors, we have a responsibility to build communities that are more accessible, affordable, and equitable,” Council Member Rita Joseph, who represents part of the affected area, said in a statement.

The city opened a portal for feedback and plans on releasing a zoning concept map next year.

The White Plains Road rezoning process is farther along, and the administration expects to release a conceptual plan later this year. Taller apartment buildings will likely be allowed in a stretch of road that runs from Adee Avenue in Allerton to the city's northern border with Mount Vernon.

“We know that White Plains Road needs more investment, but how we get there makes all the difference. 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,” Council Member Eric Dinowitz said in a statement.

The rezonings are part of Mamdani's goal of adding 200,000 new housing units to alleviate the city's housing crisis, which has only intensified during his first five months in office. The average one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn rented for $4,219 a month in April, up 8% over the past year, according to Corcoran.

They also show that Mamdani, despite forcefully criticizing Adams during the campaign last year, is embracing rezoning as a key piece of his housing agenda, just as his predecessor did.