Mamdani opens 385 affordable homes in Brooklyn, eyes 2,000-home village

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said 385 permanently affordable homes opened this week in East New York, Brooklyn, the first phase of a project set to grow to about 2,000 homes with child care, jobs, a grocery store and a performing arts center.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Sunday that 385 new affordable homes had opened in Brooklyn this week, the first completed phase of the Innovative Urban Village development in East New York.

“We’ll soon grow the Innovative Urban Village to 2,000 affordable homes, child care, jobs, a grocery store and a performing arts center,” Mamdani said. “That’s what it looks like to build a city without pricing out the working class.”

Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul cut the ribbon on the first building on Thursday, Oct. 15, at a ceremony that also marked the topping out of the project’s next phase. “Every New Yorker deserves a safe, stable and affordable place to call home,” the mayor said in a statement.

The Christian Cultural Center campus in East New York, Brooklyn (file photo)

Who the homes are for

According to the governor’s office, the apartments in the first phase are permanently affordable for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Ninety-four of them are set aside for households eligible for on-site support services, including people who have experienced homelessness and survivors of domestic violence.

The roughly $270 million building also includes about 17,000 square feet of retail and commercial space planned for fresh food, health care, a pharmacy and dining. It runs on all-electric heating and cooling and has solar panels, green roofs and electric-vehicle charging.

Federal low-income housing tax credits awarded by New York State Homes and Community Renewal are expected to generate more than $115 million in equity, and the state agency provided more than $47 million in subsidy. Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group and the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development also took part in the financing.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in January 2026

What comes next

The second phase, which has now reached its full height, will add 453 affordable homes, a 12,600-square-foot space intended for child care, about 10,250 square feet of shops and a playground. Together, the first two phases will provide more than 830 homes.

When fully built, the development on the Christian Cultural Center’s 10.5-acre campus is planned to have nearly 2,000 permanently affordable homes in 10 buildings, along with workforce training, a performing arts center, neighborhood retail, grocery options and about three acres of publicly accessible open space. The church selected Gotham Organization as its development partner in 2018, and the project received land-use approvals in 2022.

“We are aligned in our shared goal to bring affordability through housing,” Hochul said at the ceremony, calling the mayor “another great partner of mine in affordability.” The governor’s five-year, $25 billion housing plan aims to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide; her office says more than 87,000 have been created or preserved so far.

Housing was a central promise of Mamdani’s campaign. In May, his administration released a 10-year plan, “Block by Block,” that aims to build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve another 200,000 over the next decade.

Mamdani opens 385 affordable homes in Brooklyn, eyes 2,000-home village