New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has announced major neighborhood development initiatives to expand affordable housing, strengthen small businesses, and improve infrastructure in parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn, including communities with large Caribbean-American populations.
The plans, introduced alongside New York City Department of City Planning Director Sideya Sherman, will focus on key transit corridors along White Plains Road in the Bronx and sections of Coney Island and McDonald avenues in Brooklyn.
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City officials said the initiatives are intended to address long-standing affordability concerns while encouraging community-driven growth in neighborhoods that have faced years of underinvestment and outdated zoning restrictions.
“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,” Mayor Mamdani said while announcing the initiative.
The administration said the plans aim to create new housing, including permanently affordable units, while supporting local businesses, improving public spaces, and upgrading neighborhood infrastructure.
The White Plains Road proposal will focus on a major commercial corridor in the North Bronx stretching from Adee Avenue to the Bronx-Mount Vernon border, including portions of Gun Hill Road and East 233rd Street. Officials said the area, despite strong transit access, has seen limited residential development and remains dominated by one- and two-story commercial buildings.
Community engagement efforts are expected to continue over the next year through public meetings, surveys, and neighborhood “walkshops,” allowing residents to help shape rezoning proposals and investment priorities.
Council Member Kevin Riley said the project is intended to strengthen the White Plains Road corridor while preserving the needs of longtime residents and small businesses.
“White Plains Road has long served as a vital corridor and central hub for the Northeast Bronx,” Riley said. “This work is about building on the strength of the community by creating a more accessible corridor that expands housing opportunities, strengthens small businesses, improves infrastructure, and increases affordability.”
Council Member Eric Dinowitz emphasized that development must remain community-focused and include meaningful protections for existing residents and businesses.
“We know that White Plains Road needs more investment, but how we get there makes all the difference,” Dinowitz said. “This process must deliver truly affordable housing and protect the small businesses that are on this corridor.”
In Brooklyn, the South of Prospect Plan will target areas stretching from Caton Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway to Avenue I. Officials said the initiative is designed to prepare the surrounding communities for the future Interborough Express transit project while encouraging mixed-use development and affordable housing.
Council Member Shahana Hanif said the process will focus heavily on community input and protecting working families from displacement pressures.
“I saw how rising costs and decades of disinvestment have made it harder for longtime residents to stay in the communities they helped build,” Hanif said. “This planning process is an opportunity to hear directly from residents about how we can create permanently affordable housing, strengthen commercial corridors, and improve public spaces.”
Additional support for the initiative came from Council Members Rita Joseph, Farah Louis, and Simcha Felder, along with Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson.
City officials said the neighborhood plans are part of a broader effort to address New York City’s housing shortage through transit-oriented development while ensuring residents play a central role in shaping future growth.
