Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy announced the new Neighborhood Builders Fast Track, an expedited process to speed the delivery of affordable housing on City-owned land. With Neighborhood Builders, HPD will pre-qualify affordable housing builders and shorten the pre-development Request for Proposals (RFP) process by eight months for certain projects - cutting the time to select an affordable housing developer by nearly half. Together with the new Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP), which the Mamdani administration has moved quickly to implement following its approval by voters in November, these programs will cut the pre-development process by more than two years.
"Our city is facing a historic housing crisis -- the last thing we need to do is tie ourselves in red tape," said Mayor Mamdani. "The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track will speed up housing development and make it faster to build on city-owned land. This administration is willing to move at the speed of need to make this a city New Yorkers can continue to call home."
"New Yorkers deserve a government that doesn't just deliver high-quality, affordable housing - but that also delivers it efficiently and effectively. I am proud to launch the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track alongside the HPD team who are working to deliver affordable housing across the five boroughs," said Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning. "I'm also excited to be advancing affordable housing projects at 784 Myrtle Ave, 1337 Jerome Ave, and 109-43 Farmers Blvd that will help create more vibrant, affordable neighborhoods, including new homeownership opportunities."
"New York City needs more affordable housing, built faster and at lower cost - and HPD is not waiting to deliver it," said Dina Levy, Housing and Preservation Commissioner. "The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track will reduce costs, speed up timelines, and maximize affordability. Public land is a public good - and we will not let city-owned sites sit idle while New Yorkers struggle to find an affordable home."
HPD is releasing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) due May 8th for affordable housing developers who will pre-qualify for the Neighborhood Builders program, with a focus on nonprofit organizations and minority- and women-owned businesses. Once development teams have been qualified, the faster Neighborhood Builders process will be used at sites such as 784-800 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, 1337 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx and 109-43 Farmers Boulevard in Queens, which will together deliver as many as 300 new affordable homes, including around 100 affordable homeownership opportunities at the Bronx and Queens sites. HPD expects to use the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track to advance development of as many as 1,000 new homes over the next two years.
The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track advances the Mamdani administration's critical goals of creating affordable housing, especially on City-owned land, and speeding up the delivery of housing across the city. On the first day of the administration, Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Orders 4 and 5, establishing the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) and Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development (SPEED) task forces, both of which will deliver recommendations this spring. The LIFT Task Force is working to identify opportunities for housing on City-owned sites, and the SPEED Task Force is working to reform the affordable housing production process, including pre- and post-construction approvals, project financing, and lease-up.
"I look forward to working with Mayor Mamdani on the Neighborhood Builders program to deliver urgently needed affordable housing," said Council Member Chi Ossé. "Since taking office, I have made one priority clear: build more housing and keep our neighbors here. The inclusion of 784-800 Myrtle Avenue in our district is both an honor and a recognition of Bed-Stuy's need for deeply affordable homes so longtime residents and low-income New Yorkers can continue to contribute to our shared Brooklyn heritage. I'm proud to have approved thousands of units - spanning deeply affordable, middle-income, and supportive housing - that meet the diverse needs of my constituents. With Neighborhood Builders accelerating this work, we can move faster to confront rising rents and prevent displacement, because the people who give this city its life deserve to remain part of its future."
"With the highest loss of black residents in the city, Mayor Mamdani picked the perfect place to start - Bed Stuy. Transforming vacant city-owned land to 100% affordable housing. This is what we have been calling for. This is hope. This is a downpayment of what is to come - building thousands of affordable homes in Bed Stuy and Central Brooklyn so the people who live here can stay here. Moving from words to action," said Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey, Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bedford Stuyvesant and Co-Chair of East Brooklyn Congregations (EBC).
"Today, Mayor Mamdani is showing us what is possible. Metro IAF called on the Mayor to do what others thought was impossible - develop 50,000 affordable units each year. We said it takes three things - sites, staff, and subsidy. Metro IAF showed him the sites. His staff quickly and thoroughly reviewed the sites. And today, the Mayor is acting to make city-owned land live again," said Rev. Dr. David K. Brawley, Pastor of St. Paul Community Baptist Church in East New York and Co-Chair of Metro IAF. "We are in a 9-1-1 moment. Mayor Mamdani is showing what leaders do in an emergency. They act. They streamline. They expedite. They cut the red tape. We can't wait to come back here and welcome the families who will have a brand-new home. We will do it again and again. We are not stopping. Metro IAF will stand with Mayor Mamdani and we will fight. We will fight for affordability. We will fight for maximizing density. We will fight for expediting. We will fight for all New Yorkers to keep New York home."
"With a 1.4% vacancy rate, New Yorkers need more affordable housing, and fast," said Annemarie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York. "We need to use every tool to speed up the creation of new homes, and the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track is a powerful new one. By cutting 8 months of process, affordable housing will get built faster, enabling more New Yorkers to access homes they can afford. We're excited to see the Mamdani Administration, Deputy Mayor Bozorg, and Commissioner Levy prioritize the fast delivery of more affordable housing."
"New York's housing crisis isn't years away - it's happening right now. For this reason, government must explore every tool at its disposal to cut the time it takes to build affordable homes. The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track is an initiative that prioritizes organizations that understand our communities and looks to accelerate livability for families," said Carlina Rivera, President and CEO of NYSAFAH. "We applaud Mayor Mamdani and his team for their creativity in finding new pathways to house New Yorkers more quickly and affordably."
"As a third-generation MBE developer and general contractor, Apex Building Group is pleased to see this new Neighborhood Builders initiative that will help broaden the circle of participants in the development of urgently needed affordable units. Speeding up the process of getting from the initial idea to shovel in the ground is essential if we are going to meet the housing demand," said Lee A. Brathwaite, CEO of Apex Building Group.
"Constructive Partnerships Unlimited is proud to partner with New York City on permanent housing opportunities for underserved New Yorkers and utilize initiatives like Neighborhood Builders Fast Track to lower costs and expedite construction. Building affordable homes is a vital cause that impacts dignity, stability, and opportunity, and we look forward to advancing additional projects so more New Yorkers can find a place to call home and build a meaningful future," said Joseph M. Pancari, President and CEO of Constructive Partnerships Unlimited.
"Comunilifeis committed to expanding affordable and supportive housing, we welcome the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track as a critical step toward an equitable development process. Prioritizing nonprofits and M/WBE developers strengthens local capacity and ensures that the communities most affected by the housing crisis are part of the solution," said Blanca Ramirez, President and CEO of Comunilife.
