Plan Would Create Approximately 4,300 Permanently Affordable Homes, Over 3.5 Million Square Feet of Commercial and Industrial Space
Plan Includes Public Realm Improvements, Including Accessible, Continuous Waterfront
After Positive Recommendations From Community Board and Borough President, Plan Heads to City Council for Review and Final Vote
Thanks to Initiatives Like OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, Adams Administration Has Created, Preserved, or Planned Over 426,000 Homes for New Yorkers to Date
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick today celebrated the CPC’s vote in favor of the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan, an ambitious proposal to deliver tens of thousands of homes and jobs to Long Island City, Queens. This initiative would revamp local zoning and undertake other initiatives to create nearly 14,700 new homes. The plan would also map Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) — which requires new developments to include permanently affordable housing — on a wide scale in the neighborhood for the first time, making sure that around 4,300 of those homes are permanently affordable. The plan would also boost commercial and industrial space in the area — creating 14,400 new jobs and generating new economic opportunities for residents, workers, and business owners alike. Along with four additional neighborhood plans and “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” — the first citywide rezoning in 60 years — the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan is a key part of the Adams administration’s work that has already created, preserved, or planned over 426,000 homes for New Yorkers.
“From a thriving industrial hub to a home for artists and entrepreneurs, Long Island City has led many lives over the years. Our ‘OneLIC Plan’ will help Long Island City write the next great chapter in its history, making sure families can find an affordable place, businesses can find a good place to grow, and everyone can access and enjoy the waterfront throughout the neighborhood,” said Mayor Adams. “Whether its advancing five ambitious neighborhood plans like this one, passing the first citywide rezoning in six decades, or shattering affordable housing records year after year, our administration is using every tool we’ve got to create the homes New Yorkers need and make sure our city is the best place to raise a family.”
“The Adams administration’s OneLIC Neighborhood Plan is the largest residential rezoning that this city has pursued,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión, Jr. “Today’s action from the Planning Commission meets the urgency of our housing crisis — not just with 14,700 new homes but also with a wide array of neighborhood investments. I look forward to working with Councilmember Won and other stakeholders to ensure that this historic plan enriches the lives of New Yorkers — both current and future — who call Long Island City Home.”
“Long Island City is one of New York City’s most bustling neighborhoods, but parts of it are held back by a lack of housing or economic opportunities. With today’s vote, we’re one step closer to changing that,” said DCP Director and CPC Chair Garodnick. “The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan updates zoning for new homes and jobs and makes investments in the public realm to create a more equitable, lively, and prosperous community. Thanks to the City Planning Commissioners for their support.”
With easy access to transit, housing, and commercial and industrial job opportunities, Long Island City is one of the city’s economic and cultural hubs. While parts of this neighborhood have welcomed thousands of residents, businesses, and public waterfront space, other areas remain stymied by outdated zoning that has restricted new housing and left significant sections of the waterfront unimproved and inaccessible to the public. The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan is designed to address these challenges.
The plan’s boundaries stretch from the East River waterfront to Crescent Street and Queens Plaza North to 47th Avenue, with one segment reaching further up to 39th Avenue between 21st Street to 23rd Street.
OneLIC Neighborhood Plan will update outdated zoning and expand access to the waterfront.
Image Credit: DCP.
The OneLIC plan is one of five ambitious neighborhood plans the Adams administration is advancing to deliver nearly 50,000 homes over the next 15 years to New York City neighborhoods. In addition to the Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan, the Midtown South plan, and the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan — all of which have been passed by the New York City Council — as well as the OneLIC plan, the Adams administration is also advancing a neighborhood plan in Jamaica. Once passed, the Adams administration’s rezoning efforts to date are expected to create nearly 130,000 new homes, more new housing than the previous two mayoral administrations' rezoning efforts combined.
Building A More Affordable Long Island City
Today, approximately 46 percent of renters in the neighborhood spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, and current zoning does not require permanently-affordable, income-restricted homes. The OneLIC plan would allow for the creation of 14,7000 new homes across the neighborhood and apply MIH to Long Island City for the first time. By requiring new developments in Long Island City to include permanently affordable housing, the plan is expected to produce roughly 4,300 income-restricted homes, enough to house roughly 10,000 New Yorkers. This would be the most amount of housing generated by a neighborhood-specific rezoning in at least 25 years.
Additionally, the plan will use city-owned sites to create homes for lower-income households; for instance, at 44-59 45th Avenue, where the city currently houses New York City Department of Transportation operations, the Adams administration has committed to building 320 income-restricted homes.
To protect tenants and preserve existing affordable housing, the city will partner with community-based organizations and local elected officials to organize trainings and events around tenants’ issues, such as “Know Your Rights” classes and housing resource fairs. Homeowners would have access to the Homeowner Help Desk, which provides counseling, financial assistance, and more, as well as HomeFix 2.0, which connects New Yorkers with low- or no-interest home repair loans.
Creating an Accessible Waterfront
Despite Long Island City’s extensive waterfront, public access has, in the past, been disjointed and, in some cases, restricted entirely. The OneLIC Neighborhood Plan would coordinate public and private property owners, update the area’s Waterfront Access Plan, and use additional zoning tools to create a unified, resilient waterfront with improved public access and amenities. This improvement would create vibrant public spaces by incentivizing active street-level uses and active recreation spaces, creating a consistent public space for the neighborhood, and unifying the waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park.
OneLIC Neighborhood Plan would unify the waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park, creating a consistent public space for the neighborhood. Image Credit: DCP.
Supporting More Jobs and Stronger Infrastructure
The OneLIC Plan would also grow the local economy by creating over 3.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space, generating approximately 14,400 new jobs across a range of sectors. To further support Long Island City residents and workers, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is pursuing a Request for Information for 44-36 Vernon Boulevard, looking for concepts to transform this city-owned site, which currently houses New York City Department of Education operations, into a mix of community-focused uses that could include commercial, cultural, industrial, retail, and more. The administration will continue to coordinate with other city agencies, New York City Councilmember Julie Won, and the Long Island City community to find other opportunities for investment during public review, to ensure that the Adams administration is meeting the needs of current and future residents.
Engaging with the Community
The CPC’s vote follows supportive recommendations from Queens Community Boards 1 and 2 as well as Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. The plan was shaped by close collaboration with community stakeholders, including the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Queensbridge Houses Tenant Associations, the Long Island City Partnership, Queens Community Board 1 and 2, Queens Public Library, Jacob Riis Community Center, and Hunters Point Park Conservancy. Prior to the start of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), DCP and Councilmember Won undertook an extensive two-year public engagement process that included 16 public meetings; during ULURP, the Community Boards, borough president, and CPC all held public hearings as well. The plan now advances to the City Council for a public hearing and a vote.
Since entering office, Mayor Adams has made historic investments to create more affordable housing and ensure more New Yorkers have a place to call home. Last month, Mayor Adams announced that his administration has created, preserved, or planned approximately 426,800 homes for New Yorkers through its work to date. Mayor Adams also announced that, in Fiscal Year 2025, the Adams administration created the most affordable rental units in city history and celebrated back-to-back-to-back record-breaking years for producing permanently-affordable homes for formerly-homeless New Yorkers, placing homeless New Yorkers into housing, and connecting New Yorkers to housing through the city’s housing lottery.
In addition to creating and preserving record amounts of affordable and market-rate housing for New Yorkers, the Adams administration has also passed ambitious plans that will create tens of thousands of new homes as well. Last December, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the most pro-housing proposal in city history that will build 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. Along with the Adams administration’s five neighborhood plans, these rezoning efforts are expected to deliver nearly 130,000 new homes for New Yorkers.
Building on the success of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Adams unveiled his “City of Yes for Families” strategy in his State of the City address earlier this year to build more homes and create more family-friendly neighborhoods across New York City. Under City of Yes for Families, the Adams administration is advancing more housing on city-owned sites, creating new tools to support homeownership, and building more housing alongside schools, playgrounds, grocery stores, accessible transit stations, and libraries.
In addition to creating more housing opportunities, the Adams administration is actively working to strengthen tenant protections and support homeowners. The “Partners in Preservation” program was expanded citywide in 2024 through a $24 million investment in local organizations to support tenant organizing and combat harassment in rent-regulated housing. The Homeowner Help Desk, a trusted one-stop shop for low-income homeowners to receive financial and legal counseling from local organizations, was also expanded citywide in 2024 with a $13 million funding commitment.
Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.
