As New York continues to struggle with an affordable housing shortage, a coalition of activist groups says it has found the perfect location for the city's next major residential development: a psychiatric center campus in eastern Queens.

The advocates recently launched a campaign dubbed Public Land for Public Good, calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration to commit to building a completely affordable housing development on more than 50 acres of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center. The groups are focused on this particular site given that it is state-owned land, meaning the administration would not have to negotiate with developers on affordability, and given its massive size, which has the potential for thousands of new homes.

Members would like the affordability levels to top out at 100% of the area median income, meaning a family of three would need to earn $127,100 to spend no more than 35% of its income on rent. They also view it as a prime opportunity to provide housing for the homeless, whose population in the city reached a record high of more than 72,000 in January, according to a Coalition for the Homeless report.

Empire State Development, the state's economic development arm, launched a community engagement process to develop a master plan for the site in partnership with Queens Borough President Donovan Richards early this year, but the groups have criticized the state for showing a lack of urgency around coming up with a proposal.

"We know that Empire State Development, which is part of [Hochul's] purview, is looking at it," said the Rev. Patrick O'Connor, co-chair of the advocacy group Queens Power, "but it can't be five to seven years down the road. The crisis is now."Richards also wants to see affordable housing on the Creedmoor campus but pushed back strongly on the idea that officials are not moving quickly enough on a plan, especially given the scope of the project.

"This is not some 100-unit building," he said. "We're talking about 55 acres."

A lengthy process

Creedmoor's history as a mental health treatment center dates back to 1912, when an agricultural therapy program opened at the site as a satellite facility of Brooklyn State Hospital. The facility continued to expand in the ensuing decades, reaching a peak population of more than 7,000 patients in 1959. But the number of patients declined in the ensuing decades, as did the need for such a large campus, and neighborhood groups received many of the facility's land tracts from the state. A small portion of the site continues to be used as a mental health center.

Empire State Development and Richards announced on Jan. 31 that they were starting an effort to redevelop the site, with the first community workshop taking place Feb. 2. This process is ongoing, and two additional public forums are planned for later this year.

"ESD remains committed to a long-term strategy for the Creedmoor facility that takes the views of local residents seriously," agency spokeswoman Emily Mijatovic said in a statement. "Creedmoor's redevelopment represents a real opportunity to enhance and enliven eastern Queens with open space, infrastructure improvements, and new housing options for the area's current and future residents, and ESD will continue to work closely with residents and stakeholders to bring this new vision for the facility to life."

The groups pushing for Creedmoor to be home to a 100% affordable housing complex—Metro IAF New York, East Brooklyn Congregations, Queens Power, South Bronx Churches and Manhattan Together—argue that they are essentially just asking the governor to do something she has already said she supports. After the collapse of broader packages meant to help boost the state's housing supply during this year's budget and legislative sessions, Hochul announced a series of executive actions to this effect over the summer that included examining state-owned properties to see if they could be used for residential projects.

But her actions so far on Creedmoor have not yet matched up with her words, according to the advocates.

"The governor made a commitment, but she hasn't lived up to it yet," said Rob English of Metro IAF New York. "We see Creedmoor as an historic opportunity."

The coalition would like the project to include about 3,000 affordable housing units and opportunities for homeownership. O'Connor acknowledged that the master plan process is ongoing but said the lack of concrete details about what officials are thinking is concerning.

"We understand that most development projects take years," he said, "but if the governor were to put a stake in the ground around affordability—100% affordability—this piece of public land could be used for public good to get regular New Yorkers who keep the city moving a place to live."

Mental health matters

Multiple Creedmoor stakeholders stressed the importance of continuing to use at least some of the campus for mental health treatment, a move the Public Land for Public Good coalition would support as well.



Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, who represents several Eastern Queens neighborhoods in the 19th district, said she would like to see some affordable housing on the site but does not think it should be the only type of development to go up there. Much of the campus should still be used for New Yorkers who need the type of psychiatric care Creedmoor has long been known for, she said.

"Long-term and permanent care for the severely ill, shorter-term care for those who just need help getting on their feet, onsite medical professionals and social workers, addiction treatment, transitional housing and much more can all be comfortably built into the Creedmoor campus," she said. "And, yes, some form of affordable housing can be part of the plan, but it would be a tragedy to give up this major asset to simply build housing alone."

Richards similarly stressed the importance of having space for those who need mental health services on the campus and said a mix of income levels was important as well. He maintained that the project should be a good fit for recent college graduates looking for a place to live and New Yorkers who have long struggled to find decent housing. However, he does not view a completely affordable residential project as aiming too high.

"Absolutely, it's achievable," he said. "There's a range of tools in the tool kit to make sure this project is 100% affordable. I have to see what the unit count is going to look like, but I think it's definitely achievable."