Hochul unveils plan for more than 2,800 homes in Queens

Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled plans Wednesday to build more than 2,800 homes in eastern Queens.

The project will be built on 58 acres of underutilized land at the state-owned Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, taking the place of vacant land, buildings and parking lots.

More than half of the homes — 1,633 — will be for-sale cooperative units, two-story homes and townhome triplexes. The first phase of the project will consist of co-op units reserved for shareholders earning up to 100 percent of the area median income.

The remaining 1,240 homes will be rental units, with 808 of the apartments reserved as supportive and senior housing, according to a master plan of the proposal released Wednesday night.


The state is expected to begin an environmental review of the plan next year and to draft a general project plan laying out the redevelopment. A request for proposals will be issued seeking developers to build the project out in phases. 


The project is part of a series of actions taken by Hochul after her broader housing plan failed to move forward during the legislative session. The actions have included offering financial incentives to communities that show a commitment to housing growth and an alternative 421a program in Gowanus. 


Her administration has also initiated housing projects on state-owned land. On Tuesday, the state tapped L+M Development Partners, Urbane and Lemor Development Group to build a 105-unit affordable housing project at the former Lincoln Correctional Facility in Harlem, according to Crain’s.


Creedmoor opened in 1912 as a satellite facility of Brooklyn State Hospital. It got its start as a psychiatric “farm colony” where patients took part in daily farm work as part of a therapy regimen.



The campus spans 125 acres. Most of its buildings, 19 out of 25, are vacant. If the governor’s plan moves forward, various state-led agencies will continue to provide services to patients on the remaining 67 acres at Creedmoor.

By Will Spisak and Rev. Carl Adair. July 16, 2024
Lots of people are talking about the state’s plan for 2,800 housing units at the Creedmoor site. Understandably, many life-long residents of the area fear that the project would change the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. Their parents or grandparents worked hard to buy homes in Glen Oaks Village or Hollis Hills: this new plan feels like a threat to their legacy.
By The City December 8, 2023
New York State finally has a plan to turn the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center into thousands of units of housing. It will also have full power to approve the plan — angering neighbors who feel they’ll be sidestepped on a project that could transform the low-density neighborhood in eastern Queens with “tall monstrosities” up to eight stories high.
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
By DAILY NEWS December 8, 2023
A better use for Creedmoor: Housing for New Yorkers in Eastern Queens
By Spectrum News NY1 November 23, 2023
Reverend David Brawley joined "Inside City Hall" to talk about affordable housing. (Spectrum News NY1)
By Alma Reyes November 1, 2023
Op-Ed | Governor Hochul: Affordable housing is needed, Creedmoor is an opportunity
By Crain Communications, Inc. October 5, 2023
A coalition of activist groups is advocating for the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in eastern Queens to be converted into affordable housing. They launched the "Public Land for Public Good" campaign, urging Governor Kathy Hochul's administration to use over 50 acres of state-owned land for this purpose.
By The Tablet June 22, 2023
The fight for affordable housing at a Queens Village site slated for major redevelopment by New York state has the support of local Catholic priests who are working with a nonprofit organization seeking to get 3,000 apartments built there.
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
By Gothamist June 13, 2023
The call for new affordable housing comes as rents continue to rise in Queens, and throughout New York City. Median rents reached $2,700 in Queens in April,
By Pix 11 News April 28, 2023
QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11)– Can crumbling parts of the former Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens become a thriving community of affordable homes? The New York Empire State Development held a meeting Thursday night in Bellerose to get community input on design plans to rebuild 55 acres of the more than 100-acre campus in Queens Village. Renderings show green spaces, walkways, senior living, single-family homes and townhouses. NYC plans to build affordable housing complex in the West Village June Forde, who attended the meeting, told PIX11 News she’s hoping for plenty of affordable homes so her 31-year-old son, who is a city firefighter can move out of her South Ozone home. “It’s awful that you love this city and you want to be here, and we have nothing,” Forde said. Members of the community advocacy group Queens Power also weighed in. “New York City and people in my congregation are moving out of town because young professionals can’t afford to live here,” Rev. Patrick O’Connor, the leader of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, said.
By Daily News September 25, 2022
Delving into the media coverage of the Public Land For Public Good campaign.
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