NYC In Focus

Three new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing boundaries are moving forward in Queens and Brooklyn. If you rent or own in New York, these three blocks will decide where affordable apartments must be built for the next 30 years.

By Howard Weiss | April 27, 2026 | nycinfocus.com

New York does not build affordable housing by asking nicely anymore. It builds it by zoning it in. New plans show three separate areas — one in Fresh Meadows, one in Middle Village, and one covering most of Coney Island south of Surf Avenue — all being converted to mandatory affordability.

1. Fresh Meadows: The 100-by-140 Corner at 164th Street

The new boundary sits at the northeast corner of 75th Road and 164th Street. The area measures exactly 100 feet along 75th Road and 140 feet deep. This is about 14,000 square feet — roughly three single-family lots combined. The change moves the site from R3-2 to R6A with a C2-4 commercial overlay, and designates it for Mandatory Inclusionary Housing with both Option 1 and Option 2.

What that means: A developer can now build 6 to 8 stories here instead of 3. In exchange, 25 to 30 percent of every apartment must be permanently affordable — about $1,650 for a one-bedroom for a single person making $56,000 a year.

2. Middle Village: The Fresh Pond Road Site at 61st and Menahan

The second boundary is on the west side of Fresh Pond Road, between Metropolitan Avenue and Menahan Street. The area measures 100 feet, 125 feet, and 100 feet.

What that means: This is the first MIH designation on Fresh Pond Road north of Myrtle Avenue. The lot is about 12,500 square feet, enough for roughly 45 to 55 apartments over ground-floor retail. Because it is mandatory, a developer cannot build the market-rate units without also building the affordable ones on the same site.

3. Coney Island: The End of Voluntary

The third boundary covers Coney Island from West 20th Street to Stillwell Avenue, and from Surf Avenue all the way south to the boardwalk. The area includes two existing MIH zones plus a large new area covering the former voluntary district.

What that means: After 17 years of a voluntary program that produced zero affordable apartments south of Surf Avenue, the city is making affordability mandatory. Every new hotel, condo, or rental building from the Cyclone to the Aquarium will now have to include 25 to 30 percent affordable housing.

The Money Moving Behind the Scenes

While the zoning gets the headlines, the city is also moving more than $150 million in contracts right now. Here are the ones to watch:

• $81 million for homeless shelters — A five-year deal for shelter facilities for single adults in the Bronx and Brooklyn, running through 2031 with a renewal option to 2035. This is one of the largest shelter contracts this year.
• $8.4 million for Wards Island — Environmental Protection is hiring Henningson Durham & Richardson for the deammonification process at the Wards Island Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility. This is core infrastructure work that keeps the East River clean.
• $19.8 million to the YMCA — The largest single youth services contract, for citywide programming. The Research Foundation of CUNY is right behind it at $13.3 million, and New York Edge at $10.6 million.
• $3.6 million for a Bronx safe haven — A one-year extension for the Marmion Safe Haven Shelter in Community Board 6, providing low-barrier beds for street homeless.
• $1.5 million for office furniture — RJV Office Furnishing gets a citywide contract for office and lab equipment, a sign that agencies are still outfitting new spaces post-pandemic.
• $1.1 million for AI software — YellowAi is getting a five-year deal for city services software, part of the ongoing push to automate 311 and agency chat systems.

Together, the youth services contracts alone total more than $120 million, with money flowing to Good Shepherd Services ($8.1M), Queens Community House ($8.3M), The Child Center of NY ($8.1M), and CAMBA ($7.7M across multiple awards). This is summer programming, after-school, and family support money that hits every borough.

What Happens Next

These three housing boundaries are scheduled for a City Planning Commission vote on April 29. If approved, they move to the City Council for public hearings in May and a final vote in June. Once adopted, any developer who wants to build on these sites must include the affordable units in the initial filing.