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<\/p>\nA neighborhood home to heavy concentrations of immigrants from predominantly Muslim South Asian countries is the first to be targeted for a new housing plan by the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor.<\/p>\n
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\n Coney Island Avenue in Central Brooklyn is being eyed for more housing development.\n <\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>‘s administration is kicking off a neighborhood rezoning process to allow\u00a0new apartment buildings along Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue south of Prospect Park<\/a> in Brooklyn<\/a>, it announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n The corridors, which\u00a0include\u00a0areas known as Little Bangladesh and Little Pakistan,\u00a0are home to a series of single-story, car-oriented businesses. Downzoning efforts for nearby Park Slope<\/a> and Windsor Terrace reached this part of the city in the 1990s, reducing future development.<\/p>\n The administration also announced it would advance planning efforts for White Plains Road in the North Bronx, which were\u00a0initiated last year<\/a> under then-Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Yorkers are being pushed out of the neighborhoods they built because our city has spent decades refusing to build enough housing where people actually want and need to live,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cThese plans are about changing that.\u201d<\/p>\n While no formal proposal for future zoning was revealed with the announcement, the city wants to spur\u00a0the development of housing, including affordable units, as well as commercial spaces and public realm improvements.<\/p>\n The Brooklyn neighborhood plan is the first by the city to take into account the planned Interborough Express light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens, which is in the\u00a0design and environmental review<\/a> phase. Four subway lines serve the area and connect it to Manhattan, but little new development has happened in recent decades.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we prepare for the future Interborough Express and strengthen transit-connected corridors, we have a responsibility to build communities that are more accessible, affordable, and equitable,\u201d Council Member Rita Joseph, who represents part of the affected area, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The city opened a portal for feedback and plans on releasing a zoning concept map next year.<\/p>\n The White Plains Road\u00a0rezoning process\u00a0is farther along, and the administration expects to release a conceptual plan later this year. Taller apartment buildings will likely be allowed in a stretch of road that runs from Adee Avenue in Allerton to the city’s northern border with Mount Vernon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that White Plains Road needs more investment, but how we get there makes all the difference. This community-driven process must deliver truly affordable housing, protect the small businesses that are on this corridor, and ensure that longtime residents benefit from future development,\u201d Council Member Eric Dinowitz said in a statement.<\/p>\n The rezonings are part of Mamdani’s goal of adding 200,000 new housing units to alleviate the city’s housing crisis, which has only intensified during his first five months in office.\u00a0The average one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn rented for $4,219 a month in April, up 8% over the past year, according to Corcoran<\/a>.<\/p>\n