Council Member Lincoln Restler threw his support behind the controversial Monitor Point project on Thursday after developers agreed to add additional affordable units during last-minute negotiations.
The high-rise development is proposed for an MTA-owned site at 40 Quay St., just north of Bushwick Inlet Park.
Last month, Restler said he would not approve the project unless it included majority affordable housing and an “ironclad” commitment to finishing the long-delayed Bushwick Inlet Park. The project has proved controversial in the neighborhood — opponents worried it would only drive up rents and threaten the delicate ecosystems at the park, while supporters said it would provide much-needed affordable housing and union jobs.
Restler said he reached a final agreement with developers and the MTA moments before arriving at the Council hearing. Photo courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Negotiations came down to the wire, Restler said, and a final agreement was reached “moments” before he arrived at a June 25 meeting of the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises.
Developer the Gotham Organization had originally proposed 1,150 total units, with 400 affordable apartments priced between 40-80% of the Area Median Income.
Now, the project has grown by 174 units, for a total of 1,324 apartments. Half of those units, 662, will be affordable, Restler said. About half will be “deeply” affordable, he said. A family of three earning $76,350 per year would be able to rent a two-bedroom for $1,822 per month, he said or 50% AMI.
Another 172 units will be affordable for “moderate income,” or between 80-120% AMI, he said. In that range, monthly rent for a two-bedroom would fall between $2,916-$4,374. (Market-rate units in the building are expected to start at around $4,000 for studios and rise up to $9,500 for three-bedrooms.)
The project will include three high-rise towers along the East River. Image courtesy of Gotham Organization/City Planning Commission
The rest of the units will be designated as senior affordable housing — with rents starting around $911 for a one-bedroom.
“And, this was very important to me personally, 110 units will be supportive housing,” Restler said. “That’s deeply affordable housing for formerly homeless individuals with onsite services to ensure that we are actually meeting the moment of our homelessness crisis.”
As for Bushwick Inlet Park — which sits directly south of the proposed Monitor Point site and is only partially completed 20 years after it was first promised by the city — Mayor Zohran Mamdani “told me he that he is committed to fulfilling the promise of this park and completing Bushwick Inlet Park,” Restler said.
Restler (far left) and Mamdani in an uncompleted section of Bushwick Inlet Park. Restler said the mayor has committed to completing Bushwick Inlet Park. File photo courtesy of Eliza Relman/Office of Council Member Lincoln Restler
The project was approved unanimously by both the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and the Land Use Committee on Thursday.
Having received Restler’s support, the project is likely to pass the full City Council without issue.
Monitor Point came out of an MTA gambit to raise revenue by leasing the waterfront site to a developer, who would also pay to relocate the existing wash site. Gotham is expected to pay the MTA about $39 million over the first 25 years of the lease, and will also fund the relocation of the MTA’s Emergency Response Unit, which currently sits on the site of the soon-to-be-built Box Street Park.
A recently-finished section Bushwick Inlet Park, with the existing low-slung MTA facility — which would be replaced by Monitor Point — at lower right. File photo by Kirstyn Brendlen
The project will also include a publicly-accessible waterfront esplanade, shoreline resiliency efforts, affordable space for local nonprofits and a new permanent home for the Greenpoint Monitor Museum. Gotham has said it will also donate $300,000 to maintaining Bushwick Inlet Park each year.
“We look forward to the full City Council vote and continuing to work with the community as Monitor Point moves closer to reality on a true public-private partnership,” a Gotham spokesperson said. “We would not have reached this important milestone without the support of the Mamdani administration, Speaker Menin, Council Member Restler, HPD, the MTA, the Governor’s office, and the many community partners.”
Advocates with Save The Inlet, which opposed the project, said that while they appreciated the increase in affordable housing, they were not happy to see the project get approval.
Monitor Point will sit within a FEMA Special Flood Hazard zone, they said, and in a critical migratory bird corridor. Advocates have long voiced concern that the massive towers will overshadow the park and make the small inlet section of the park that borders Monitor Point — which opened to the public in April — feel like a “front yard” rather than a public park.
“Bushwick Inlet was always meant to be a place where nature, recreation, and resilience could thrive together,” Save the Inlet said in a statement. “It should not become another example of public waterfront sacrificed to oversized private development.”
Restler said he first heard about the project five years ago, shortly after he won the primary election in Council District 33, and recalled “screaming on the phone” to an MTA representative. The amendments made to the project were the direct result of concerns raised by the community, he said.
A rendering of the proposed public greenspace at Monitor Point. Image courtesy of Monitor Point
“I thought this project was a total nonstarter, and it’s come an extraordinarily long way. And I am pleased today to express my support for the amended proposal for the majority-affordable housing development known as 40 Quay Street,” he said. “I’ve been clear over these five years that any development of this publicly-owned land must be primarily in the public interest.”
The MTA will utilize the funds it receives from the lease to make the Nassau Avenue G train station ADA-accessible, according to an agency spox. Restler told Brooklyn Paper that he wanted revenue generated by the project to be re-invested in the community.
“Transit-oriented development like Monitor Point is a win-win for our riders and our neighborhoods,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have partnered with Gotham, the City and State of New York, and the City Council to deliver hundreds of units of affordable housing, new open space, and a restored waterfront while advancing our core transit mission through improved facilities and capital funding.”
Update 6/26/26: This story has been updated with comment from Save The Inlet.