Mayor Adams Kicks Off Public Review on Jamaica Neighborhood Plan to Create Nearly 12,000 New Homes, Make Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Investments to Area

March 20, 2025

Building on Two-Years of Extensive Community Discussions, Plan Will Include 

Significant Investments in Commercial Space to Create 7,000 Jobs,

 $300 Million in Sewer Improvements, and New Public Space 

Announcement Comes as Adams Administration Continues to 

Advance Bold, Transformational Housing Projects Across Five Boroughs 

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick today announced the start of the public review process for the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, a transformative proposal to deliver thousands of homes, thousands of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars in investments to Jamaica, Queens. The proposal would update zoning to spur the creation of over 12,000 new homes — including approximately 4,000 permanently income-restricted affordable homes — to a 230-block area of this transit-accessible neighborhood. The plan also boosts commercial and industrial space, creating 7,000 jobs and new economic opportunities for residents. Beyond the zoning changes, the plan includes strategic investments, including $300 million for sewer improvements, transit access and open space, job training, and support for cultural institutions and faith-based organizations. Today’s announcement comes as the Adams administration continues to address the city’s housing crisis by advancing bold, transformational housing projects across the five boroughs. 

“A home is more than just four walls and a roof — it’s the foundation needed to achieve the American Dream and thrive in the greatest city on the globe. For the residents of Jamaica, we’re one step closer to making that dream a reality for generations to come,“ said Mayor Adams. “Jamaica is on the precipice of becoming a neighborhood of the future with good-paying jobs, affordable homes, and public spaces for families to enjoy. I applaud all the elected officials, community stakeholders, and everyday New Yorkers who made their voices heard to tailor this plan towards this community’s need. Jamaica’s best days still lie ahead and, together, we’ll build towards a better tomorrow.” 

"Jamaica is already an incredibly rich and diverse neighborhood, and we look forward to heralding its next chapter as we formally kick off the public review process for the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, which will deliver over 12,000 new homes and strengthen the local economy, as well as improving area infrastructure and quality of life,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing Economic Development and Workforce Adolfo Carrión, Jr. "I am grateful to the DCP team who has been leading this effort and hearing from the community for more than two years, as well as Councilmembers Williams and Gennaro and Speaker Adams for their ongoing support and partnership." 

“As we work to deliver more quality affordable housing in Jamaica, what turns units into homes — and homes into communities — are the resources that surround and support them. Mayor Adams’ infusion of over $300 million in sewer infrastructure, and addition of two new public plazas near core transportation infrastructure, lay the groundwork for growing neighborhoods,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Jeffrey Roth. “In partnership with the City Council, local residents and advocacy groups, we are ensuring that this holistic plan benefits new and existing residents in profound ways.” 

“It is simply not acceptable for a neighborhood with such extraordinary transit access to be constrained by a lack of housing and investment,” said DCP Director and CPC Chair Garodnick. “This plan will change that by providing housing, economic opportunities, and infrastructure upgrades that will help the neighborhood grow and thrive into the future. We developed this plan through a robust, collaborative process, and I encourage community members to continue to stay engaged as public review gets underway.” 

"Jamaica is a community defined by not only its historical significance to our city, but its status as an economic powerhouse and a hub of culture and diversity. Everyone who lives, works, or plays here knows its limitless potential, which we fully believe the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan will unlock," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "This zoning framework will unlock just that in the form of thousands of new homes, new jobs, and new opportunities for local families and visitors alike, and I'm excited by the prospect of this plan making its way through the land use review process. I encourage all Jamaica residents to stay engaged and be a part of this community conversation." 

“Jamaica is a vibrant community, and the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan is a historic opportunity to build on that legacy with thoughtful, community-driven investments,” said New York City Councilmember Dr. Nantasha Williams. “This plan has the potential to create affordable homes, support small businesses, and upgrade infrastructure. I applaud Mayor Adams, the Department of City Planning, and all stakeholders who helped bring this vision to life. To ensure investments address quality-of-life concerns, I look forward to incorporating an Oversight Task Force to ensure the plans success, tackle quality of life issues like sanitation, public safety, and transit over the coming decade as part of the plan. As the public review moves forward, I remain committed to centering the voices of Jamaica’s residents in this transformation.”  

Building More Affordable Housing 

Today’s milestone is a significant step towards building a more affordable Jamaica for working-class families. Currently, the neighborhood has no requirements for affordable housing, and restricts the ability of industrial businesses to grow and thrive. Thanks to two years of extensive community engagement, the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan is tailored to create new housing and economic opportunities in a thoughtful manner that best respects the character of different hubs and corridors of Jamaica. Altogether, the plan is expected to create over 12,000 new homes, with approximately 4,000 of them being permanently income-restricted affordable homes through the mapping of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing — the largest geographic area in New York City where this policy would apply to-date — and financing of affordable homes on public land. Utilizing programs from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Adams administration has committed to building a total of nearly 120 income-restricted homes across five city-owned sites along Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and Union Hall Street in Queens.  

Additional details on the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan include: 

• Downtown Core: Along Jamaica Avenue and Archer Avenue, a transit-rich area served by the E, J, and Z trains, zoning would allow high-density mixed-use developments with permanently affordable housing, active ground floor retail, and community services. Further north, between Jamaica Avenue and Hillside Avenue, densities would slightly decrease.  
• Transit Corridors: Along Hillside Avenue, western Jamaica Avenue, Liberty Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, and Merrick Boulevard, zoning would encourage mixed-use, mid-rise developments with locally-serving retail and community facilities.  
• South Core: Located immediately to the south of Jamaica Station and the Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer subway station, mixed-use zoning would allow new housing in this area for the first time in over 60 years. It would also encourage commercial and light manufacturing near world-class transit resources. 
• Industrial Growth Area: New growth manufacturing zoning would support new employment and local businesses. 

More Jobs, Better Public Spaces, and Investing in Infrastructure 

The proposal will also grow the local economy by creating over 2 million square feet of commercial and community facility space, which is anticipated to generate more than 7,000 new jobs. 

The Adams administration is also committing to several improvements to make sure Jamaica continues to be a thriving neighborhood where existing and new residents alike can live, work, and play. To expand capacity and facilitate the neighborhood’s growth, the plan will invest over $300 million in upgraded sanitary sewer infrastructure. This builds on infrastructure investment the Adams administration is continuing to make in Southeast Queens, including a $2.6 billion to install storm sewers and build a comprehensive drainage system in the area. 

Finally, for the public realm, the proposal also includes streetscape enhancements along Jamaica Avenue from the New York City Department of Transportation through Jamaica NOW. Other potential infrastructure improvements throughout Jamaica will be further discussed with the community throughout the public review process. 

Engaging with the Community 

The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan reflects the priorities of local residents and stakeholders, incorporating feedback from a two-year public engagement process that included 40 in-person and virtual public meetings attended by hundreds of New Yorkers, as well as approximately 3,000 comments. This engagement process was guided by a steering committee with over 50 neighborhood stakeholders, including elected officials, Queens Community Board 12, and many local advocacy groups. DCP also collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Voice to Vision, an online tool that visualized how feedback gathered through community engagement shaped the plan’s vision and goals.  

The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan now begins the roughly seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which includes reviews by Community Boards 8 and 12 and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, followed by hearings and binding votes at the CPC and then the New York City Council. Alongside today’s certification, DCP has also published the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan booklet, which provides detailed information on the proposal and the planning process to-date. 

The Adams Administration’s Record on Housing 

This year, Mayor Adams has doubled down on his commitment to build more affordable housing across the five boroughs. Last month, Mayor Adams and the NYCEDC announced the next phase of an ambitious, bold new vision for Coney Island in Brooklyn that will deliver 1,500 new homes and invest in the reconstruction of the historic Riegelmann Boardwalk. Additionally, Mayor Adams and HPD celebrated a $82 million investment to put homeownership within reach for more New Yorkers by expanding the HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program. Finally, the Adams administration has advanced several bold, forward-looking projects, including reimagining Gansevoort Square to build mixed-income housing, building 100 percent affordable housing at the Grand Concourse Library in the Bronx, advancing the 388 Hudson development in Manhattan to provide hundreds of critically-needed affordable housing units, and kicking off public review on the Midtown South Mixed-Use plan to create nearly 10,000 homes — all building on this year’s State of the City address. 

Since entering office, Mayor Adams had made historic investments toward creating affordable housing and ensuring more New Yorkers have a place to call home. DCP is advancing several robust neighborhood plans that, if adopted, would deliver more than 50,000 units over the next 15 years in Midtown South in Manhattan and in Long Island City and Jamaica in Queens. Yesterday, the CPC voted in favor of the Atlantic Avenue Neighborhood Plan. Last year, the City Council approved the Bronx-Metro North Station Area Plan, which will create approximately 7,000 homes and 10,000 permanent jobs in the East Bronx.  

Moreover, last December, Mayor Adams celebrated the passage of “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the most pro-housing proposal in city history that will build 80,000 new homes over 15 years and invest $5 billion towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. In June 2024, City Hall and the New York City Council agreed to an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invested $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to HPD and the New York City Housing Authority’s capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed $24.5 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a generational housing crisis. Mayor Adams celebrated both back-to-back record breaking fiscal years and calendar years in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. Last spring, the city celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point transformation. 

Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city's housing crisis. Mayor Adams announced multiple new tools, including a $4 million state grant, to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units that will not only help older adults afford to remain in the communities they call home but also help build generational wealth. 

Finally, Mayor Adams and members of his administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently-needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary "floor-to-area ratio" cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.    

“Jamaica residents have a strong sense of pride for this neighborhood and its future. That is why we sought community input through a thoughtful, thorough, and intensive two-year long engagement process,” said Justin Rodgers, president & CEO, Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. “The Jamaica Neighborhood Plan will ensure the area remains a home for working class residents, expanded job opportunities, much needed infrastructure improvements, new green spaces and enhancements to the public realm. We appreciate the Adams administration, the Department of City Planning, Borough President Richards and Councilmember Williams for their commitment to Jamaica.”