The city began the community engagement process for a new development coming to public land in Bed-Stuy. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) on Thursday announced plans to redevelop the run-down Bedford-Stuyvesant Multi-Service Center (MSC) and neighboring vacant city-owned land on Fulton Street into a mixed-use project with 100 percent affordable housing and social services. The project, called “Fulton-Howard West,” is the first public development site under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration.
The development site includes the multi-service center, the former P.S. 28 school building, and its adjacent running track on Herkimer Street, as well as an additional vacant city-owned lot. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation (HPD) and Development has launched a public engagement process to gather resident feedback to help shape the project.
“This building will not only be in Bed-Stuy, it will be for Bed-Stuy,” HPD Commissioner Dina Levy said. “Starting today, we’ll be in the neighborhood at workshops and on the streets, engaging the community on what they want to see here. 100% percent affordable housing on public land with a dedicated community space designed for the residents that live here—that is the investment Bed-Stuy needs, and we are going to get it right.”
Built in 1912, the five-story building at 1958 Fulton Street has long served as a community hub hosting several local organizations, but it needs $60 million in capital repairs and upgrades, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
The site was designated as a potential affordable housing location in the 2020 Bedford-Stuyvesant Housing Plan.
Other components of the plan include The Norma, a 100 percent affordable homeownership development on Fulton Street and Howard Avenue, which the city announced in January 2022. The 11-story mixed-use project, aka Fulton-Howard East, will add 44 condo-style co-ops for first-time buyers.
Created by HPD, the plan aims to address a long-standing shortage of affordable rentals and homeownership opportunities in Bed-Stuy. According to city data, more than 27 percent of Bed-Stuy households earn less than 30 percent of the area median income (AMI) and are considered extremely low-income. Roughly 28 percent earn between 31 and 80 percent of AMI.
However, only 19 percent of rental units in the neighborhood are considered affordable to households earning 30 percent of the AMI or less, as reported by the Brooklyn Paper. More than half of Bed-Stuy residents are rent-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent, while 28.3 percent pay more than 50 percent.
The service center, which houses CAMBA HomeBase and Little Flower Children & Family Services, will include expanded space for those organizations and more. The city said those services will remain in operation throughout the development process and until construction begins. The organizations will eventually relocate to the newly constructed space.
Starting this spring and summer, the public engagement process will include online questionnaires, tabling events, a community workshop, and meetings with the community board and local stakeholders.
The project marks the first public site engagement initiative launched under the Mamdani administration and builds on broader efforts to create affordable housing on public land. The site was identified by the LIFT task force, established by Mamdani on his first day in office, to help identify city-owned sites suitable for affordable housing development.
“NYC is facing a dire housing crisis, and we are using every tool available to build the affordable homes New Yorkers need,” Mamdani said. “Fulton-Howard West shows what’s possible when we treat public land as a public good.”
“This project will help longtime Bed-Stuy residents stay in their neighborhood while creating new space for the organizations and services that communities rely on,” he added. “As this process moves forward, neighbors will help shape what gets built here, from the housing to the public space to the services that will serve this community for decades to come.”
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