NY Governor Commits to More Transit-Oriented Housing

Housing is included in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s vision for the proposed Interborough Express (IBX) light-rail between Brooklyn and Queens, according to a report in Streetsblog NYC.

“I’m committed to transit-oriented development. This will be the embodiment of the dream to have more transit-oriented development,” Hochul told reporters during her appearance at an MTA sidewalk “pop-up” to collect public feedback about the project.

Hochul spoke alongside Assembly Member Claire Valdez (D-Ridgewood), the Democratic nominee to succeed U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez next year, and said the IBX can facilitate sustainable city growth, and she vowed to get the project done with or without money from the federal government.

The governor said she views the IBX as more than an effort to make it easier to get between Brooklyn and Queens without a car, but as an opportunity to encourage denser population growth near mass transit. That’s the type of development that his long-powered New York City’s growth, Streetsblog noted.

Higher, Better Use

“When you have land that is a low value, it’s abandoned land, or sometimes it’s just parking lots next to subway stations, it should have a higher and better use,” Hochul said. “And housing is the answer.”

The IBX will add 18 light rail stops between Sunset Park and Jackson Heights to the MTA system, with transfers to the existing subway stations at 12 stops, Streetsblog reported. Those additions have the potential to promote the construction of 60,000 new housing units, transit officials said, by massively increasing the number of job, educational, and cultural centers people can access within 30 minutes by transit.

Hochul has tried to encourage more up-zoning in suburbs and suburban-coded areas of the city with access to transit, Streetsblog said, although her first push to get a statewide housing plan through faltered in the 2023 budget.

But in the case of the Interborough Express, Hochul has a seemingly willing partner in Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has pushed for large increases in city-funded housing as well as private development.

Earlier this year, Streetsblog noted, the city’s Department of City Planning kicked off a rezoning study along Coney Island and McDonald avenues, a study that the department said “will also help the City and surrounding communities prepare for the MTA’s future Interborough Express (IBX), which will serve the area.”

Funds Committed

So far, the state of New York has committed $2.75 billion to cover half of the projected $5.5 billion price tag for the project.

Normally, a project such as the IBX would be a shoo-in for matching funds from the federal government, but MTA Chair Janno Lieber has said the MTA is exploring ways to cover the rest of the cost itself if the federal government refuses to help.

In addition to the MTA’s own planning, some transit advocates have proposed the idea of a “land value tax” which would take advantage of the higher property values wrought by the IBX to pay for the project.