New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Majority Whip Kamillah Hanks unveiled NorthShoreNYC, a planning vision to spur new housing and economic development along the Staten Island North Shore waterfront from St. George to Stapleton, at a press conference on September 25.
The initiative identifies city-owned land, underutilized properties and vacant sites that the Council says could pave the way for mixed-use housing, public improvements and job creation. It also lays out how current zoning rules, a historical lack of coordinated planning and what the Council calls inadequate public investment have kept the waterfront area from becoming a walkable district with housing, entertainment and public space on par with other boroughs and neighboring cities.
Menin and Hanks also announced more than $38 million in capital and expense discretionary funding tied to the North Shore, directed at public improvement projects, arts and cultural institutions, healthcare services and youth programs.
Of that total, $10 million will go toward Richmond Terrace street improvements and the construction of the Tompkinsville Esplanade and Pier One Fishing Pier, which the Council says will connect the waterfront around the Staten Island Ferry with the developing Stapleton waterfront and its new parks. Staten Island University Hospital will receive $1.5 million to expand its emergency room department. The St. George Theatre will receive $7.35 million for roof and facade upgrades.
The vision would expand the scope of the in-progress North Shore Action Plan to better connect the waterfront with surrounding communities and accelerate development on public and private land. The study area runs from St. George through Tompkinsville and Stapleton and includes commercial corridors such as Bay Street, underutilized waterfront sites and areas with strong transit access.
As one example, the Council pointed to a nearly 7-acre city-owned site on Castleton Avenue that it says could hold a new school and produce more than 400 homes through a mix of rental buildings and homeownership townhouses. Down the hill, at the intersection of Bay Street and Victory Boulevard, the Council said multiple vacant and underused properties form a gap in the neighborhood that could become new housing, neighborhood services and a connection to the waterfront.
“This Council is not afraid to think big and be bold when it comes to confronting the housing crisis and building a New York City for generations to come,” Menin said. “That’s why today we are unveiling NorthShoreNYC, a vision to realize a ‘Downtown Staten Island’ that is a vibrant, walkable waterfront destination with thousands of housing units, offering affordable options for people who love this borough and city. I look forward to working with Majority Whip Kamillah Hanks and our Land Use Chair, Council Member Kevin Riley, to build a community where all who call the North Shore home can raise their families and stay for decades.”
Hanks tied the plan to affordability for younger residents. “The greatest challenge we face is the unaffordability of life, particularly for our young people,” Hanks said. “I became a homeowner at 27 years old. That was possible for me. Today, too many young Staten Islanders cannot afford to buy a home or even rent an apartment in the borough that raised them.”
The announcement follows similar planning and engagement initiatives the Council launched for the Park and Webster Avenues corridor in the Bronx and the Bay Ridge Triangle in Brooklyn. The Council describes the initiatives as part of Menin’s housing agenda, which also includes a plan to build affordable housing above aging libraries and proposed reforms to spur as-of-right housing on vacant small lots.
“Addressing New York City’s housing and affordability crisis requires us to be proactive, ambitious and willing to plan alongside the communities we serve,” said Council Member Kevin C. Riley, chair of the Committee on Land Use. “Majority Whip Kamillah Hanks has carried a vision for the North Shore rooted in the community she calls home, and this planning process represents an opportunity to build on that vision with new housing, economic opportunity and stronger connections across these neighborhoods.”
Residents can sign up for updates about upcoming events, workshops and surveys through the NorthShoreNYC planning page.
Featured image: Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
