It is not every day that a community board in New York City asks for more housing.
Yet Community Board 6 has been pushing the Adams administration to help it create a housing plan for Manhattan’s East Side. In fact, as part of the approval of two life science projects in the district, the administration committed to helping craft such a plan.
But the process has been painfully slow and contentious, despite the Adams administration’s claim that it’s the most housing-friendly mayorship in the history of New York City.
In February, the City Council approved Science Park and Research Campus, or SPARC, a redevelopment of the Hunter College Brookdale campus and Innovation East, which will replace the former public health lab. The administration framed the pair as “generational life science projects” that together will add some 1.5 million square feet of life science space to Kips Bay.
Ahead of the approvals, some questioned the wisdom of moving forward with life science projects as demand for such space softened. The mayor signed an executive order last year directing all city agencies to analyze city-owned sites for housing opportunities — and here were two city-owned sites that would not include any housing.
Still, when it came to SPARC, the administration indicated that after “intensive community review and engagement,” it determined that affordable housing was not viable at the site. During a hearing on the project in September, a representative with the Economic Development Corporation said that “having jobs that New Yorkers of all backgrounds can access, that can pay for housing, is also an important part of delivering affordable housing and having an affordable city.”
Meanwhile, vacancy rates for life science space in New York City have sat in the double digits, most recently hitting 39 percent in the second quarter of 2025, according to a recent report by Newmark. Competitor Alexandria Real Estate Equities, working on the third phase of its own life science project nearby, also urged the city to consider a different use for SPARC, including housing.
When it became clear that the administration would not incorporate housing into the projects, City Council members Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers secured a different commitment: the Department of City Planning would meet with the community board to develop a housing plan.
The agency met with the community board in May, and some members walked away frustrated that City Planning had not made any specific commitments to move forward with a district-specific plan. The agency is focused on a broader “Manhattan Plan,” which the mayor has said will add 100,000 housing units across the borough over the next decade.
“Because it is Manhattan-wide, it doesn’t really acknowledge the specifics of our district,” said Sandra McKee, chair of the community board.
During a June 9 meeting of the community board’s land use and waterfront committee, Gigi Li, a vice president with the city’s Economic Development Corporation, acknowledged concerns raised about the meeting and said EDC and City Planning were “regrouping.”
“We’re aware, we’re working on it and we’ll be back with you guys soon,” she said.
Since then, the community board went on summer break and Rivera, who is term-limited, resigned from the Council to head the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
The administration’s focus appears to still be the Manhattan Plan, which is expected to be released by the end of the year. Some aspects of the plan have already been announced and factor into its housing projections, including the Midtown South rezoning and the redevelopment of sites like 100 Gold Street.
A spokesperson for the Department of City Planning said the agency is “deeply appreciative” of the board’s “desire to find opportunities for growth to create more housing.”
“For now, we’ve encouraged the board, and all New Yorkers, to participate in the Manhattan Plan, which looks to create 100,000 new homes throughout the borough,” he said in a statement. “Following that plan’s release, we will return to CB6 to further the conversation on housing opportunities in their district.”
A representative for EDC did not respond to questions about the status of discussions.
Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly referred to his administration as the most pro-housing in the city’s history. His administration aims to complete two more neighborhood rezonings by the end of the year, including a major Long Island City undertaking that could net 14,700 apartments, as well as another in Jamaica that’s expected to create 12,000 homes.
At the same time, multiple reports have indicated that the Trump administration is trying to create a path for Adams to quit his bid for re-election. How that plays out could shift what projects get priority and how much momentum new initiatives, like Community Board 6’s housing plan, are able to pick up in the final months of the administration.
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