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Housing & Real Estate Active Updated Jul 3, 2026

Monitor Point and the 50% standard

Gotham Organization's three waterfront towers on MTA-owned land at 40 Quay Street in Greenpoint became an early land-use test of the Mamdani era. Council Member Lincoln Restler held the project mid-ULURP until it hit 50% affordable, 662 of 1,324 apartments, plus commitments to finish the long-promised Bushwick Inlet Park. Council committees approved the deal in late June 2026; the full Council vote is set for July 16. The precedent, half affordable on public land, now follows every developer who wants a city- or MTA-owned site.

The story so far

  1. Jun 30, 2026 Latest

    Brooklyn Downtown Star reported the final deal in full: 1,324 units with 662 affordable, 331 of them deeply affordable, 161 senior and 110 supportive homes, plus a widened waterfront esplanade, two public bathrooms, and stormwater and bulkhead resilience work. The full City Council vote was set for the July 16 Stated meeting. Restler said "There was no single policy that got us there. It was a series of creative approaches that yielded this outcome."

    Brooklyn Downtown Star

  2. Jun 28, 2026

    Brooklyn Paper confirmed the committee approval and the neighborhood terms: $300,000 a year for Bushwick Inlet Park and public waterfront access, in place of the full parkland activists wanted.

    Brooklyn Paper

  3. Jun 26, 2026

    The rezoning moved forward with the affordability breakdown public: 329 units at 40-60% AMI, 172 at 80-125% AMI, 161 senior units, and 110 supportive homes for formerly homeless New Yorkers.

    6sqft

  4. Jun 25, 2026

    The Council's zoning and land use committees approved the deal: 1,324 apartments, 662 affordable, up 202 units from the original 40% offer, assembled from air rights, commercial conversions, and MTA concessions. Restler called it "the hardest negotiation of my entire Council career."

    The Real Deal The Real Deal

  5. May 13, 2026

    The City Planning Commission approved Monitor Point 10-1, with Commissioner Leah Goodridge the lone no vote, sending the 1,150-unit, 40 percent affordable plan to the Council. The Real Deal reported Gotham's costs at roughly $130 million in development rights, MTA facility replacement, and infrastructure, and quoted Restler: "If the developer and Mayor Mamdani and the MTA want to build predominantly luxury housing on this site, then I'm a no."

    The Real Deal

  6. May 1, 2026

    In May 2026, The Indypendent reported that Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, led by president Katherine Conkling Thompson, was fighting the towers outright, demanding full funding and build-out of the 27-acre park promised in the 2005 rezoning and no development on the site, citing the ecological habitat and bird migration corridor.

    The Indypendent

  7. Mar 20, 2026

    Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso recommended approval in a 23-page letter, on the condition that Gotham raise affordability from 40 percent to at least 50 percent and that the city fully fund the unfinished Bushwick Inlet Park. Gotham responded that it wanted more affordable housing if feasible but would not commit to things it could not deliver.

    Brooklyn Downtown Star

  8. Feb 27, 2026

    Brooklyn Community Board 1 voted 24-9 in favor of the Monitor Point rezoning, then 1,150 apartments with 40 percent affordable at 40-80% AMI. The board attached conditions including a 50 percent local preference in the housing lottery, more G train cars, and doubled funding for operating Bushwick Inlet Park.

    The Greenline (North Brooklyn News)

  9. Oct 20, 2021

    The MTA selected Gotham Organization to redevelop its 40 Quay Street site in Greenpoint under a 99-year ground lease. The original plan was an 840,000 square foot project with 900 mixed-income apartments, about 25 percent permanently affordable, plus more than 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial space and a home for the Greenpoint Monitor Museum.

    Commercial Observer

  10. Jan 1, 2005

    In 2005, the city promised a 27-acre Bushwick Inlet Park as part of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning. More than 20 years later only three sections, 86 Kent, 50 Kent, and Motiva, were finished, with the Motiva section adding about 1.8 acres when it opened on April 30, 2026.

    Brooklyn Paper

On the record

The checkable commitments in this fight, tracked until they are kept or broken.

Pending Jun 25, 2026

662 income-restricted apartments will be built at Monitor Point

Gotham Organization (deal with Council Member Lincoln Restler)

The Real Deal

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