BFC Partners, a Brooklyn-based real estate firm, on Monday started on the construction of Coney Phase III, an affordable housing building on Surf Avenue in Coney Island.
The building is the third and final phase, adding 420 new affordable residential units to the neighborhood.
Phase I and Phase II added about 2,000 residents through about 1,000 units, according to Donald Capoccia, managing principal of BFC Partners.
"Building housing and moving into housing should not be a rollercoaster," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams who attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
The mayor, who grew up in public housing, said it felt like a full-circle moment as he reminisced about his time as a rookie cop in Coney Island.
"Housing is more than just four walls where people come inside," he said. "It is the precursor to sleep that allows you to experience the American dream, and that dream is coming alive here in Coney Island."
Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, said long-time Coney Island residents deserve to be able to afford their gentrifying neighborhood.
"In the aftermath of what has been decades of housing displacement and gentrification, it's a painful thing when you have folks in communities like Coney Island, and all across the borough of the City of New York, who were here during the difficult days of the heroin explosion or the crack cocaine epidemic, could have fled, but stayed around, invested in their communities, and helped to turn things around, and then find themselves in a situation where they are victims of their own success," he said. "Because they can no longer afford to live in the communities that they have made so attractive for everyone else."
City Council Member Justin Brannan said it was important to look after the residents of the area, nicknamed the People's Playground, who are here all year.
"I always say that, you know, that people's playground, it's important that for three months a year, when the weather is nice, the entire world comes to Coney Island. But we also have to look after the people that live here the other nine months a year. And investments like this, the most important investment you can make, investing in our people, investing in a safe space for future generations, that's what this is all about," he said.
Jeffrey Sanoff, chairman of Community Board 13, urged the city to build a much-requested community center and other amentities.
"...let us not forget the neighborhood needs more retail stores, additional support services for seniors, new schools, and a recreational center for our young people. These amenities will revitalize our community," he said.
