Sunnyside Yard's $21 billion question: what officials have told the Council so far

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is asking the federal government for $21 billion to build a deck over the Sunnyside Yard rail yard in Queens. The deck would support 12,000 affordable homes. A THE CITY analysis published Monday works out that figure to about $1.75 million per apartment before any housing is built. The administration puts the cost of building an affordable apartment at about $700,000.

Mamdani first raised the plan with President Donald Trump in Washington in February, and again at a September meeting at Gracie Mansion, according to the story. For scale, THE CITY notes that the request is larger than what Washington spends nationally on Community Development Block Grants and public housing combined.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards told THE CITY that "we have got to focus on things that are in front of us," and pointed to other Queens sites. The administration did not respond to THE CITY's request for comment on the cost estimate.

The idea is not new. Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed about 11,500 affordable units at Sunnyside Yard in 2015 at roughly $14 billion, and the plan was dropped, THE CITY reported.

What our records add

Planners said no land use review has been discussed. At the Land Use Committee's March 23 hearing, a Council member asked whether the Department of City Planning had any role in developing or evaluating the proposal. The answer: it is "very early days," and there had been no discussions yet about the land use actions the plan would need. The official said there is a federal property interest at the yard. Any rezoning or public land action would go through the city's land use review, which ends with a Council vote.

Members asked whether the math has changed. Later at the same hearing, Council Member David M. Carr asked whether housing economics had changed enough that the administration could deliver at Sunnyside where earlier plans had not. The official said Sunnyside Yard is "just one thing that we are pursuing," and compared it to other rail yard projects.

EDC called the $21 billion an opening number. At the Economic Development Committee's March 17 hearing, the Economic Development Corporation described the mayor's Washington trip as a conversation about a "transformative housing project" and said it was working with surrounding communities. Later in the hearing, an official described the $21 billion price tag as the start of conversations with federal, state and local partners, and noted that EDC developed the Sunnyside Yard master plan in 2020.

A smaller deck proposal is pending. Res. 656, from Sandra Ung, calls on the MTA to deck over part of the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch between Flushing and Murray Hill. It has been in the Transportation Committee since Sept. 24.

Sunnyside Yard sits in District 26, represented by Julie Won. Our records show no Council legislation specific to the Sunnyside Yard deck.

What's next

There is no formal application, so nothing is scheduled at the Council. If a plan moves forward, it would start at the City Planning Commission and come to the Land Use Committee and full Council for a vote. The Land Use Committee next meets Nov. 10.