City To Upgrade Coney Island Boardwalk, Sports Center, Add 1,500 Housing Units

As New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces calls for his removal, his office is advancing plans for a redevelopment of Coney Island's historic boardwalk and 1,500 new housing units steps from the beach.

The mayor’s office released a request for proposals Thursday, seeking developers to build a 500-unit project on the 80K SF city-owned site on Surf Avenue between West 21st and 22nd Streets, reserving a quarter of those units as affordable housing.

The RFP is the first step in what Adams' office says is a plan to build an additional 1,500 housing units on city-owned land next to the boardwalk.

The remaining 1,000 units will be on parcels near Maimonides Park — the Brooklyn Cyclones' baseball stadium — the boardwalk and the Abe Stark Sports Center. The city has dubbed the targeted redevelopment area Coney Island West. 

Also on Thursday, the city announced plans to invest $42M redeveloping the sports center, which opened in 1970 and is used for ice hockey during the winter months. It is seeking a design-build team to lead renovations of both the sports center and Coney Island’s iconic boardwalk.

“Coney Island is America’s playground — home to iconic venues and parks, countless small businesses, and a hard-working community,” Adams said in a statement. “Our administration is advancing a vision to turn this waterfront district into a great place to live, work, and play, contributing to making New York City the best place to raise a family.”

Two other housing developments, including affordable project Luna Green’s almost 300 units of senior housing, are also under construction nearby, according to the release. Two other affordable developments, Raven Hall and the veteran-focused Surf Vets Place, opened in 2019 and 2022, respectively.

“This is the kind of investment it takes to make sure housing is available and truly affordable to the people of and from our community, and that great jobs and shopping are accessible to the people who live and breathe that Coney Island sea breeze every single day,” New York City Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents South Brooklyn, said in a statement. “This is a big win and a great day for the future of Coney Island.” 

Adams, during his fourth State of the City speech earlier this year, named Coney Island as one of the neighborhoods that would get housing developments on city-owned land.

Last month, the city announced a request for proposals to build dense new housing in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, and Adams has already said he wants a 2,000-unit housing development at 100 Gold St., the Financial District headquarters of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.