100% Affordable Housing

While much of Ward’s Island is zoned as a “Park,” a significant section is zoned as “R6” residential, allowing for the construction of “medium density housing,” characteristic of the housing density of many New York City neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Currently, roughly 1,200 people reside in the hospitals, shelters, and community residences located on the island, but there are no amenities (i.e., stores or other services) available to those residents. Manhattan Psychiatric Center and Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center take up the majority of the residential footprint, but only roughly 350 patients reside in the 3 decaying hospital buildings originally constructed to house 3,000.

Our proposal is that:

  1. Two of the three hospital buildings be demolished and the patients be consolidated into one building.

  2. 1,200 new units of permanent housing be constructed to allow for permanent housing of all current shelter residents, as well as low-income general community members, following a 60/40 formerly homeless/low-income model supported by the HUD low-income housing tax credit program. An example of a recent development following this model is The Bridge Rockaway, recently opened in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

  3. Storefronts and essential amenities should be placed on the ground floors of new buildings to facilitate community and livability on Ward’s Island (see the Essential Services page).

We support the efforts of Local Law 2026/019, which requires Housing Preservation and Development to complete a report investigating the possibility of building affordable housing on Wards Island. While our housing proposal is specific to the Manhattan Psychiatric Center grounds, other areas may be suitable sites for affordable housing, while maintaining plentiful park space and sports facilities.

Sample design of where new housing structures could be developed within the zoned R6 area.