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NYC has a ‘Manhattan Plan’ for new housing in the borough — and residents can weigh in
By
Paige Oamek
Published Jun 23, 2025
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Selcuk Acar / Anadolu via Getty Images
By
Paige Oamek
Published Jun 23, 2025
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If you’ve ever dreamed of redesigning Manhattan like a SimCity player, now’s your chance.
Mayor Eric Adams and New York City’s planning department are taking the first steps in their “Manhattan Plan” to add 100,000 new homes to the borough over the next decade. Residents can now weigh in on the plan through a city website and survey, and eventually in-person events, to identify potential sites for residential development, zoning updates and other ideas down to the census-tract level.
That feedback will help shape a final report due later this year, city officials say.
“Tackling our city’s housing crisis takes all of us,” Adams said in a statement. “We’ll use new tools from our landmark ‘City of Yes’ initiative, city-owned sites, and input from New Yorkers to reach this ambitious goal, build more homes, and make our city the best place to raise a family.”
Rents in Manhattan remain high, as the median rental price has hovered around $4,600 a month this spring, according to a May report from real estate firms Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. That represents about an 8% increase from the year before and a nearly 30% jump from five years ago, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. With housing costs so steep and construction lagging, Adams officials say, their Manhattan Plan is vital to keeping the city accessible for New Yorkers of different income brackets.
Over the past few years, Manhattan has produced fewer homes than every other borough except Staten Island, and some Manhattan neighborhoods have lost housing, according to the planning department. Manhattan rents have jumped 50% since 2010, driven by surging demand and insufficient supply due to restrictive zoning rules, high land costs and community opposition to new development.
Adams introduced the initiative during his State of the City address earlier this year, calling the plan “a tribute to this borough’s long history as a place where families from all over the world could come to start their American Dream.” Many zoning proposals that could result from the plan would likely require the approval of the City Planning Commission and City Council.
The initiative is part of the city’s broader push to build more housing as New Yorkers face a shortage of affordable homes. That includes the “City of Yes” legislation Adams led, which is expected to generate 80,000 homes citywide over 15 years and invest $5 billion in critical infrastructure.
Manhattan-specific efforts underway include rezoning south Midtown for more residential uses and redeveloping city-owned lots like 100 Gold St. in the Financial District. The Midtown rezoning, which would allow for almost 10,000 more homes across 42 blocks, passed the City Planning Commission last week and is set to be voted on by the Council this summer.
Public engagement for the Manhattan Plan will run into the early fall, with updates and event listings posted online.
Tagged
economy
eric adams
housing
manhattan
new york city
Paige Oamek
Paige Oamek is a reporter on Gothamist & WNYC's day-of general assignment desk.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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