Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday helped break ground on a 341-unit affordable housing development in East Harlem that city officials say will help address New York City’s deepening housing shortage.

“Today we break ground on Timbale Terrace. A 100% affordable housing development that will transform the lives of hundreds of families across East Harlem,” Mamdani said, flanked by members of his administration, city and community leaders.

The development will rise on East 118th Street and Park Avenue on a former NYPD parking lot. It will include 341 affordable apartments, 97 of which will be set aside as supportive housing for residents in need of on-site services.

What You Need To Know

Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke ground on Timbale Terrace, a 341-unit affordable housing development in East Harlem

The project includes 97 supportive housing units and a new cultural center, Casa Belongo

The site was formerly an NYPD parking lot and is part of the 2017 East Harlem rezoning

A proposal to build housing on CUNY campuses has drawn sharp criticism from Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella

The project will also house a cultural center, Casa Belongo, dedicated to Afro Latin music, education and community programming.

“This cultural institution dedicated to performing, teaching and preserving the music of the Americas, rooted in African and indigenous traditions,” said Marietta Ulacia, executive director of Casa Belongo.

The groundbreaking comes as the city faces a housing crunch, with a vacancy rate of 1.4% — the lowest since 1968 — according to the most recent study by the city’s Housing and Vacancy Survey.

Developers said the site, once used by the NYPD for parking, was awarded through a public request for proposals process.

“This is a formerly city owned site, NYPD parking lot that went through an RFP process, brought together public, private, non-for-profit partners to deliver this great housing project,” said Emanuel Kokinakis, development principal at Mega Group Development.

City Hall said the project is part of the 2017 East Harlem rezoning and aligns with Mamdani’s executive order issued on his first day in office opening city-owned and city-affiliated land to housing development.

The push to build on public land has sparked debate beyond East Harlem. A new report from the Center for an Urban Future suggests unused or open space on City University of New York campuses could be used for affordable housing. The report identifies the College of Staten Island as one campus with enough available land to build “multiple five-acre developments.”

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella sharply criticized the idea.

“It’s a really bad and it’s a really dumb idea,” Fossella said Wednesday, arguing the campus lacks sufficient parking, public transit access and infrastructure to support housing.

“Here comes this group that says, ‘Let’s make the problem worse. Let’s take away hundreds, who knows how many parking spots’ — which would only compromise the quality of life for the students and the faculty at the College of Staten Island,” he added.

In response to the proposal, a spokesperson for Mamdani said in a statement: “We are leaving no stone unturned in our work to deliver the affordable housing that New Yorkers need. Our LIFT task force will be looking at every opportunity to build housing on publicly-owned land, including CUNY campuses where appropriate, and we will be meeting with CUNY representatives as a part of the task force’s work.”

City officials said financing for Timbale Terrace is being led by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the Department of Cultural Affairs contributed funding for the construction of Casa Belongo.