A policy organization has put forward a proposal for Zohran Mamdani to consider housing development on certain city properties. The plan would allow affordable housing to be built on underused parcels and parking lots near campuses operated by the City University of New York in all five boroughs. It calls for the use of long-term ground leases, with revenue directed toward student programs and campus repairs. The proposal comes as the administration has established a task force to review city-controlled land for potential housing sites.
What the Report Recommends
The plan from the Center for an Urban Future calls for modest infill housing on select CUNY campuses, with the lease revenue earmarked for student supports and capital repairs. The group points out that several campuses sit on sizable parcels and that the system controls a large amount of surface parking that could be redeveloped without touching the core academic footprint.
Money and Examples
The analysis that has circulated alongside coverage of the report estimates that long‑term ground leases could generate roughly $30 million to $55 million annually and, under certain assumptions, between $3.0 billion and $5.4 billion over a 99‑year lease period. As detailed by The New York Post, CUF’s site‑by‑site math suggests, for instance, that a 2.2‑acre parking parcel at Queens College could support more than 200 homes and produce about $1.2 million to $1.9 million a year in lease revenue. Multiple five‑acre projects at the College of Staten Island are projected to yield several million dollars in annual lease payments.
The report indicates that the figures are conservative and provided for illustrative purposes. It adds that moving from concept to implementation would involve detailed feasibility studies, multiple approval processes, and further political backing.
How It Could Move Forward
Mamdani has already set up a Land Inventory Fast Track, or LIFT, Task Force by executive order to sift through city‑owned and affiliated properties that might be suitable for housing, as per Executive Order 04. The order charges the LIFT team with identifying candidate sites and crafting strategies to get housing built on public land.
Any move to monetize CUNY land would have to be squared with the university system’s broader capital needs. CUNY’s Facilities Planning, Construction and Management office outlines a multi‑billion‑dollar five‑year capital plan and a condition assessment that identifies roughly $7 billion in total capital needs, according to CUNY.
Political and Practical Hurdles
The executive order sets a defined timeline for the city, directing the LIFT Task Force to identify by July 1 sites owned or controlled by the city or its agencies that could support at least 25,000 new housing units over the next ten years, according to Executive Order 04. That target places any potential CUNY agreements within the broader public-land housing initiative.
On top of that, campus‑edge redevelopment would need coordination with Albany, sign‑off from CUNY’s Board of Trustees and the Dormitory Authority, and the usual local land‑use reviews and community engagement before shovels ever hit the ground.
Eli Dvorkin, the center’s editorial and policy director, stated that there is significant opportunity on CUNY campuses, describing the sites as largely vacant or located on the periphery. The mayor’s office and the City University of New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment when the report was first published.
LIFT’s mid‑year deliverable is likely to become must‑read material for both housing advocates and skeptics as the city decides whether public campus land should help shoulder the weight of New York’s housing crunch.
