A city-owned parking garage on West 108th Street is officially on its way out, with 84 apartments for low-income seniors set to rise in its place, city and developer officials said at a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday. The work marks the second phase of the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing’s West 108 project, which is converting the block’s aging garages into housing for older New Yorkers, including formerly homeless seniors. Local officials and advocates framed the ceremony as a milestone for a transformation that has been years in the making.
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine joined the event and later posted about it on X, saying he was “extremely honored to take part in the groundbreaking” and calling the push to build the homes “one of the hardest fights he is proud to have been a part of,” according to the Office of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. The project’s sponsor, the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, describes the development on its website as a long-planned 84-unit affordable housing project on a city-owned Upper West Side parking lot. WSFSSH notes that the new building will include on-site supportive services intended to help seniors live independently.
Extremely honored to take part in the groundbreaking for the second phase of @WSFSSH’s affordable supporting housing development on W. 108th St. I’ve been in government for 12 years, and https://t.co/BN0RHke3g4
— Office of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine (@nyccomptroller) March 27, 2026
Project details and approvals
The city’s environmental notice for "WSFSSH 105 West 108th Street" confirms that the new residential building will include 84 supportive affordable units plus one superintendent unit, and that it will be supported by HPD's Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program and 83 Section 8 project-based vouchers, according to HPD's environmental notice. The filing lists the site as 105 West 108th Street (Block 1863, Lot 26) and places this Phase II building within a larger West 108 plan that also includes community facility space and transitional housing on neighboring lots. City documents show that the overall redevelopment has cleared years of environmental review and planning to get to this stage.
Background and neighborhood reaction
Neighbors have been sparring over the block’s future for nearly a decade, with early meetings and protests centered on the loss of public parking and the size of the redevelopment, West Side Rag reported. Community Board 7's project page and meeting materials track the proposal’s ULURP and environmental review history and describe how the two-building plan would add roughly 277 affordable units to the neighborhood while replacing several city-owned garages, according to Manhattan Community Board 7. Supporters say the second phase will bring on-site services and medical care that many seniors on the block do not currently have, while opponents continue to voice concerns about parking and traffic.
WSFSSH and city officials say this phase is meant to expand housing options for older New Yorkers who are at risk of homelessness, with an earlier timeline from the developer estimating roughly a two-year construction period, per WSFSSH. For now, Friday’s groundbreaking marks a tangible start to a project that planners say will knit affordable housing, supportive services and community medical care into this Upper West Side block.
