Mayor Adams transforms 165 acres for housing, schools

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced today that his administration, through the efforts of the Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), has cleaned 165 acres of contaminated land since January 2022.

The remediated sites have been redeveloped into 28,000 housing units — including 12,000 affordable homes — as well as 16 schools, 2.9 million square feet of community spaces, and 6.1 million square feet of commercial development.

“New York City’s most valuable resource is our land — and our Office of Environmental Remediation does incredible work to make sure we can use every square foot safely and in a healthy manner,” said Mayor Adams. “The 165 acres we’ve cleaned up have allowed us to house tens of thousands of our neighbors, put thousands of students in school seats, and build new plazas, parks, and open spaces across the city.”

Since its establishment in 2008, OER has completed more than 1,000 cleanups, the most of any municipal program in the U.S. Nearly 70% of these projects have targeted environmental justice areas, where communities historically bear the brunt of pollution. Acting Director Shaminder Chawla highlighted OER’s transformative impact: “We make sites ready for redevelopment, which brings housing, jobs, and millions in tax revenue for our city.”

Key projects include:

– **Mt. Hope Walton Apartments (Bronx):** A former vacant property now features 103 affordable housing units and a community gym, following soil remediation.

– **Rheingold Affordable Senior Residences (Brooklyn):** This supportive housing for seniors includes a rooftop garden and services, built on cleaned land with vapor barriers installed for safety.

– **Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (Queens):** A new 646-seat middle school, developed on remediated land, includes protections for residual contaminants.

– **River Avenue (Bronx):** One of the city’s largest supportive housing projects, with 245 affordable units and a specialized school, developed with air monitoring and soil excavation oversight.

OER’s innovative programs, including the Clean Soil Bank and Green Property Plaques, have made New York a leader in sustainable urban redevelopment. Local leaders, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, praised the initiative for addressing pollution while delivering critical housing and infrastructure.

With its track record of success, the OER continues to reshape polluted land into spaces that serve New Yorkers, emphasizing sustainability and equity.