City Council unanimously passes Far Rockaway rezoning

New Yorkers Looking For A Place to live just got thousands of new reasons to hitch a ride to Rockaway Beach.

The City Council unanimously voted in favor of the Far Rockaway rezoning on Wednesday afternoon, less than one month after approving a rezoning of Midtown East that could bring 6.5 million square feet of new office space to the neighborhood.

The Far Rockaway rezoning, which unanimously passed the City Council’s land-use committee on August 22, would bring more than 3,000 residential units to Far Rockaway, and on land that is owned by the city, all of these units would be affordable. The plan covers 23 blocks in total and will cost roughly $288 million, including about $126 million of city funds. The rest will come from the federal government and private groups.

Money will go toward projects that include building a new library branch at the corner of Mott and Central avenues, launching a ferry service shuttle pilot running from Downtown Far Rockaway to Beach 108th Street, and installing real-time bus arrival displays.

The rezoning is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York plan, and it is the first such rezoning to pass the City Council since the 2016 rezoning for East New York. It is also the first rezoning in Far Rockaway since 1961.

Far Rockaway has seen several new real estate developments lately, including a plan by the Marcal Group to build a mixed-use project on the Rockaway Beach waterfront with 149 apartments. Additionally, the affordable housing developer MDG Design + Construction inked a $109 million, 99-year lease for a city-owned complex in the neighborhood in January.