Transcript: Most Pro-Housing Administration in City History: Mayor Adams Announces Vision for Over 900 New Affordable Homes on Bronx Waterfront

August 8, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: Really good to be up here in the BX and just a project that is really so important to this entire community and just doing it over and over again when you think about a young man from the Bronx going on to continue to thrive, becoming Bronx borough president and then HUD Secretary, then coming and joining our administration as the commissioner of HPD and now the deputy mayor here from the Bronx. Great things grow in the Bronx. 

People have ignored this borough for far too long and the energy that former Bronx borough president Rubén Díaz Jr. often talked about— he and I joked all the time as children, lots like this will have a mattress and we will use it as our recreation and now to watch all this housing grow in the Bronx and seeing the transition continues with an amazing, energetic borough president. 

And Borough President Vanessa Gibson, who has crisscrossed this borough and just shared her thoughts and desires and saying the expectation for the Bronx must be equivalent to what we see all across our city. The Bronx has been denied far too long and no one wants to talk about it. We just want to continue to just make people feel business as usual and I just don't believe that. I have been in the Bronx more than any man in the history of this city in the Bronx.

From the hub to the road to riding the subway system here, watching good, hardworking people who are saying we're not looking for a handout, we're just looking for a hand up. We just want to get the same things that the other boroughs were receiving, particularly in central Manhattan. This was a one borough city for a long time until this outer borough mayor came and realized that we are not the outer borough, we are the boroughs. We are the boroughs. This is where hardworking people are. 

And so welcome to the beautiful Bronx. We're making this amazing announcement that has been on the drawing board for far too long and just hearing from the electors here, the assemblywomen, you have been talking about this area for so long and saying “let's get it done, let's get it done, let's get it done.” Just good energy. 

900 affordable homes in a vibrant mixed-use community here on the Harlem River waterfront. Just unbelievable when you think about it. Fordham Landing South will be built on this longstanding underused site here and so many underused sites that we have been transforming throughout this entire city. This one will include mixed-use buildings, a waterfront public access area, and new access to the Metro-North transit hub. Building housing by transit hubs is crucial because it builds new communities in the process. It's just really exciting when you think about it. 

This stretch of the Bronx waterfront was long overdue for development. Many people may find it hard to believe, but Bronxites like waterfront property too. They like waterfront views. They like to walk along the Bronx waterfront with their shorty, you know. They enjoy beautiful free areas where they can sit down and enjoy themselves. Why do we have all of this beautiful waterfront and we never develop on the waterfront? Never use this waterfront and we're changing that. 

We're standing on what was once home to a milk and egg distributor and before that a concrete manufacturing supply company. Beautiful waterfront property was being underutilized. But best bets are yet to come. Fordham South will create much needed housing and opportunity for working families here in the Bronx. And we said it over and over again. 

This is the most pro-housing administration in the history of the city. And these are going to be real homes. And when you look at it, we have created, preserved, and zoned for 426,000 homes that can be in our city. And you do the math. That is more in three and a half years than twelve years under Bloomberg, eight years under de Blasio, 20 years of what they attempted to produce, we are producing in three and a half years. That's what you call real work. 

And what does it look like? It looks like homes. It looks like communities. It looks like access for our children and families. And most importantly, if you look over my shoulders, it looks like union jobs. Union jobs. Union jobs. So this is going to make up the core of our comprehensive strategy to address the housing crisis that decades have been in the making. We took over three years ago and our housing situation was at a breaking point. Vacancy rates. Vacancy rates. 1.4 percent. 

We have stalled in building housing. What do we do? Dan Garodnick and the entire HPD team moved into action, started breaking records on building housing, moving people out of homeless shelter into permanent housing, making sure the FHEPS voucher program, more people use it in the history of the program. We started kicking into gear. Then we did five borough rezonings to produce 50,000 units of housing. Then we went to pass and we passed the City of Yes initiative, the most comprehensive housing reform in our city's history. Our city's history. 

Then we went as far to see that we had too many plots of lands that were vacant in the city and underutilized. City agencies. We had every city agency do an analysis of the land that we own as a city and say let's build more. That was some of the things we rolled out with the Flushing Airport development. Laid dormant since 1984. We turned that around and now we're building units of housing and open space. This is what you call Get Stuff Done. 

This is an administration that has been consistent on that. Not making idle promises but delivering for the people of this city to meet a generational housing crisis with historic, ambitious ideas. You have to be forward thinking and unafraid of the naysayers to move us forward. We turn inaction into initiatives and show that a government, business and labor can come together to achieve monumental change. Between our neighborhood rezonings and all the other initiatives we put in place, we are placing New Yorkers into homes and we are excited about continuing that. 

We are advancing our other neighborhood plans that will be able to deliver, as I indicated. 50,000 units over the next 15 years to New York neighborhoods and they're going to improve these neighborhoods. From Atlantic Avenue to Midtown South, which was passed out of committee unanimously earlier this week, to Jamaica and Long Island City. We're not just building more homes, we're doubling down on our commitment to make sure that New York City is the best place to raise a family. 

By putting affordable housing within reach of every New Yorker across all five boroughs. The key to unlocking the American dream is the key to a door to walk into a home that's your own. No one comes to this city or is born in this city to grow up in a homeless shelter. They grew up to have a home where they can raise their families and we're making it happen in every borough in general, but specifically here in the borough of the Bronx. And I want to turn it over to the man that is making it happen.

Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrión, Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce: Thank you, mayor. Good morning, everybody. What a beautiful morning. You know, I was standing there and I was thinking how the mayor, you know, we do a lot of events together and he talks about our work. It's a report card. It's a report card. And this term– remember how nervous we used to get in school as a kid where it's like the report card is coming. How am I going to explain this to my parents? Right. I was in detention a number of times in school and at home. 

But you know, when you can come home to your community, to your family and the mayor, the entirety of the eight and a half million people in this city are his and our family. We are family. And to come home to your family and say I delivered on economic development, I delivered on environmental sustainability and responsibility. I delivered on putting dollars back in people's pockets because it's such an expensive city. I delivered on a housing opportunity. I delivered on job creation and business development. 

That is a stellar report card. And we are very proud of the work that this administration continues to do. And mayor, when I woke up this morning, I was like, I'm going to be very brief and then I'm just going to pass it on to Gary so he can tell the story and the vision. But I may not be very brief after all. I just want to share something very personal. 

The mayor and I talk about how this stuff is personal to us, having been the recipients and beneficiaries of investments from the government into our family with the construct and the social contract that says if you invest in people, they will yield results and American society will be better. American cities will be better. We will all benefit if we can invest in those bambinos. And our government did. 

We went from a sub basement on South Second Street in Williamsburg. New arrivals from Puerto Rico, my parents to move into public housing, to move into HUD subsidized housing, to then benefit from a down payment assistance program from HUD to buy our first home. And then every one of the kids went off and bought their own homes several times over. 

You know, that's the kind of return on investment that this administration is looking for. And that's why this project is so important. And all of those hundreds of thousands of units that will come online into our city. But this is personal to me because I was a 28 year old city planner, mayor, in the Bronx office. I lived right in that building up there. The top floor, 17B, the big windows in the first building. That was my living room right there. 

And I would look down on this lot and on this waterfront and sit and I would say someday there's going to be a beautiful residential community. There's going to be waterfront parkland. The people will be able to commute a 15 to 17 minute commute from right here at University Heights Metro North Station into the central business district, connecting people with opportunity, economic opportunity, futures options. 

We want future options for our people. That was 36 years ago. And then I became the district manager. We kept dreaming about it. I became a council member, dreaming about it. Borough President Rubén Díaz picks up the torch and runs with it loudly and aggressively and continues to do that. Number 13. I'm number 12. And then along comes this young, fiery number 14. 

This assemblywoman, she grabs the torch and she keeps running with it and they don't stop calling me because I happen to be in the job that I'm in saying “We got to do this. We got to do this.” And then, of course, I trickled down to the commissioner and said we got to do this. And it just goes through our veins, you know, to make this happen. And here we are. Here we are. Here we are. 

Thousands of jobs and construction, permanent jobs, homes, a connected community. Amazing. I know my job is not to introduce the elected officials. So is the mayor going to do that? The mayor will do that. I just want to say these are our compatriotas, our socios. Angel from Community Board 5. I have known him for 40 plus years. But I just want to say, look, we have a great development team, mayor. 

We've got Lettire Construction, which is outstanding. We've got New Destiny, which is outstanding. Oh, I got to say this, Positive Workforce. We've got labor. This is a win, win, win, win all around. Let's get to work. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. And it's my pleasure. I got so excited. My pleasure to introduce the man who is going to execute on this vision with the development team, leading the development team, a responsible union builder who is an amazing, amazing, committed businessman to New York City. Gary Segal.

Gary Segal, Co-Founder and CEO, Dynamic Star: Thank you. Thank you, Adolfo. I appreciate that. I must tell you, it's been a very long journey to get here, but I'm very proud that we're standing in front of you today. It's exceptional. First and foremost, I want to thank our mayor, Mayor Eric Adams, for his confidence, his vision and his support for this unique and ambitious development. I also want to thank Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrión Jr. HPD Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani and his fine staff of professionals at HPD and all the elected officials and community organizations that have supported us throughout the years. Thank you. 

I would like to acknowledge my partner, Brad Saxon, and the entire Dynamics staff family with a special shout out to Penny Lee and Frankie Diaz. Our partners, Urban Builders and Lettire Construction, Nick, Matt, Greg, and our amazing design team, design professionals who've worked with us throughout the years to get us here today. Thank you. I'm going to make this a lot shorter. 

We believe that real estate is not just about building buildings. It's about building communities. And here at Fordham Landing, when we are completed with the whole vision, we will deliver over 4,500 new affordable homes, 1 million square feet of commercial, retail and community space, as well as a 1.2 mile Harlem River Greenway promenade and marina. 

But today we're talking about the first phase of the overall vision, which we call Fordham Landing South, which, as the mayor and Adolfo said, it's 927 new homes. And those should be completed within the next 30 to 36 months. We're very proud of that. The Bronx, like every borough in New York City, deserves the very best. 

And with today's announcement, the long held dream of transforming this underutilized stretch of waterfront land into a vibrant, accessible community is finally becoming a reality. What was once deserted will soon be a destination, a place where families can live, work and thrive for many generations to come. And as the mayor stated, which we've been stating at since we started our journey, our goal is to build this project union with union building traits. I'm very proud of that. 

And to summarize, today is a milestone, but it's also a promise that we're going to keep working together with all our partners and stakeholders, our community and neighbors, to create this one of a kind community for the Bronx and across New York City. Thank you once again, Mayor Adams and all of you in attendance today. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: You don't get– you don't get this stuff done without the collaboration, the coordination, the support from local electives. So I want to bring on our amazing borough president, Borough President Gibson and then Assemblywoman Tapia and then the Councilwoman Sanchez. 

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson: All right. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Buenos dias. Bienvenidos. It's so good to be here. This is truly a beautiful day that the Lord has made. And I'm so grateful to be here with all of you. Let me first begin by recognizing all of the incredible leaders and partners that poured so much love into this project. 

As we begin this first phase, I have to acknowledge and really give all credit to our mayor, Eric Adams, the five borough mayor of the City of New York, who is a friend to the Bronx, who shows up and delivers real results for the people of the Bronx. Together, Mayor Adams and I have worked on many projects in the South Bronx at La Central, the former site of the Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility, Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, the expansion of the Metro North, the renovations of the Orchard Beach, the reimagination of the Kingsbridge Armory. 

So many projects that Mayor Adams has truly led. And I'm so grateful that we are here at Fordham Landing South. I want to recognize our deputy mayor, number 12, former borough president Adolfo Carrión Jr. When you hear his story of being a resident here, growing up here, serving as the district manager, the council member, the borough president, the HPD commissioner, and now deputy mayor, it is truly a dream come true for so many Bronxites that have seen this site lie vacant for so many years. 

So I want to say thank you, deputy mayor, for your love, your support, and always proudly representing the boogie down Bronx. Thank you. I want to recognize my predecessor, number 13, Rubén Díaz Jr. Thank you for your support, your leadership. It's an honor to carry on in your footsteps and to make sure projects like this are completed, because you started something amazing in believing in the promise and the potential of our borough. 

And I'm so proud to call you a friend, number 13, and say thank you so much, former borough president Rubén Díaz Jr. All right, and me as number 14, but who's counting? But let me also acknowledge the team at Dynamic Star. Thank you to Gary Segel, to Brad Saxon. Thank you to Frank Diaz and the entire team. Thank you to Lettire and your great work to Urban Builders, to the team at New Destiny, to all of our labor partners, to the Positive Workforce. We say thank you all. 

Acting HPD Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, thank you to you and the team at HPD for all the work you do. And to really each and every one of you, I want to acknowledge Bronx Community Board 5. I want to acknowledge incredible leaders like Chauncy Young, who does so much work to make the Harlem River waterfront as vibrant as it possibly can be. Thank you to my elected officials who you will hear from, our assemblywoman fighting for dollars for us in Albany, Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia, and our New York City councilmember making sure we get dollars from the City Council, Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, and each and every one of you who are here. 

Shout out to labor, I see carpenters, electricians. Thank you everyone for joining us today. This is truly an important moment for us in the Bronx. It's a great step of progress, a notable investment for the people of our borough, the future of University Heights and Morris Heights and our greater borough. Up to 927 units of affordable housing, we are truly moving the needle forward in our overall and shared commitment to making our borough a place where working class families, immigrant families, can live and work and raise their families. 

Let me be very clear, Fordham Landing South is not just about housing. This project is a model for integrated, sustainable, and equitable development, as it will include a 100,000 square foot public school for families and our children. It will also include modernizing the Metro-North University Heights Station. I'm excited about that. A new pedestrian bridge and an extended platform to better connect our residents to their jobs, their schools, and opportunities throughout the region. This building will also feature a state-of-the-art heating system. 

We always talk about energy efficiency and sustainability. It matters, and our mayor understands that. Geothermal heating system covering 60 percent of the building's climate control through clean and renewable energy. It's exciting when we talk about clean and renewable energy, since we represent a borough that faces the highest rates of health disparities when it comes to asthma, heart disease, kidney disease, and high blood pressure. 

This project pushes our borough ever closer to our climate goals. Fordham Landing South will also create an 800 linear foot public Harlem River Esplanade, offering bike and pedestrian access, recreational space, and a reconnection to our waterfront, beautiful state park, Roberto Clemente State Park, the High Bridge, Bronx Community College. 

This is a beautiful neighborhood, and I'm so proud that we are activating this space. These amenities not only promote physical well-being, but also address so many of the changes and challenges that we are facing in our borough. Fordham Landing South will be a transformative project for our University Heights and Morris Heights community that responds to our needs and is truly designed with balance, equity, and intention. 

This project will enhance the quality of life, not just for the current generation of residents, but for future residents who will all come and visit our waterfront and our borough at large. And let me also remind all of you that this is an opportunity to not only connect the entire Harlem River waterfront all the way from the 149th Street Bridge with Bronx Point, the future site of the Hip Hop Museum, the expansion of Mill Pond Park, the Bronx Children's Museum, Bronx Community College, Roberto Clemente State Park, all the way up past the 207 Bridge, all the way to Marble Hill and beyond. 

We have a vision. We also want expanded ferry service because we want alternatives to using cars. I became a bike rider a couple of years ago, so we know that there is an important component when we talk about cyclists and pedestrian access. This is how we build a stronger and more connected Bronx and City of New York. And so I'm excited about this transformative project. I'm excited about the hopes that we have in revitalizing this area. 

This is exactly what we are doing as an administration. It matters when you show up and it matters when you deliver real results for our borough. I acknowledge so many of our park advocates and environmentalists that are a part of the Harlem River Working Group and the Harlem River Coalition. They have been fighting this fight for years, when we opened Bridge Park, when we reopened the High Bridge several years ago. So there is so much momentum and we are excited about Fordham landing south. So I, as your 14th Bronx borough president, look forward to working with the entire team at Dynamic and Lettire and Positive Workforce and our mayor and everyone. 

And as we move forward into the new year, I know there will be more opportunities to make sure that this project is fully funded, it's on time, it's on budget, it matters because we want to make sure that this is a shining example of what we can do as public-private partners working together for common priorities, a common vision and a common blueprint for our borough and the greater City of New York. So thank you so much and congratulations on this first start, on this first phase of Fordham Landing South. I am excited to work with all of you to see this beautiful and exciting project come to fruition. Thank you so much.

State Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia: Good morning, good morning everyone. Today is a day of celebration and I am honored to be here today. But I want to thank the mayor of the City of New York, my friend Eric Adams, because I mean, to take on this project that for years and years we've been fighting for, it's a job. To Dynamic Start, Gary Segal and Brad Saxon, because even when they've been trying this project for several years, they didn't give up. They continue waiting for this to happen and fighting and making the phone calls and doing all what is needed because they understand that our community needs places like this. 

I want to recognize my friend, my brother Adolfo Carrión, who actually is part of this fight and this borough that all of them have put a little bit to make it better every single day. For far too long, this land sat underutilized behind a gate. Today, we begin reclaiming, reclaiming it for our community because it belongs to us, for our families, our seniors and our residents. Right now, more than half of our families in this neighborhood spend over 30 percent of their income every single month for rent. 

People in our community are being forced to choose between rent and putting food on the table. Every day, constituents come to my office desperate for help to pay the rent. Fordham Landing is a direct answer to that need. This project, Phase 1, will bring more than 900 units of affordable housing to our borough, right here in our neighborhoods. Yes. Yes. That means hundreds of families will finally have access to housing that doesn't come at the expense of their health or their future. 

But this isn't just about housing. It's about creating a complete neighborhood with green and open spaces to access the waterfront and opportunities for our small businesses. This is about ensuring families have the resources they need, not just to survive, but to live with dignity. This is what our community deserves. We deserve homes we can afford, schools where our kids can thrive, and neighborhoods where families can put down roots and build a future. 

This is just the beginning. Fordham Landing can be a model for how we do development the right way, with deep affordability, public benefit, and real community input. I am proud to stand with all of you to make that future real. I want to shout out my prior borough president, Rubén Díaz, Jr., who has been really a champion for this, too. And, of course, my union people, because as you know, I was on the executive board, DC 37, for 20 years. So I am a union girl, guys.

Councilmember Pierina Ana Sanchez: Thank you very much. All right, good morning, everyone. Mayor.  Always, always. Good morning, everyone. I'm Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, and I'm also proud to be the City Council's chair on Housing and Buildings. And so this project for me is coming at the work from all angles, and I just want to start with the gratitude to Mayor Adams for your vision. This parcel, Dynamic Star shares with me, was rezoned in 1988, which also is the year that this one was born. And so it seems very fitting that we're finally being able to move forward because of the leadership of the Adams administration. 

Deputy Mayor Carrión, [who], yes, is a predecessor to the borough presidents, but also is a predecessor to Council District 14. He was our councilmember, and we do claim him. And, of course, it never gets old for me, deputy mayor, to shout that out anywhere we go together. And, of course, our friends in labor. I want to acknowledge that the first time that I had a meeting with Dynamic Star, with Brad and Gary and everyone on the team, Penny, I feel like we've had so many conversations. 

One of the very first things that was said was that you are and we are committed to labor, right, to labor construction in this project, and I hope neutrality in the long term, right, to make sure that this entire project, and when I say entire, I mean that we're here today talking about Fordham Landing South, and it's very exciting to see it move forward, but also Fordham Landing North on the other side of the bridge. It really helps when we're starting from the same page. 

And so, look, I grew up in this neighborhood. I remember I used to cross over to the 207 Bridge to visit the family in Washington Heights, and I never knew that this was here until I was 30-something-odd years old, and I finally said, where does this ramp lead? And I'm sorry, I probably did trespass. Please don't retaliate. But I did come down here, and I was flabbergasted that there was this much empty land in New York, anywhere in New York City but in the Bronx, in our community, sitting here vacant, waiting, waiting for the promise to become, as Deputy Mayor Carrión has said, to become a neighborhood in the future. 

And so 927 units of affordable housing here is extremely exciting, but the most exciting part of this for me is the opportunity to develop this parcel and in the future Fordham Landing North in a way that is in the vision of this community, in the way that is respecting all of the desires and needs that we have here in the West Bronx. 

And that's why I am very grateful to Mayor Adams and to the administration that when we were negotiating the City of Yes package and the land use reform that passed in December when I was 50 months pregnant, the Adams administration did commit to a planning study for Community Board 7 to ensure that anything that happens here in the future is done in the vision of the community. So I want to thank you for that, Mayor Adams. 

And finally, it was mentioned, but I do want to acknowledge very specifically that it's an injustice. It's an injustice that a community that is right on the water, we have zero access to this waterfront. Fortunately, in recent years there were upgrades to Roberto Clemente State Park and we're able to go down the street and access the beautiful views of Washington Heights and the Harlem River, but there is no reason why that park shouldn't be connected all the way to Marble Hill. And so Harlem River Working Group, thank you for your steadfast advocacy on that. This project and Dynamic Star, thank you for your partnership. This project is critical to completing that connection and I look forward to everything that is to come. Thank you.

Question: In terms of the hires, perhaps Dynamic Star mentioned if all of the hires would be direct or if there will be any subcontracting. If there will be subcontracting, can they speak a little bit about guaranteeing wages and safety levels? Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Hiring? How are they doing the hiring?

Deputy Mayor Carrión: Gary, come just so– because I know you can fill in some of the blanks, but in every one of these development projects there are requirements for local hiring. Obviously, this is going to be a union-driven labor force, which is really historic. The mayor insisted that we start to craft a working relationship with labor where they can help us deliver affordable housing at the right price point. It was a huge challenge. It's never been done before. 

I could point to maybe one or two projects around the city where it's built by organized labor and it's affordable. Market rate, easy. Affordable, very difficult. But this developer came to the table at the call of the mayor and at the challenge of the mayor and said, are you able to build affordable housing in partnership with labor? They said yes. 

So they're squeezing their budget in order to deliver at the right price point, and then your universe of subcontractors are all local providers. Obviously, the materials coming to the site, we try to buy America and we try to buy local New York City. And so we put that challenge to every developer to ensure that there's a local economic benefit in New York City. I don't know if you want to add anything, Gary.

Segal: No, that was on point. The local unions are working with the administration and ourselves to be able to build unions. This is affordable housing. Union, 100 percent, has never been done, and our goal is to try to get it done. And we have the backing of the unions. So that's very, very special.

Deputy Mayor Carrión: Thank you, Gary. 

Question: I wanted to ask, when exactly will the whole [inaudible]  to be ready to go something [inaudible]? And then, as part of the project, how important was also developing the area around it, not just putting unions here so that people can walk around, people can walk?

Deputy Mayor Carrión: So in terms of the timing, you heard Gary earlier talk about approximately 36 months to deliver the end product here. And what will be delivered in those 36 months is an entire, full, operational, user-friendly neighborhood, a community. There will be connections to mass transit. There will be public, accessible, open space on the waterfront. 

The larger vision that we've all been fighting for for decades is to ensure that there is a continuous waterfront access for the people of the Bronx to the Harlem River Valley. The mayor has put that challenge before us, and everyone, public and private, is working together to deliver on that promise.

Mayor Adams: Thank you all. Good job. Well done.

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