Horse racing to housing: Council speaker proposes new housing project at Aqueduct Racetrack
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City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams proposed turning Aqueduct Racetrack into a mixed-use development during her State of the City speech on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Photo by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
By Jacob Kaye
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Wednesday proposed building a new neighborhood on the 172-acre site currently occupied by Aqueduct Racetrack, as well as on an adjacent parcel of land owned by the city.
Currently used by the New York Racing Authority for horse races, the speaker said that the site, which is owned by the state, presents a rare opportunity to build much-needed housing in the city and in her council district, in particular.
The proposal was unveiled as one of the central pieces of Adams’ State of the City speech delivered from the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Wednesday afternoon. Much of her speech – her third since being elected speaker of the Council – centered on the city’s affordability crisis and the struggles of low and middle income New Yorkers to make ends meet, and how city government is poised to “get back to basics” to provide them with the services to ensure they remain in the five boroughs.
Her plan for Aqueduct Racetrack was the first proposal Adams pitched during her speech.
“As a native New Yorker who grew up in Southeast Queens, I know the possibilities and the promise this city holds,” the speaker said. “Through good union jobs, my parents were able to enter the middle-class and create a stable life for my sister and me.”
“But what was possible then is too often out-of-reach now,” she added.
As a solution, Adams said that the Aqueduct site, as well as a currently unoccupied site next door, should be converted into what may amount to a new neighborhood with housing at its center.
Within three to four years, the horse racing currently being held at Aqueduct is expected to be moved to Belmont Park, the racetrack in Nassau County, just over the Queens-Long Island border, that is currently undergoing a renovation.
The impending move has left the future of the state-owned site somewhat up for grabs.
“This presents a generational opportunity to transform this site into housing and homeownership, open space, and new community amenities,” the speaker said during her speech on Wednesday.
However, Adams’ proposal is not the first for the site.
Last month, Genting Group, the owners of Resorts World New York City, unveiled its plans to turn Resorts World into a fully fledged casino, and, in an effort to nab one of the state’s three downstate casino licenses expected to be handed out in the next year or two, Genting pitched building employee housing on the Aqueduct site.
Their $5 billion proposal – which would only be built should they be granted a casino license – would include 3,000 units of “workforce housing,” the creation of open space and improvements to local transportation.
Resorts World is largely expected to receive one of the state’s downstate casino licenses.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams proposed building housing at the site currently occupied by Aqueduct Racetrack on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. File photo by TDorante10/Wikimedia Commons
The speaker made no mention of the casino proposal – which has received backing from Rep. Gregory Meeks, State Senators Joseph Addabbo and Leroy Comrie, Assembly Members Stacey Pheffer Amato and Alicia Hyndman, and City Councilmember Nantasha Williams – during her speech on Wednesday.
Representatives from Resorts World did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday.
A Council spokesperson said that Adams’ proposal for the state-owned land is still in its earliest stages and could change depending on Resorts World’s ability to secure one of the casino licenses.
In a report released alongside the speaker’s State of the City speech, the speaker’s office alluded to the fact that the site’s future rests in the hands of the state.
“In anticipation of state decisions regarding use of the land, Speaker Adams will work with state partners, including state legislators, to ensure local stakeholders help in seizing the benefits from unlocking these possibilities,” the report read.
The speaker also proposed building housing on a 26-acre city-owned lot adjacent to Aqueduct Racetrack – the project may or may not be linked to the project on the Aqueduct site depending on whether or not Resorts World receives a casino license.
The site is one of the largest parcels of vacant, city-owned land, according to the speaker, who noted that its proximity to the A train “makes it a valuable opportunity for transit oriented housing.”
The proposal was met with a standing ovation from both Mayor Eric Adams – who is currently being sued by the Council over his administration’s failure to implement the legislature’s housing voucher expansion program – and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“The Aqueduct Racetrack site offers immense potential when it comes to greatly expanding our borough’s affordable housing stock and bevy of homeownership opportunities, and I look forward to working closely with Speaker Adams and all our partners to make the most of this opportunity,” Richards said in a statement to the Eagle.
“From housing to open space and more, South Queens deserves this level of investment to make it a true live, work and play destination,” he added. “I applaud Speaker Adams for her vision and her impeccable leadership, which were on display yet again today.”
The speaker said that the plan to bring the housing project to her district was her way of “lead[ing] by example” after the mayor criticized members of the Council for being reluctant to support affordable housing projects in their districts.
“The expectation must be for every district to equitably contribute to addressing the housing crisis,” the speaker said. “Every one of us, and the communities we represent, have an equal responsibility.”
Queens Community District 10, where the proposal would be located, has seen the lowest amount of affordable housing development of any district in Queens, according to the speaker, who represents parts of South Ozone Park, Jamaica, South Jamaica, Springfield Gardens, Brookville and Rochdale Village.
In all, the district has seen less than 200 new units of housing since 2018.
“By supporting a planning process for significant housing development in this part of her district,
Speaker Adams is leading by example and demonstrating that every community district must help solve New York City’s severe housing shortage,” the speaker’s State of the City report read.
