Trump, Mamdani reignite Sunnyside Yard conversation but Queens locals remain wary

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump said that their offices will continue conversations around building 12,000 homes at Sunnyside Yard. Screenshot via the Mayor’s Office

By Ryan Schwach

Western Queens locals remain wary of a vague plan to build 12,000 homes at Sunnyside Yard after President Donald Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday they have agreed to move the conversation about the $21 billion project to a “new level.”

Elected officials and housing advocates in Queens said on Tuesday that they want more details about the ambitious idea to build over the Sunnyside rail yard after the two Queens men said plans to create the new neighborhood were still on the table after meeting at Gracie Mansion on Monday.

“We've agreed to set up a new level of that conversation between our housing and operations team at City Hall and the White House team,” Mamdani said while Trump stood beside him outside the mayor’s Upper East Side home. “What we're speaking about is 12,000 homes, 30,000 jobs, the prospect of an entire new neighborhood in a city where housing is the number one cost, and I appreciate the president’s interest in this.”

The mayor said that the pair agreed to have their deputies engage in more “technical” discussions about the plan and what it may take to accomplish it, including getting necessary federal authorizations.

“That's what this kind of conversation facilitates,” the mayor said. “We are sincerely interested and committed to this as an idea, which is why it's been the focus of the conversations I've had with the president.”

Trump, who was once a housing developer in his native borough and who fondly recalled on Monday owning a “great building” in Sunnyside, called it a “big job.”

“I've been watching that for 35 years, everybody's wanted to do something with Sunnyside Yards,” he said.

However, Western Queens locals remained skeptical about a plan to develop an area that has seen many other similar plans proposed and then scrapped.

"We need truly affordable housing in Queens, but we need a real plan to execute,” Councilmember Julie Won said on Tuesday. “Since the last discussion on Sunnyside Yard months ago between the mayor and president there is no funding from Congress nor any public meetings to move this project forward.”

“There is no federal, state, or city bill allocating funding for this project,” she added. “There is still no timeline. Congress would have to fund it, and the state and city legislature would have to approve it.”

Won, who earlier this year held town hall meetings to discuss what the project might look like and gather community input, said the forces behind any future Sunnyside Yard development should also engage the public.

“Our neighbors in Sunnyside yet again were not part of yesterday's conversation,” she said. “Any plan for Sunnyside Yard must begin with them.”

“Until we see real funding, real approvals processes, and real community engagement, this is a conversation, not a housing project,” she added.

Jenny Dubnow, a local affordable housing advocate with the Western Queens Community Land Trust, said it was hard to comment on a plan that is still not quite a plan at all.

“It's a tough thing to respond to because there is so little detail,” she said. “What are the details about the affordability levels? This project is being very vaguely described as affordable, but what are the numbers that are being projected? What's the funding stream? What's the plan?”

She said that if the federal government is willing to send billions of dollars to the city for housing, it should instead be used to improve conditions in NYCHA buildings or create other sources of affordable housing.

“It seems like a little bit of a case of misplaced priorities,” she said.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards expressed a similar sentiment on Tuesday, saying that while he supports the Sunnyside idea, there are other projects already under construction that he’d like to see promoted and funded first.

“I believe in Sunnyside Yard’s untapped potential as New York City's next great community, where we can build thousands of affordable homes, schools, parks, healthcare facilities and more — like a new arena specifically for the New York Liberty,” said Richards. “But we have so many projects at more advanced stages of planning and construction such as Arverne East, Edgemere Commons, the redevelopments of Creedmoor and Flushing Airport and the rezonings of Jamaica and Long Island City, among others.”

“They are where federal investment — if the Trump Administration actually follows through — should be directed first and foremost, all while the city continues to study the possibility of a reimagined Sunnyside Yard,” he added.

When Mamdani first met the president in the Oval Office in February, he emerged with a suggestion that Trump could help fund the massive housing project at Sunnyside Yard.

The $21 billion idea would include 12,000 new affordable homes, including 6,000 new Mitchell-Lama-style homes, as well as parks, schools and other amenities over the Sunnyside Yard train tracks. Most of the upfront cost would go toward building a massive deck over the existing rail tracks so housing could be built on top of it.

In the months since the idea was first discussed, no other details have arisen, leaving Queens residents and elected officials somewhat wary of the potential cost and the involvement of the president, who remains wholly unpopular in New York City.

Assemblymember and Democratic nominee for Congress Claire Valdez and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have expressed that while they are supportive of more housing, they remain cautiously optimistic about future federal construction at Sunnyside.

At a town hall meeting in April hosted by Won, locals told the Eagle they wish they knew more about the plan.

“It seems like no one really knows what's happening,” said Vishnu Reddy, a Long Island City resident. “This is internal between Mamdani and Trump. We'll see if the Trump administration gives us the money. My guess is we're not getting the money.”

On Monday, Trump said the plan would likely require federal approvals and input, but refrained from committing federal dollars to it.

“It's always been a great location,” Trump said. “When [Mamdani] mentioned Sunnyside Yards, they've been talking about developing that for 50 years. So, maybe they have a shot at doing it.”