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Bronx Hospital Campus Housing Plan for Formerly Incarcerated individuals on the Verge of City Council Vote

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A plan to build specialized housing for formerly incarcerated people on a Bronx hospital campus is now on the verge of a City Council vote, three years after top city officials first unveiled the plan. The proposal, which has been met with intense criticism from residents of the surrounding Morris Park neighborhood, includes 83 units of housing, with 58 units of supportive housing and 24 units of affordable housing. The plan has lost a key ally: Mayor Eric Adams, who is backing down from the plan to build supportive housing for formerly incarcerated people with serious medical problems on the grounds of Jacobi Hospital.

Key Takeaways:

  • The proposed 83-unit housing development on the Jacobi Hospital campus has 58 units of supportive housing and 24 units of affordable housing.
  • The plan has faced intense criticism from residents of the surrounding Morris Park neighborhood, including Councilmember Kristy Marmorato.
  • Mayor Eric Adams is backing down from the plan, citing the need to identify alternative locations for the supportive housing.
  • The Council has delayed the hearing on the plan, with several councilmembers stating that they would vote to approve the plan despite opposition from Marmorato.
  • An Adams-appointed commission has proposed changes to the city's governing charter to neuter the tradition of "member deference" and allow the Council to override individual councilmembers' decisions.
  • The city's Health and Hospitals Corporation owns the site and greenlit the plan in January 2024.
  • The plan includes on-site services for people leaving Rikers Island with severe medical problems, such as late-stage cancer and congestive heart failure.
  • If the Council approves the plan, it could counter a long-held narrative that it rejects housing proposals that individual members oppose.
  • A 2022 analysis by the Corporation for Supportive Housing found that about 2,500 people who are arrested and sent to Rikers each year are homeless with mental illness and would benefit from supportive housing.
  • The Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization, would operate the supportive housing and provide on-site services.

Statistics:

  • 83 units of housing are proposed on the Jacobi Hospital campus.
  • 58 units of supportive housing and 24 units of affordable housing are included in the plan.
  • The plan would benefit about 2,500 people who are arrested and sent to Rikers each year and are homeless with mental illness.
  • The city's Health and Hospitals Corporation owns the site and greenlit the plan in January 2024.

Sources:

  • https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/news/036-22/nyc-health-hospitals-department-housing-preservation-development-new-housing-for#/0
  • https://gothamist.com/news/housing-measures-will-be-on-new-yorkers-ballots-after-board-rejects-city-council-bid
  • https://www.bxtimes.com/just-home-bronx-city-council/
  • https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/09/15/top-adams-aide-randy-mastro-pushing-to-block-controversial-bronx-housing-project-for-ex-inmates/
  • https://www.csh.org/2023/10/fuse-10-year-follow-up-report-executive-summary/#_ftn2

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