Nearly 200 residents packed Sunnyside Community Services Monday evening for the first public engagement on the proposal to build 12,000 new homes over the Sunnyside Yard railyard, a project that Zohran Mamdani revived in February after years of dormancy.
The event, hosted by Council Member Julie Won, drew a mix of supporters, skeptics, and neighbors who said they simply wanted answers before making up their minds. Survey results from the evening captured that split clearly: 32% of attendees expressed strong or moderate support for the project, 26% expressed strong or moderate opposition, and another 32% said they needed more information before forming an opinion.
Mamdani announced the revival of the project on Feb. 27, less than 24 hours after an unannounced trip to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump. At that meeting, Mamdani proposed a federal-city partnership built around a roughly $21 billion plan to deck over the railyard and construct 12,000 new homes, half of them under the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program. The package would also include parks, child care centers, and other infrastructure.
Won had sharp words for the mayor after that February announcement, calling it a case of “re-proposing a failed housing project in my district.” She pushed back publicly and called on the city to commit to a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process involving the City Council and local community given the scale of what is being proposed.
At Monday’s town hall, Won struck a more measured tone while holding her ground. She said she supports deeply affordable housing and major infrastructure upgrades for the area, but only if the community helps shape the plan.
“There must be a community-engaged plan that is reflective of the visions and aspirations of our neighbors and set a new standard for how we plan and build in western Queens,” Won told the crowd.
She described the project as still being in the “early stages” and said a “mountain of work” remains before anything moves forward. She also summarized what residents made clear they want from any eventual deal: truly affordable housing, investments in schools and transportation, climate resiliency measures, and a seat at the negotiating table. “Queens. Community members made it clear that they want truly affordable housing, investments in school and transportation, climate resiliency measures and a place at the negotiation table,” Won said.
The history of the Sunnyside Yard proposal stretches back to 2019, when the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Amtrak first unveiled a masterplan to explore housing development opportunities over the 180-acre railyard under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. That proposal called for a 115-acre deck across the yard and the same 12,000-unit housing target. It stalled out after elected officials raised concerns about displacement and gentrification in the surrounding community, fears that many residents at Monday’s session said still loom large.
Attendees raised several specific concerns during the event. Many questioned the nature of the city’s new relationship with the Trump administration and what obligations or tradeoffs that partnership might produce. Others pressed on whether any housing labeled affordable would actually be accessible to current residents or would be priced out of reach. And a recurring theme throughout the evening was the question of community power: how do Sunnyside residents get a real role in the decision-making process, not just a seat in an informational meeting?
Those questions will not have quick answers. The project involves multiple layers of government, billions of dollars in financing that does not yet exist, and a political partnership that surprised even Mamdani’s own allies when it was announced. For now, Won’s office and the local community are in the position of reacting to a proposal that arrived from the top down.
Monday’s session represented a first step toward changing that dynamic, at least at the neighborhood level. Whether the city and the administration follow the community’s lead is the harder question, and it will play out over months and likely years of negotiations, planning reviews, and political pressure.
For residents of Sunnyside and the surrounding western Queens neighborhoods, the railyard has sat as a massive, underused expanse for decades. What gets built over it, who can afford to live there, and who gets to decide are questions that clearly have their attention.
