By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday released an ambitious plan to transform the Jewel Streets area in Queens and Brooklyn “into a safer, more affordable neighborhood, delivering long-overdue infrastructure upgrades, laying the foundation for thousands of new homes, and improving quality of life for current and future residents.”
The plan includes a new drainage system to address chronic flooding in the neighborhood as well as new bus lane and traffic safety improvements along Linden Boulevard. Additionally, as part of the neighborhood plan, the City will transform 17 acres of city-owned land into 1,400 new homes and pursue an area-wide rezoning proposal for the neighborhood to unlock another 3,600 homes as well. The Adams administration will immediately begin implementation of the Jewel Streets Neighborhood Plan, investing in infrastructure investments and new housing as well as kicking off the public approval process for the plan this year. Altogether, the City will invest over $146 million in upgrading the neighborhood’s streets and infrastructure, Adams said.
Because the Jewel Streets — which straddles 12 blocks across East New York in Brooklyn and Lindenwood in Queens — is a low-lying area without comprehensive stormwater and sanitary sewer infrastructure, residents experience year-round flooding; the neighborhood is often described as “The Hole” due to its sunken streets. Led by the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Design and Construction, the city will install a comprehensive new drainage system to eliminate the use of septic systems in the Jewel Streets and protect the neighborhood from flooding.
The infrastructure plan includes:
- New sanitary sewers across the neighborhood, ending dependence on outdated septic systems.
- A stormwater and sanitary pump station to be built on a city-owned parcel.
- A network of storm sewers to direct rainfall into newly-created bluebelts — natural water features that store and filter rainwater before ultimately releasing the water into Spring Creek.
- Publicly accessible bluebelt ponds with plantings and open space benefits.
- Reconstructed streets with sidewalks, street trees, and safety improvements.
Planned acquisition of vacant land for bluebelts and site selection for the pump station will be advanced through an area-wide rezoning Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), expected to begin in 2026.
The City has already worked to address chronic flooding in the neighborhood, installing drainage infrastructure such as storm sewers and catch basins at four intersections in the north and south Jewel Streets.
The City will pursue a rezoning of the Jewel Streets to enable the creation of approximately 3,600 new homes as well as new retail and community spaces along Linden Boulevard. The rezoning will allow for new multifamily housing and infill development while preserving the neighborhood’s character. A scoping hearing — the first public step in the environmental review process — will be held before the end of 2025, with the full ULURP expected to begin in 2026.
On a 17-acre City-owned site within the Jewel Streets, the Adams administration will launch a transformational redevelopment to build up to 1,400 new affordable and mixed-income homes, including units with homeownership opportunities.
The city-owned site in the Jewel Streets will also include: new community facilities, retail, and green open space; a street grid restoration to reconnect the site to the surrounding community; green infrastructure to manage stormwater and support area-wide resiliency.
“After years of extensive engagement, this administration is presenting an historic vision for the Jewel Streets,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión, Jr.
