BROOKLYN — NEW YORK CITY COULD LOSE APPROXIMATELY 19,300 HOUSING UNITS BY 2040, with nearly a third — about 6,250 units — in Brooklyn, according to an April 2025 report by the Regional Plan Association (RPA) and the National Zoning Atlas (NZA).
Nonprofits RPA and NZA collaborated on the study, “Averting Crisis: Zoning to Create Resilient Homes for All,” to investigate the relationship between zoning and flood risk in NYC and surrounding regions and explore how it is impacting the housing shortage and crisis. The study aimed to shed light on the scope of zoning reforms and policies needed to address both issues.
The RPA report explored the issue of zoning laws by using a needs assessment or a gap housing analysis. The assessment measured housing needs based on projected demand as well as loss to climate change, and found that the maximum development potential for the study area allows for only 45% of the total housing required by 2040. Essentially, the zoning capacity will need to more than double to meet future housing demands.
Professor of Sociology and Urban Sustainability at Brooklyn College and Professor of Sociology and Earth and Environmental Science at CUNY Graduate Center Dr. Kenneth A. Gould said, “We have plenty of good policy options, but we need to be aggressively building housing in climate safer areas to address the housing crisis.”