6
COURIER LIFE, APRIL 1-7, 2022
Affordable Raven Hall
apartments open a block
from Coney Island beach
Raven Hall, a new 22-story affordable housing development in Coney Island. Governor’s Office
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Hundreds of new affordable
apartments are officially
online just a block
from the beach in Coney Island,
on the former Ravenhall
Baths site, Governor
Kathy Hochul announced
March 30.
Raven Hall, so-named
in honor of the legendary
Ravenhall Baths — which
operated at the site from
1867 until being destroyed
in a fire in 1963 — brings
216 affordable apartments
to the People’s Playground
in a 22-story building at
Surf Avenue and West 20th
Street.
The new edifice includes
193 apartments designated
affordable to those
making up to 60 percent of
the area median income —
for a single tenant, that’s
about $50,000, while a family
of four would be making
about $71,500. An additional
22 apartments are
affordable for those making
up to 90 percent of AMI,
and one apartment will be
occupied by a live-in super.
77 apartments are set aside
for families experiencing
homelessness. New Destiny
Housing will provide
on-site services and support
for those families.
Amenities include a
gym, children’s play area,
and in-house laundry, plus
a large rooftop terrace
with impeccable views of
Coney Island and the Atlantic
Ocean. Raven Hall
is located one block north
of Riegelmann Boardwalk
and Coney Island’s beach,
and a block west of Maimonides
Park, home of the
Brooklyn Cyclones, and
the Coney Island Brewery.
A short walk will bring
tenants to Nathan’s, the
Cyclone, and the Coney Island
Stillwell Avenue subway
complex.
On the ground-level, the
development features 8,500
square feet of retail space
and a publicly accessible
parking garage.
The $133 million project
received both state
and city funding, with the
state providing $19 million
in bonds and $16 million
in subsidies, and the
city providing $37 million
subsidy from its Extremely
Low and Low-Income Assistance
(ELLA) program.
According to the Furman
Center at New York University,
Coney Island had
a higher poverty rate than
both Brooklyn and New
York City at large, with
nearly 26 percent of fourperson
households making
less than $37,000 per year.
The same year, one-third of
Coney Islanders were considered
“severely rent burdened,”
putting more than
half their annual income
toward rent.
“My administration
will continue to confront
the housing crisis through
high-quality affordable
housing projects that will
improve the lives of residents
and create vibrant
communities,” the governor,
currently in the
midst of state budget negotiations,
said in a statement.
“This $133 million
mixed-use development in
Coney Island will enhance
quality of life for residents
and the entire community,
while building a stronger
economic future for this
unique, historic neighborhood.”
Raven Hall is part of a
larger scheme, Coney Island
Bath Site, to develop
the plot of land formerly
housing the Ravenhall
Baths and other long-gone
amusements and curiosities.
The land had sat vacant
and “underutilized”
for decades, and was part
of the area rezoned for
larger development in
2009. Raven Hall is the
second of seven developments
planned for the site;
the first, Surf Vets Place,
which includes 135 units of
affordable housing including
many for homeless veterans,
opened in 2019.