Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the city will move forward with Just Home, creating 83 apartments at Jacobi Medical Center, including 58 supportive units for people leaving Rikers with serious medical conditions.
- The Fortune Society will develop and operate the site, using a model similar to its Castle Gardens program that supporters say reduces hospitalizations and recidivism.
- Officials said all applicants will be screened by the operator, and anyone deemed a current risk of violence or unsuitable for the housing model will not be accepted.
- The project advanced after the City Council’s September approval kept it alive despite then-Mayor Eric Adams’ late push to relocate it to Brooklyn and opposition from former Councilmember Kristy Marmorato.
- Mamdani said every apartment will carry a rent-stabilized lease, and he confirmed the project will proceed at the Jacobi campus despite prior safety objections from critics.