The speaker of the City Council, Julie Menin, announced on Thursday a proposal to build affordable housing atop three aging libraries, one each in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Ms. Menin proposed to direct $60 million toward the modernization of each library and the construction of at least 300 affordable apartments across the three sites, including units for formerly homeless households.

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It is not clear whether the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani will agree to include the $60 million in the city budget, which is still being negotiated. A spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani, Dora Pekec, said City Hall would work with the Council “to review co-location of housing and libraries” during the negotiations, noting that Mr. Mamdani, a Democrat whose agenda has focused on affordability, has called for building housing on city-owned land.

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The projects would be part of a nationwide trend, joining similar efforts in the suburbs of Washington and the cities of Boston, Cleveland and Milwaukee. An October 2025 report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group, found that more than 1,800 apartments had been built across the United States as part of developments combining libraries and housing.

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Though new development often faces opposition from neighborhood residents over questions of affordability and gentrification, investing in libraries and affordable housing generally has broad public support.

Because public libraries are on land already owned by the city, it is easier and cheaper to build affordable apartments there. Combining renovations with the construction of new housing can streamline building costs, and city subsidies would keep rents lower than market rates.

The roughly $60 million investment is less than what it would cost to renovate each library without adding housing, according to Ms. Menin’s office.