City Unveils $128 Million Brownsville Multi-Service Center, Delivered Two Years Early and $10 Million Under Budget

NEW YORK - Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Paul A. Ochoa, Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Erin Dalton and Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Commissioner Diya Vij today unveiled the new $128 million Brownsville Multi-Service Center, a four-story, state-of-the-art facility that will provide space for community-based organizations serving residents across Brooklyn.

The 60,000-square-foot center features 10 office spaces, three flexible conference rooms that can be combined into a large meeting center, a commercial kitchen, a 1,600-square-foot outdoor community garden, green roofs and public artwork. The all-electric building was designed to meet the City's climate resilience standards and includes solar panels across three floors and large windows that maximize natural light. The project is expected to meet or exceed LEED Gold certification.

"City government should deliver beautiful, sustainable public buildings that serve working people and the communities they call home," said Mayor Mamdani. "And we delivered this one two years ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Brownsville deserves investment that is built with care, and that's exactly what this center represents."

The center will be operated by the Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs (NAICA) and will house a range of organizations serving Brownsville, including the offices of Brooklyn Community Board 16.

DDC managed the project for DSS using the design-build method of project delivery, reducing construction time by at least two years and saving the City $10 million. The design-build team was led by Gilbane Building Company and Marvel. Approximately 11,000 tons of material were removed during demolition, with 85% diverted to recycling facilities.

"It's hard to build a community without building enough community space, and DDC is proud to deliver this amazing $128 million center for the residents of Brownsville," said DDC Commissioner Paul A. Ochoa. "This four-story center will soon be home to community-based organizations that will offer programming and services to thousands of neighbors. We built a kitchen, community garden, meeting spaces and other areas that will allow residents of all ages to participate in classes, workshops, cultural activities and more. By bringing organizations, services and residents under one roof, the center will create so many new opportunities for connection, learning and community engagement, while also giving local organizations a dedicated place to serve Brownsville."

"We're proud to unveil the brand-new Brownsville Multi-Service Center which creates a state-of-the-art home for local organizations to provide services and resources that engage and support the community," said DSS Commissioner Erin Dalton. "We are grateful to our agency partners at DDC for developing this sustainable, high-quality building with great efficiency and DCLA for working with an artist that has roots in the community to give this space more meaning. We are excited to open the doors of this resource to the community in the coming months."

"Public art not only has the power to transform the appearance of a space, but the ways we experience it," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Diya Vij. "Commissioned by our Percent for Art program, the powerful three-dimensional mural 'I Am Protected' by artist Jazmine Hayes is both an amulet and a vision for a just future, infused with input from Brownsville youth, where the surrounding community is honored and held high from now on. This is the promise of public art - to be both a marker of time and a map for times ahead."

The center also features a series of installations commissioned through the Department of Cultural Affairs' (DCLA) Percent for Art program by Brooklyn-based artist Jazmine Hayes, who was born and raised in East New York. Titled "I Am Protected," the project includes four works placed throughout the building and community garden.

Many of Hayes' works incorporate images of braids, cowry shells and repeating patterns that reflect the cultures and histories of Brownsville while exploring themes of protection, reclamation and healing. In 2025, the project received the NYC Public Design Commission's 43rd Annual Award for Excellence in Design.

The four works featured in "I Am Protected" include:

• "In my mothers' garden," which depicts a person planting a seed while a deity pours water back into the land. Behind the figures, a map of patterned designs replicates an aerial view of architectural structures of NYCHA's Brownsville Houses.
• "I am divinely guided," which features a suspended spiral installation from 444 cowry shells. Once used as currency across Black and Brown diasporas, the shells are rendered in resin, with 111 incorporating upcycled plastics, evoking connections through water and environmental justice.
• "Like the seeds in my cornrows," which draws on histories of storytelling and braid maps. It includes braid pattern motifs designed by Brownsville youth, layered over panels replicating the mapping used in the community garden.
• "I shall grow tall to the skies," which features a massive mural of a Moko Jumbie, a stilt walker rooted in West African and Caribbean traditions regarded as a protector.

Since 1982, New York City's Percent for Art law has required that one percent of the budget for eligible City-funded construction projects be dedicated to public artwork. Managed by DCLA, the program has commissioned hundreds of site-specific works integrated into public spaces across the five boroughs.

"There are many themes in each work that honors the history, the now and the tomorrow of Brownsville, Brooklyn and communities alike. With each design at an entry point across the Multi-Service Center, my intent is that every visitor and youth of the Brownsville community is met with an affirmation of curiosity, care and imagination," said artist Jazmine Hayes. "May this space be a resourceful and united place of activity and programming for the children, families and people to come. I am truly grateful to have been a part of this phenomenal accomplishment and team."

"As the doors of the Community Board 16 Brooklyn office at 444 Thomas S. Boyland Street are slated to reopen, we honor the enduring legacy of the man whose name marks this place and renew our charge to serve Brownsville and Ocean Hill with the same valor and dedication," said Sydone Thompson, District Manager for Brooklyn Community Board 16.

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