The Interborough Express (IBX) will run through historically working-class, majority Black, Brown, and immigrant neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. Done right, station-area growth can expand homeownership; done wrong, it can feed speculation and displacement. Our analysis maps half-mile areas around proposed IBX stations and identifies four with the highest displacement risk: Roosevelt Ave, Grand Avenue, Atlantic Avenue/Broadway Junction, and Livonia Avenue.

We recommend three measures to protect current homeowners and create pathways to ownership:

1. Enact proactive anti-displacement protections through an extended no-solicitation registry (cease-and-desist zone or CDZ), property tax exemptions, anti-speculation tax, and home preservation programs

2. Expand affordable housing options through the passage of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), in addition to government-supported funding for homeownership projects, and community land trusts (CLTs)

3. Support economic localism by ensuring the City’s equitable-ownership requirement is adhered to so M/WBEs or qualified nonprofits hold at least 25% ownership in affordable projects on public land; engage residents for meaningful feedback during planning