Mayor Bill de Blasio broke ground on an affordable housing project in the neighborhood formerly known as Atlantic Yards today. The neighborhood, which sits in the shadow of the new Barclays Center, is being rebranded as "Pacific Park."

The project’s original developer was Forest City, but due to cost overruns and construction delays, it sold a majority share of the project to Chinese-based company Greenland. 

“This is a group effort to create affordable housing, to create jobs, to ensure that this can be a place where New Yorkers can afford to live,” said de Blasio.

The mayor said the project is a major part of his plan to provide the city with 200,000 affordable housing units over the next decade. The new building, 535 Carlton Avenue, is being billed as 100 percent affordable and holds 298 apartment units.

The project has drawn scrutiny from the local community, some of whom argue that the development will further gentrify the neighborhood and price people out. They also argued that the units aren’t entirely affordable.

Half of the apartments at 535 Carlton will be made available to families who earn up to $138,435 a year. Fifteen units will be available to families making less than $33,560 a year, and 76 will be rented to families making less than $50,340 a year.