NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ( GS ) will

finance a $270 million affordable housing project to build 385

apartments in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, New

York Governor Kathy Hochul's office said.

The city's housing crunch and rising rents have become a key

focus of Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's campaign.

The project financed by Goldman's Urban Investment Group

will include commercial space, the governor's office said in a

statement.

"This project is helping us fight the housing affordability

crisis while also prioritizing improvements that will make the

neighborhood more livable for families," Hochul said.

Mamdani aims to invest public dollars to triple the city's

production of permanently affordable, union-built,

rent-stabilized homes - constructing 200,000 new units over the

next 10 years, according to his campaign website.

His stunning victory over former Governor Andrew Cuomo has

drawn concerns from business leaders, including some on Wall

Street, about the costs of his proposed policies.

Goldman's Urban Investment Group has invested nearly $11

billion in affordable housing and other development projects

across the state and $9 billion in New York City since 2001.

"Our investment is a down payment on East New York's

potential, creating thousands of high-quality, affordable homes

and essential services that will fuel the economic vitality of

the community," said Asahi Pompey, chairman of Goldman's Urban

Investment Group.