NYC Council reaches deal to likely pass contentious Bronx rezoning backed by Mayor Adams: sources

A contentious Bronx rezoning proposal backed by Mayor Adams is expected to gain approval from the City Council — the final step before shovels can hit the ground, multiple sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News on Thursday.

The rezoning plan, floated by a group of local property owners, would pave the way for the construction of four new buildings with 349 apartment units, roughly half of them income-restricted, on a stretch of Bruckner Boulevard in Throgs Neck.

The proposal has been up in the air for months, as the area’s Council member, Marjorie Velazquez, maintained her opposition to it.

Velazquez, a Democrat, has said her opposition is grounded in concerns over the property owners not going far enough in reserving some of the new apartments for veterans. She has also lamented that they’ve been noncommittal on using workers from the carpenters union for at least parts of the project.

But late Wednesday, the property owners, whose group is called Throggs Neck Associates, locked in a deal to use the carpenters union for constructing the project’s “Site C,” which will become an apartment complex for seniors, three sources familiar with the matter told The News.

Velazquez could not be immediately reached for comment. But two of the sources said the labor agreement tipped the project over the edge with enough Council members to secure a majority of support.

The proposal is set to be voted on Thursday morning in the Council Land Use Committee.

Due to the 11th-hour development, it’s expected to be approved by the committee, and then get passed by the full Council next week, the sources said.

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A Councilmember who spoke on condition of anonymity said the plan can pass even if Velazquez opposes it, but urged her to get onboard. “Marjorie is a shrewd negotiator and in the end she will deliver what her community and this city needs,” the member said.

The Council deal marks a win for Adams, who threw his weight behind the Bruckner Boulevard rezoning this summer, arguing it’ll bring much-needed housing to a neighborhood that has produced less than 100 affordable units in the past decade.

The project has attracted much criticism in Throgs Neck, though.

In addition to Velazquez’s complaints, some local community members have raised concern about the financial histories of the building owners behind the project, as first reported by The News on Wednesday.

But key municipal government players have sided with the mayor in arguing that it’s critical for more housing to be built amid the city’s deepening affordability crisis.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams threw her tacit endorsement behind the project during a closer door meeting with fellow Council Democrats earlier this week, two sources at the sit-down confirm.

One of the sources said the speaker told members that “this Council can’t be a Council that blocks housing development in a housing crisis.”