A group of building owners pushing for the rezoning of a Bronx neighborhood have a history of legal and financial issues, the Daily News has learned, as the fate of the project remains up in the air ahead of a key City Council vote this week.
The group, Throggs Neck Associates, first proposed the rezoning of Bruckner Blvd. in Throgs Neck last summer. Their plan has earned the support of Mayor Adams and the 32BJ SEIU labor union, and would allow for four new buildings with 349 apartment units, 168 of which would be affordable, with a subset reserved for seniors and veterans, according to City Hall.
The Council Land Use Committee plans to vote on the rezoning Thursday, deciding whether it will get considered by the full chamber. But the plan may face stiff odds as Bronx Democratic Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez remains opposed to it.
“I’m still opposed, and that’s it. They’re not operating in good faith,” the Democrat said Tuesday, referring to the property group.
Velazquez — who holds major sway as the area’s Council member — said her opposition centers on Throggs Neck Associates not going far enough to house local veterans. She also lamented that the group hasn’t committed to using carpenters union workers for the project.
In a previously unknown wrinkle, several Throggs Neck Associates members have landed in legal trouble in the past, according to court papers and other public records.
Joe Bivona, owner of a Super Foodtown grocery store on Bruckner Blvd., who came up with the rezoning plan, was sued in 2017 over alleged wage theft.
Super Foodtown workers said in a federal lawsuit that Bivona stiffed them on overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 2019, Bivona and the supermarket agreed to pay $235,794 as part of a settlement to cover awards to the workers and other costs, records show.
Sam Goldstein, a Throggs Neck Associates spokesman, said Wednesday the settlement “was not a matter of improper activity but a clerical error, and the owner chose to settle to avoid costly and arduous litigation.”
Bivona isn’t the only Bruckner plan booster with financial issues. His brother, Peter Bivona, who has been extensively involved in promoting the rezoning, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after owing millions of dollars to lenders, records show. His case is pending.
Two other Throggs Neck Associates partners, brothers Marco and Franco Marciano, owe more than $120,000 in taxes on several Bronx properties they own, according to the city Finance Department. That includes more than $9,600 owed on an empty lot that would become a new apartment building under the rezoning, records show. Goldstein said the Marcianos’ tax debt is “COVID-related.”
Louis Zuccarello, brother of Peter Zuccarello, another Throggs Neck Associates member, also has a past financial entanglement related to the rezoning.
In 2017, Louis Zuccarello foreclosed on a $300,000 mortgage on a building that would become an apartment complex if the Council passes the rezoning, records show. The records indicate Zuccarello was able to retain ownership of the building after a court battle.
Goldstein blamed opponents of the rezoning for the property owners’ histories resurfacing.
“This is nothing more than a desperate eleventh-hour attack by a handful of bigoted, unhinged anti-housing voices,” he said. “There is no depth to which they won’t stoop to block the creation of needed affordable homes.”
But Matt Cruz, district manager of the local Community Board 10, which voted against the rezoning this spring, said he worries the financial complications could hamper the affordable housing plans. “There are loans and agreements that need to be secured for the development of affordable units, which their collective financial issues may prevent them from accessing,” he said.
Historically, Velazquez’s opposition would spell doom for the rezoning due to the Council’s “member deference” tradition.
But, citing the city’s affordable housing crisis, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) told members privately Monday she’s inclined to back the Bruckner plan despite Velazquez’s opposition, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Anthony Hogrebe, a spokesman for Mayor Adams, echoed the speaker’s argument. “Every neighborhood must do its part to solve the housing crisis,” he said.
