Key City Council committees on Thursday moved forward a proposal for a major rezoning of Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx, a project supported by Mayor Eric Adams that has faced strong resistance from residents.

The project passed the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchise and the full Land Use Committee, with unanimous votes in favor of the rezoning. 

Councilwoman Marjorie Velázquez, who represents the area of the proposed rezoning, backed the plan after previously opposing it.

“For me, the priority has been and will always be building for my community locally and also giving them the opportunity to work there,” Velázquez said at the subcommittee vote. “It has always been for me about my district and meeting their needs, and I would like to say thankfully we've gotten there.”

The project would create 349 housing units, with 168 of those units set aside as affordable housing, including for seniors and veterans. The four buildings would also include a youth community center and a new supermarket. 

“This provides tangible benefits for the people of our community and transforms the unfortunate reality that this office before me had been unable to provide affordable housing for our residents, with less than 60 units produced in the last eight years,” Velázquez said in a statement following the vote.

The rezoning comes amid a housing crisis in the city, which supporters, including Mayor Adams, point to as their main reason for backing the project. 

The average rent price in Manhattan exceeded $5,000 a month in early September, and rent outpaced wages by 23% in August across the city after adjusting for inflation, according to a new report by StreetEasy.

The report also found that nearly half of all workers, 48.2%, would need to spend more than half of their typical annual wages to afford 10% of the rentals on the market this summer.

“Today, lawmakers on the City Council’s land use committee made the right call by approving new housing that New Yorkers need and deserve,” Logan Phares, Open New York’s political director, wrote in a statement. “The affordability crisis affects the Bronx, the city, and the entire state, and this decision that will allow for 349 new apartments, including 168 affordable ones, is one of many that New York’s elected officials need to take every step to make sure everyone can afford safe, stable and secure housing. 

The proposal also includes two eight-story buildings, which critics of the project point to as a major concern.

Opponents of the project argue that the higher-density buildings would significantly alter the suburban landscape of the neighborhood. 

“When you bring low-income housing into a community, I mean, it does come with some repercussions,” Phil Sessa, a local resident, said. 

It now moves to a full council vote on Oct. 12.