If you’ve been tracking Bronx rezoning activity, put April 24 on your calendar. Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson has called a virtual public hearing for Friday, April 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. on the 1160 Pugsley Avenue rezoning application (ULURP reference C 250245 ZMX). The hearing is part of the ULURP review process, and it’s one of the formal windows for Soundview residents and neighbors to weigh in before the project moves to City Planning Commission review.
Where and How to Attend
The hearing is virtual. You can join via Webex with Meeting ID 298 533 664 002 676 and passcode rn24xU7y, or call in at 646-561-8032 with Conference ID 933 500 490#. The Borough President’s office will take public testimony during the hearing, and written testimony is also accepted. Only testimony received by Monday, April 27, will be considered in the Borough President’s formal recommendation, so the window is tight.
Written testimony can be emailed to publictestimony@bronxbp.nyc.gov. The full application package — maps, environmental review documents, and the applicant’s narrative — is available on the city’s Zoning Application Portal at zap.planning.nyc.gov under project number 2024X0132.
Why This One Matters Beyond the Parcel
Individual site rezonings don’t usually make headlines, but they fit into a bigger pattern of Bronx land use changes that are reshaping the borough’s eastern neighborhoods. The Bronx Metro-North stations rezoning, approved by the Council in 2024, is the larger context: four new Metro-North stations at Hunts Point, Co-Op City, Morris Park, and Parkchester/Van Nest are expected to open in 2027, and zoning changes around the Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest stations alone are projected to create nearly 7,500 new housing units, including 1,900 permanently affordable units.
Pugsley Avenue is in the Soundview area, which sits within the orbit of the eastern Bronx transit investments. Each site-specific rezoning that moves through ULURP adds incremental housing capacity, and each public hearing is an opportunity for neighbors to push for specific commitments — affordability depth, open space, school seats, parking management — as conditions of support.
How ULURP Actually Works
A quick refresher: ULURP is a seven-month process with five stops. The community board reviews first with an advisory vote, then the borough president weighs in (that’s the April 24 hearing for Pugsley), then the City Planning Commission holds its own hearing and takes a binding vote, and finally the City Council votes — with the local Council member typically carrying outsized influence through “member deference.” The Mayor can veto Council decisions and the Council can override with a two-thirds vote, though that’s rare.
The borough president’s recommendation is not binding, but it’s the most detailed public document the community gets before the City Planning Commission stage, and it typically lays out conditions or concerns that the Council negotiates around later.
What You Need to Know
- Hearing: Friday, April 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., virtual (Webex or dial-in).
- Webex: Meeting ID 298 533 664 002 676, passcode rn24xU7y.
- Phone: 646-561-8032, Conference ID 933 500 490#.
- Written testimony: publictestimony@bronxbp.nyc.gov by Monday, April 27.
- Application details: ULURP C 250245 ZMX / ZAP project 2024X0132 at zap.planning.nyc.gov.
- Bigger context: Part of a broader pattern tied to the East Bronx Metro-North station rezonings opening in 2027.
Looking Ahead
For Bronx residents who want to engage more systematically with land use decisions, the Office of the Bronx Borough President maintains a planning and development page that tracks active ULURP items, and community boards host their own committee meetings where projects get vetted before formal review. The Pugsley hearing is one of several that will move through the borough in 2026 — more will follow as the Metro-North station rezonings produce site-by-site development applications in Morris Park, Parkchester/Van Nest, and Co-Op City.
For broader Bronx context, see our Bronx neighborhood guide and our Community Board Watch for other meetings worth attending this month.
