By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
SOHO — SoHo residents and preservationists are celebrating the withdrawal of a controversial rezoning plan that could have replaced a small neighborhood bakery with a trendy nightclub.
Developer Zaccaro Realty has withdrawn its application to rezone the single-story complex at 73-75 Sullivan St., which would have allowed for the building of a five-story residential building with a commercially-used ground level, DNAinfo has learned. The location currently houses the Grandaisy Bakery and a former pasta-making shop.
The proposal had been scheduled for a vote by the City Planning Commission on Wednesday.
“We are deeply gratified that our efforts to stop this rezoning were ultimately successful,” said Andrew Berman, Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. “The rezoning would have changed the special character of this typical South Village side street, which is low-scale, historic, and primarily residential."
Berman has been fighting for months with locals to prevent the rezoning, which they agree would set a precedent for uncharacteristically large buildings in the neighborhood and perhaps paved the way for nightspots on the otherwise sleepy street.
The Zoning and Housing Committee for the local community board unanimously denied the developer’s application for the rezoning in November, but the vote was a recommendation only.
“I’m very happy that the plans were withdrawn,” said Sullivan Street resident Kim Whitener. “Though, I do not think that we in the neighborhood should sit back and relax.”
Whitener along with Berman is hoping to use momentum from the withdrawal to push for broader landmarking of the area into the South Village Historic District.
If the area were considered part of a historic district, new development would be more difficult to pass through the city, as plans would be fielded by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which aims to preserve the historic quality of an area.
The developer, John Zaccaro, did not return calls for comment.
Zaccaro is married to Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee.
