Approval of “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity” Proposal

Image by Pierre Blaché from Pixabay

Proposal to Support Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs, Economic Growth Will Deliver  Largest Overhaul of City’s Commercial and Manufacturing Zoning in 60 Years 

Proposal Now Goes to City Council for Hearing and Final Vote 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick today celebrated the CPC’s vote in favor of “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity,” a set of citywide zoning changes that will further fuel New York City’s economic recovery and pave the way for a more inclusive future. Together, the 18 proposed changes will help businesses find space and grow, support entrepreneurs and freelancers, boost growing industries, and enable more vibrant streetscapes and commercial corridors. City of Yes for Economic Opportunity is the second of the Adams administration’s three “City of Yes” initiatives — the first being “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality,” and the third being “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.” 

“To continue driving New York City’s economic recovery forward, we must look to the future and not be bound by the past,” said Mayor Adams. “So many of our old zoning rules simply made no sense, but ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ will deliver long-overdue, sensible zoning changes that will unlock family-sustaining jobs for our neighbors, inclusive growth in our communities, and a vibrant future for our city. New York City isn’t coming back — we are back, and ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ will help take us to new heights.” 

The proposal includes 18 sensible policy changes that would expand options for businesses to locate near their customers, support growing industries and sectors, foster vibrant neighborhoods and commercial corridors, and provide businesses with clear zoning rules. Among these changes are policies to:  

• More than double the space available for clean manufacturing, allowing small producers, such as microbreweries, apparel makers, and ceramic shops, to open and grow in commercial corridors in all five boroughs for the first time; 
• Create new zoning tools to allow more than 17,000 businesses in industrial areas that are currently prevented from adding space to grow their businesses; 
• Expand the number of businesses able to open in ground- and upper-floor spaces; 
• Eliminate outdated rules that prohibit dancing, comedy, and open mic nights in restaurants and venues in commercial areas, and instead govern venues by size and volume; 
• Create a process to allow new corner stores in residential areas, as approximately 265,000 New Yorkers currently live in areas where a new corner store could not be located within a quarter mile of their home; 
• Update 1960s-era rules that limit where amusements are allowed, so experiential retail and family-friendly activities can be located closer to where New Yorkers live; 
• Modernize how zoning regulates laboratories so life sciences research can flourish in offices and near universities and hospitals; 
• Remove outdated restrictions on indoor urban agriculture; 
• Fill empty storefronts by fixing decades-old rules that ban businesses from setting up in certain long-term vacant facilities; 
• Allow a wider range of businesses, including barbers and interior designers, to be based in homes; 
• Jumpstart local small businesses by helping them expand local delivery capacity; and 
• Facilitate adaptive reuse of commercial buildings by modernizing loading dock rules, among other critical updates.  

In the lead-up to the CPC’s approval, City of Yes for Economic Opportunity received positive recommendations from 21 community boards, as well as from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens borough presidents. It will now go to the New York City Council for a public hearing and a final vote in the coming months. Of the community boards that offered component-by-component recommendations, 16 of the 18 proposals received at least 50 percent approval with conditions.  To be responsive to community concerns heard throughout the process, several changes were made to the initiative during the CPC’s review. For example, to address worries that allowing commercial uses on the upper floors of mixed-use buildings could create conflict with existing apartments, the plan was modified to ensure that spaces occupied by existing homes could not be converted to upper floor commercial uses.   In response to concerns that home business expansion might create quality-of-life issues, the CPC made modifications to clarify that such businesses must be limited to an individual’s dwelling unit and cannot occupy residential common areas, such as hallways or lobbies. A 1,000-square-foot cap for home businesses was also reinstated to deter the combination of residential units for business activities.   Other modifications include clarifications about which types of businesses qualify to newly locate in commercial zones and the required environmental protection standards for life sciences facilities. Several other small modifications were made to clarify parts of the zoning text for practitioners, developers, and enforcement by the New York City Department of Buildings.   City of Yes for Economic Opportunity is the second of Mayor Adams’s three “City of Yes” initiatives to foster a greener, more affordable, and more prosperous city by updating outdated zoning rules. The first — City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality — was adopted by the City Council in December. The third — City of Yes for Housing Opportunity — will be referred for public review by community boards and borough presidents this spring and be put to a vote by the City Council before the end of the year.