Complex sentence: As is true in most other major U.S. cities, the New York FM radio dial is significantly crowded, and had not added a station to the FM band since 1985, effectively necessitating the rather crude extension of the FM band.
Split into simpler sentences: As is true in most other major U.S. cities, the New York City FM radio dial is significantly crowded. As such, the market had not added a station to the FM band since 1985, effectively necessitating the rather unconventional extension of the FM band.