City of Yes for Economic Opportunities - DCP

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City of Yes

Economic Opportunity

Adopted June 6, 2024

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was adopted by the City Council on June 6, 2024, and is now reflected in New York City’s Zoning Resolution. Learn more about the final version of the proposal by clicking here.

Source: Mayor’s Photography Office

Our local businesses are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. They need clear and sensible rules that give them the flexibility to change and grow. City of Yes for Economic Opportunity is a zoning text amendment that removes outdated limitations on businesses, supports growing industries and helps local retail streets and commercial corridors thrive.

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What does City of Yes for Economic Opportunity do?

Why is this initiative needed?

Resources about the proposal

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity supporters

Past meetings

FAQ

Contact Us

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What does City of Yes for Economic Opportunity do?

Make it easier for businesses to find space and grow

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity would remove outdated restrictions on where businesses can set up shop to make it easier for businesses to find space or expand. For example, City of Yes:

Remove deadlines to fill vacant storefronts

Simplifiesy rules on which types of businesses are allowed in commercial areas

Allow small-scale clean production like "maker spaces" to locate in more areas of the city

Update rules on loading docks so building uses can adapt over time

Allow more types of businesses to locate on ground floors and, in some cases, on upper floors

Simplifiesy how zoning rules classify businesses

Boost growing industries

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity would remove barriers in today’s zoning rules that businesses in growing industries face. For example, City of Yes:

Modernize regulations for life sciences so innovative companies can grow

Simplifiesy regulations for amusement venues, which include arcades, laser tag arenas, and swimming pools

Permit dancing and live entertainment like comedy shows at venues where music is allowed

Clarifiesy rules about where businesses are allowed to grow plants and vegetables

Allows entrepreneurs to open more types of home-based businesses

Enable more business-friendly streetscapes

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity would create consistent and easy to understand rules that encourage active, safe, and walkable commercial streets. For example, City of Yes:

Establishes consistent streetscape rules to ensure new buildings contribute to lively and active commercial areas

Encourages neighborhood hubs for the local delivery of goods and services

Reduces conflicts between auto repair shops and pedestrians

Create new opportunities for businesses to open

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity would rewrite zoning rules to ensure they are user-friendly, consistent, and modern. For example, City of Yes:

Creates a pathway for businesses like film studios to build spaces that suit their needs

Establishes new zoning districts to boost job growth and business expansion while creating new options for loft-style buildings

Allows local commercial spaces to locate on residential campuses

Sharable flyers about the proposal:

Proposal Overview

Commercial adaptations for office space

Life sciences

Micro-distribution

Myths and Facts: Clean Production

Myths and Facts: Home Occupations

Myths and Facts: Laboratories

Myths vs Facts

Nightlife

Small business

Streetscape design

Urban agriculture

Why is this initiative needed?

When rules make it hard for businesses to find space, small businesses hurt the most.

To support commercial corridors and entrepreneurs throughout the city, and reduce retail vacancy, we need modern zoning regulations that help the city adapt in a dynamic and evolving economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of flexibility in our zoning regulations. Businesses small and large are reevaluating how they use space, where to locate, and how they function in the face of changing consumer preferences and economic conditions.

Entrepreneurs in New York City have always experimented to develop new business models that make our city more vibrant and dynamic. Yet zoning rules that describe where different types of businesses are allowed have barely changed since 1961.

For example, until City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was passed:

Many neighborhood retail streets allow bike shops, but not bike repair or rentals.

For example, until City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was passed:

NYC’s outdated zoning is had rules specifying where telegraph offices could be located, but not smartphone repair shops.

For example, until City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was passed:

NYC’s zoning allowed live music in any bar or restaurant, but in some areas it didn’t allow you to get up and dance to that music.

For example, until City of Yes for Economic Opportunity was passed:

Under today’s zoning rules, businesses in commercial areas can make bread but they can’t make salsa.

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These often confusing and outdated regulations have made it harder for mom-and-pop stores and other
entrepreneurs to open, grow, and adapt in New York City.

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity supports businesses and job growth by ensuring a wider range of businesses can use existing commercial space. It ensures that our zoning is flexible enough for empty storefronts to be activated by businesses that serve our neighborhoods.

Context and research

Community District Economic Profiles

Rebuild, Renew, and Reinvent

Zoning for a Resilient Economy

Resources about the proposal

City Planning Commission (CPC) Report

City Planning Commission (CPC) Report for M Districts

Zoning Text as Modified by CPC

Zoning Text: M Districts as Modified by CPC

CPC Modifications Summary

In-depth project description

Primary Zoning Resolution Sections Affected

Draft Annotated Zoning Text

Draft Annotated Zoning Text: New Manufacturing Districts

Proposal Feedback Worksheet

Current-to-Proposed Use Translation

Proposed-to-Current Use Translation

Summary of Proposal as Adopted

City of Yes for Economic Opportunity Supporters

Alliance for Downtown NY

American Institute of Architects New York (AIANY) and American Planning Association New York Metropolitan Chapter (APANM)

Association for a Better New York (ABNY)

Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District

Bari Musacchio, Owner, Baz Bagel

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

Bronx Chamber of Commerce

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

Dance/NYC

Dance Parade (Greg Miller)

Dance Parade (Jamila Holman)

Dance Parade (Jerry S. Goldman)

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

Evergreen Exchange

Farm.One

Flatiron NoMad Partnership

Freelancers Union

Garment District Alliance

Hudson Square Business Improvement District

Long Island City Partnership

Maria Pappalardo, Owner, Rubirosa Pizza & Ristorante

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce

Morris Park BID

“New” New York

New York Building Congress

New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

NYC Department of Small Business Services

NYC Economic Development Corporation

NYC Hospitality Alliance

NYC Department of Transportation (DOT)

NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment

NYC Mayor’s Office of Nightlife

NYC Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture

Park Slope 5th Avenue Business Improvement District

Queens Chamber of Commerce

Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)

The Fabulous Waack Dancers

Silvercup Studios

Sommay Jaijong, Owner, May Kaidee Restaurant

Staten Island Economic Development Corporation

Union Square Partnership

We Are the New Farmers

Past meetings

October 30, 2023 City Planning Commission referral presentation recording

October 30, 2023 City Planning Commission referral slides

September 12, 2023 info session recording

September 12, 2023 info session presentation slides

July 11, 2023 info session recording

July 11, 2023 info session presentation slides

June 13, 2023 info session recording

Contact Us

Please email EconomicOpportunity@planning.nyc.gov with questions or comments.

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Go to City of Yes:

Overview

Carbon Neutrality

Housing Opportunity