NYC Industrial Plan - DCP

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NYC Industrial Plan

The NYC Industrial Plan, outlined in Local Law 172-2023, aims to bolster the city's industrial sector by creating a comprehensive framework for the development and support of industrial and manufacturing businesses and jobs. The Plan will explore how the city can best support the development of a modern and growing sustainable industrial economy and well-utilized industrial areas.

This plan will be developed by the Department of City Planning (DCP), the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), with input from other relevant city agencies and stakeholders. Building on prior industrial planning efforts, it will:

Survey business operators, residents and other industrial area stakeholders.

Provide data and research on a wide range of topics, including land use conditions, development patterns, economic trends and conditions, infrastructure, and environmental conditions.

Offer recommendations to grow the industrial sector and support industrial areas through government incentives, investments, programs, policies, and land use tools.

Identify "Primary Industrial Areas," a newly legislated designation intended to classify areas of the city predominantly for industrial use.

The final plan will be completed by December 31st, 2025 and updated every 8 years.

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More Information

A Changing Industrial Economy

The city's industrial base has changed dramatically since its peak in the mid-1950s and continues to evolve. In 1955, the city’s 1.8 million industrial jobs accounted for almost half of the city’s total employment, with about 1 million jobs concentrated in the manufacturing sectors alone. Today’s industrial economy is much smaller, but also much more diverse.

Industrial businesses are an essential part of NYC’s economy, providing jobs, creating the critical infrastructure and support systems that underpin the city’s daily function, and are especially important to the city’s transition to a greener future.

Graph Sources: NYC Department of City Planning analysis of NYS DOL QCEW, 2023 annual average and 1955 NYC Plan Report

Industrial Work is Making, Moving and Repairing Things

Today, more than 590,000 private and public sector industrial jobs are located in NYC, representing businesses across construction, transportation and logistics, wholesaling, information and media, manufacturing of all kinds, waste management, repair, energy and utilities. In recent years NYC has seen growing interest in new forms of industrial use, ranging from high-tech prototyping, film, green energy, and artisanal manufacturing. At the same time, the city’s growth overall has supported growth in construction, logistics, and other service sectors.

Image Source: NYC Department of City Planning, 2023

Where Are NYC’s Industrial Jobs?

NYC’s industrial ecosystem is diverse and located all across the city – in every neighborhood and every borough. Many industrial jobs are located in neighborhoods one wouldn’t typically associate with being industrial – in fact less than half of industrial jobs in New York City are headquartered in Manufacturing M zones with zoning specifically conducive to industrial businesses, and only 25% are located within Industrial Business Zones “IBZs”, areas where city policy incentivizes industrial uses.

Manhattan has the largest number of industrial jobs followed by Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island.

Map Source: NYC Department of City Planning, 2023

How do industrial businesses locate in NYC?

Zoning rules set the context for where and how businesses can locate in NYC by setting which kinds of uses can locate in different areas, the physical form that those uses can take, and other operational rules like environmental standards, parking and loading, and ground floor requirements that shape a businesses’ relationship to its neighborhood.

M zones allow for a wide range of business types but do not allow for residential uses because historically industry and residence did not mix well. The exception to that rule is the MX zone which was created to encourage a mix of industrial, residential and commercial uses.

M zones account for 15% of the city's land area and contain 24% of the city's total private sector jobs. Commercial zones ”C zones”, which allow more limited industrial activities, by comparison account for 5% of land area and many of the remaining nonindustrial private sector jobs. Surprisingly only 48% of industrial jobs are in M zones.

Map source: NYC Department of City Planning, Zoning Districts NYZD, June 2023

Key Challenge: Industrial Space Competition

New York City has 28,500 acres of Manufacturing “M” zones which allow for a wide range of industrial and more limited commercial activity. These zones account for 15% of the city’s land area and are equivalent to the area of the entire city of Boston. The amount of M zoned land has decreased only slightly in recent years (1.5% between 2012 and 2022). Despite the abundance of these lands, M zones are under-zoned generally and are not well positioned to manage competing real estate pressures and the needs of the city. That misalignment means that competition for industrial space is intense and only likely to increase as the city grows.

Map Source: NYC Department of City Planning, Zoning Districts NYZD, June 2023

Key Challenge: Climate Change and Environmental Hazards

New York City's M zones are particularly vulnerable to climate change. These areas face significant challenges such as flood risks, air pollution, land contamination, and urban heat island effect. These issues introduce unpredictability, increased costs, and substantial health impacts for industrial businesses, workers, and area residents. M zones are in some cases located adjacent to Environmental Justice communities which are areas of the city that have experienced disproportionate negative impacts from environmental pollution.

The Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) has been studying these vulnerabilities and will be providing recommendations to address these challenges in M zones. Learn more about their work to address environmental justice here.

Map Source: NYC Department of City Planning, ZOLA

Key challenge: Evolving Freight Network

E-commerce is a rapidly growing sector of the economy and is driving industrial job growth. The number of logistics sector jobs grew by 26,000 since 2012. The number of freight transportation jobs grew 29% and warehousing & storage jobs grew 382%. The growth of e-commerce has complicated implications. NYC Planning is pursuing Last-Mile Facility Text Amendment, a proposed zoning change that would establish a City Planning Commission (CPC) Special Permit for new last-mile facilities.

Graph Source: U.S. Census Bureau Retail Indicators Branch, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, 1Q2000-2Q2024; “How does E-Commerce Vary by Product Category?” CBRE, May 16, 2022.

Related Materials

One Page Explainer: NYC Industrial Plan

Presentation: Intro to the NYC Industrial Plan

Related Initiatives

DOT Freight Plan

DOT Truck Route Redesign

MOCEJ Environmental Justice Report

Protecting and Growing New York City's Industrial Job Base

Green Economy Action Plan

Last-Mile Facility Zoning Text Amendment

Open Industrial Uses Study Draft Report

Zoning for a Resilient Economy: Lessons from NYC's History and Ideas for the Future

Freight NYC Plan

Can Industrial Mixed-Use Buildings Work in NYC? (2018)

Employment in New York City's Manufacturing Districts (2016)

Blue Highways

Planning for Jobs 1971*

* The 1971 Planning for Jobs report was digitized with the support of a New York State Archives Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund Grant 0580-18-7161. All rights reserved to the NYC Planning Commission and the Department of City Planning.

Contact Us

Please email industrialplan@planning.nyc.gov with questions and comments.