Zoning: About Zoning - What is Zoning? - DCP

Department of City Planning


About ZoningDistricts GuideZoning ResolutionArchive

What Is Zoning?
How Zoning Gets Amended
How Zoning Is Enforced
Glossary of Zoning Terms
Get the Zoning Handbook
Zoning FAQ

What Is Zoning?

How Zoning Gets Amended

How Zoning Is Enforced

Glossary of Zoning Terms

Get the Zoning Handbook

Zoning FAQ


Alert:

Beware of phishing scams: DCP will never request applicants to make a land use or CEQR payment directly via email, only through the Applicant Portal. Official emails always end in @planning.nyc.gov.

What Is Zoning?

Zoning is a law that organizes how land may be used. It establishes an orderly pattern
of development across neighborhoods and the city by identifying what may be built on a
piece of property.

The Zoning Resolution contains the zoning regulations of New York City.

Learn more about
NYC’s zoning
districts

New York City’s Zoning Resolution divides land into districts where similar rules are in effect. Zoning regulations are assigned to these districts based on relevant land use issues. These issues include building shape, affordable housing, walkability and climate change resiliency. They do not include factors such as property ownership or financial considerations.

Zoning regulations set limits on how a property owner may use land (rather than requiring them to use it in a particular way).

Find Your Zoning (ZoLa - Zoning and Land Use)

ADDRESS #

Street Name

BOROUGH

Borough

Bronx

Brooklyn

Manhattan

Queens

Staten Island

go

New York City’s Zoning and Land Use map (ZoLa) has been redesigned from the has been redesigned from the ground up. It's easier to research zoning regulations and discover neighborhood proposals and city planning initiatives. Built entirely on open data, ZoLa is 100% open source, works on any device and allows you to save and share your research.

Have a Question About Zoning?

If your question is not answered in the Zoning FAQ, you can speak with a zoning specialist at The Department of City Planning.

Fill out the Zoning Help Desk Form and a zoning specialist will get back to you within two business days.