| Have you ever notice that only lawyer offices and similar professional businesses exist above a ground floor business inside of a residential building? But you never see a ground floor business on the upper floors such as a grocery stores or delis etc. This is because the current laws limits the types of businesses that coexist within residential apartments, use the same entrance (sometimes) and exist on the same floor as residential apartments.
These restrictions are about to be removed and the number of floors where a business can exist is about to increase.
MTOPP is doing a series on Mayor Adams’s City of Yes, “COY” Business Text Amendments, that will change where, how and what types of businesses will be allowed to exist in the City.
The Business Text Amendments are currently being reviewed by all 59 Community Boards who have up until December 30th 2023, to comment on them!
After reviewing over 700 pages of these amendments we found at least 7 major changes that have a serious impact upon the community, and its residents.
- Allowing Commercial Businesses into all Residential Areas.
- Allowing “Small Businesses” to exist in people’s apartments and homes.
- Eliminating restrictive business within Residential buildings.
- Allowing manufacturing businesses to exist in commercial and residential zones.
- Allowing all businesses to exist in all commercial zones.
- Allowing businesses to exists on residential floors and on rooftops.
- Allowing cabaret/dancing to exist on all commercial zones.
Useful Concepts that Need to Be Understood
There are three major concepts that a person needs to know to understand these changes. “Commercial zones”: where businesses can exists. “Use Groups”: the types of business combined into a group. And apartments that allow commercial businesses to exist called “Commercial Overlays”.
The way these three concepts work is that based upon the Commercial Zone (C2, C3, C4…) only certain types of businesses (Use Groups 5, 6, 7…) can exist inside or below a residential building (commercial overlays).
To understand the impact this may have on your community, it is important for you to know your commercial zones. If you already live above a business or office, then these changes will drastically effect you.
You can obtain the information on your commercial zone at your community board, by calling 311, giving your address and they will connect you to your community board.
Another way is to go the Department of City Planning’s website and enter our address and search for your zoning.
Two Major Changes
There are two major changes happening to commercial businesses that exist under apartment buildings (commercial overlays). C1, C2 and C3 are now in one category and C4, C5 and C6 are in another.
1st Major Change
In the C1, C2, C3 all types of businesses that currently can only exist on the ground floor (street floor) can now exist on the first floor and second floor (new floor added) in an apartment building.
2nd Major Change
In the C4, C5 and C6, businesses will be able to exist on any floor of an apartment building. Below are the exact text changes and examples of businesses that are being proposed to exist where apartments reside.
Above Image: This pictures indicates the current restrictions with the red being floors in apartment buildings that can not have businesses, or a limited type (i.e. lawyers office). The new rules will allow both the red and blue to have all the of the same businesses allowed on the ground floor .
1st Mayor Proposed Change
Businesses Coming into Apartments and Additional Floors Added
Current Zoning
In C1, C2 and C3, Use Groups 6A through 6E, 7, 8, 9, 14A or 14B (current use Groups) shall not be allowed on the first story building, this is above the ground floor. These groups are your main commercial businesses. (See below for examples)
Proposed Changes
Not more than two stories may be occupied by commercial uses in Groups 6 through 10 (*new use groups)
In addition, #commercial uses# may be permitted on the same #story# as a #residential use#, provided that no access exists between such #uses# at any level containing #dwelling units#. No #commercial uses# shall be located above any #story# containing #dwelling units#. (see 32-421)
Types of Businesses
For clarity, we will give a few examples of the types of businesses that exists in each Use group that will now be allowed to exist on both the 1st and 2nd floor of an apartment building.(see 32-161 for the full list)
6A- Beer and Wine, musical instruments, laundry, eating and drinking
6B-Offices, Business, treatment and health care
6C-Retail, Cigar stores, eating and drinking (with dancing, based upon another new text amendment), pet shops
6D-Public Service – communication equipment structures,
6E-Clubs
7 – Laboratories, treatment centers, government activities.
8 – Recreation and Entertainment, music, dancing studios, theaters,
14A- Bicycle repair, candy or ice stores,
14 B – Non-Commercial Clubs with out restrictions on activities.
2nd Mayor Change
Businesses on Every Floor of an Apartment Building
In C4, C5 and C6 Commercial zones, businesses will be allowed on every residential floor.
Please note: The Department of City Planning “DCP” claimed this was suppose to encourage rooftop entertainment and businesses, however the exact language of the text does not limit it to the roof tops. (see exact text below)
Existing
In Residential buildings in C4,C5 and C6 zones, only use Groups 5, 6A through 6E, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15 may only exist below residential apartments.
Changed
#commercial uses# may be permitted on the same #story# as a #residential use#, or on a #story# higher than that occupied by #residential uses#, provided that no access exists between such #uses# at any level containing #dwelling units#. (see 32-422)
Types of Businesses
(Use Groups start at 31-14)
Use Group 5 – Transient Accommodations – Hotels, Homeless shelters
Use Groups 6A through 6E, 7,8, 14 A and 14 B (please see list above)
Use Group – 9 – Storage for materials, goods and vehicles.
Use Group – 10- Manufacturing of Beer, *Sugar refinery
Use Group – 11 – Manufacturing hair products
Use Group – 12 – Pool Halls, Eating and Drinking, Cigars stores
Use Group – 13 – Amusement: Circuses, Theaters, Banquet Hall
Use Group – 14A – Boat repair and painting, ice cream store
Use Group – 14 B – Private Clubs with no restriction on activities
*Please Note that in our example of sugar refinery, this business currently exists in the Manufacturing Use Group 18 and is not allowed in a commercial district. However it will now be allowed to exist inside of an apartment building. (please see previous post)
 
Example
Normally inside a hotel there is the public spaces for conferences and entertainment all on the lower floor, except for rooftops. The changes to the C4, C5, C6 will allow these types of venues to be on all residential floors.
A property owner may allow the manufacturing of Cannabis as well as its sale right on the same floor as your apartment. The traffic, the noise and the smell! And who will regulate these businesses to ensure they are in compliance? How well is New York City regulating the current Cannabis businesses that are on ground floor store fronts?
Or you live in a C1, C2, C3, there will be even more people ringing those door bells to get into the bar with drinking and dancing to 4am in the morning on the second floor of your apartment building. The noise, traffic, and smells.
But it gets worst. There is a “small business” under the new “home occupancy” who is selling Cannabis, or food. Now the customers of the bar that are suppose to be separate from the residential part of the building, are all of a sudden outside your door, wandering all over the building as the “small business” opens it doors to gain customers at all hours of the night!
Point of Information
There is a massive amount of empty store fronts all over NYC. This was/is not due to zoning laws but the greed of the landlords increasing rents which has forced businesses to close.
These Economic/Business Text Amendments are posing to add thousands of new space for businesses into the community by taking away valuable residential apartments and space during the housing crisis that we are in. Does that make sense?
No Data
What is completely missing from these Text Amendment changes is any data to support the deregulation of businesses. Nor any predictions based upon data of what effects these changes will have.
There are no studies, no empirical evidence and definitely no evidence of support for these changes coming from the community. All we have seen are politicians, high level city employees and of course the real estate industry talking about how great these changes are.
Next in Our Series
Allowing all cabaret, bars, dancing to exist in both residential and commercial spaces.
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