Proposal to Support Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs, Economic Growth Will Deliver Largest Overhaul of City’s Commercial and Manufacturing Zoning in 60 Years
Proposal Now Goes to City Council for Hearing and Final Vote
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Dan Garodnick today celebrated the CPC’s vote in favor of “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity,” a set of citywide zoning changes that will further fuel New York City’s economic recovery and pave the way for a more inclusive future. Together, the 18 proposed changes will help businesses find space and grow, support entrepreneurs and freelancers, boost growing industries, and enable more vibrant streetscapes and commercial corridors. City of Yes for Economic Opportunity is the second of the Adams administration’s three “City of Yes” initiatives — the first being “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality,” and the third being “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.”
“To continue driving New York City’s economic recovery forward, we must look to the future and not be bound by the past,” said Mayor Adams. “So many of our old zoning rules simply made no sense, but ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ will deliver long-overdue, sensible zoning changes that will unlock family-sustaining jobs for our neighbors, inclusive growth in our communities, and a vibrant future for our city. New York City isn’t coming back — we are back, and ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ will help take us to new heights.”
“Today's City Planning Commission vote in favor of ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ is an important step towards creating a more dynamic and prosperous future for New York City,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “The zoning of 1961 is not serving the needs of 2024, and replacing outdated regulations with clear and sensible rules will help boost small businesses, growing industries and commercial corridors. We look forward to working with our partners in the City Council to advance this important proposal and help sustain our economic recovery into the years ahead.”
“New York City’s entrepreneurs, small businesses, and commercial corridors have been held back for too long by outdated zoning rules,” said CPC Chair and DCP Director Garodnick. “With ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity,’ we’re bringing these rules into the 21st century so they reflect how people and businesses work today. Thanks to today’s vote by the City Planning Commission, we’re one step closer towards setting New York City’s economy on a more vibrant and prosperous path.”
“We are proud to support the ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ by redesigning our streets to not only support critical housing needs, but also small businesses with elements like outdoor dining, Open Streets, new plazas, and bike and bus lanes — all of which have shown to help businesses thrive,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “When we build welcoming streets that people want to visit, spend time on, and shop through, everybody wins.”
“As the agency charged with enforcing the city’s Zoning Resolution, we are glad to see the City Planning Commission agrees that the status quo can be overhauled to support small businesses without negatively impacting the quality of life for New Yorkers,” said New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo.
“‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ greatly enhances this administration’s ability to ensure all New Yorkers have multiple ways to access healthy, affordable, and culturally-appropriate food,” said Mayor's Office of Food Policy Executive Director Kate MacKenzie. “These zoning changes will open opportunity for many food businesses to operate in commercial corridors and update rules to enable current businesses to thrive. ‘City of Yes’ will result in a stronger food system that’s sustainable now and into the future.”
“The Office of Nightlife at the New York City Department of Small Business Services celebrates the City Planning Commission advancing the ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ plan, and finally repealing the city’s antiquated Cabaret Law,” said Office of Nightlife Executive Director Jeffrey Garcia. “These are commonsense, long-overdue changes that will support small businesses and the thousands of jobs they provide across the city. These changes fulfill a key priority from the Office of Nightlife’s 2021 recommendations and will go a long way towards helping our world-class nightlife scene in its continued recovery following the pandemic. We are grateful to the commission and countless advocates across the nightlife community who continue to push for equal access to dancing for all New Yorkers. This process is the culmination of a true collective effort.”
“‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ is a huge opportunity for the Adams administration to take a major step forward to drive economic growth across New York City, while enabling more vibrant public spaces and revitalizing some of our commercial corridors,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “These important zoning changes are critical to supporting key industries — like clean manufacturing — growing small businesses, and helping create a more vibrant, inclusive, and globally competitive economy for all New Yorkers.”
“The City Planning Commission supporting the ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ is an important step in updating the zoning regulations that impact development across the Bronx and New York City,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “I want to commend the Department of City Planning and Chair Dan Garodnick in finding ways of streamlining the current zoning regulations while ensuring the intent of zoning, which is to promote and protect public health, safety, and general welfare. I encourage the City Council to support these regulations by voting to incorporate the proposed changes into the zoning resolution.”
“We must move with the urgency of now to address the generational, intersectional crises facing our families. By creating jobs, enhancing our manufacturing capabilities and supporting our small businesses — the lifeblood of our communities — we can economically uplift countless families and put our city on track to continue our healthy post-COVID recovery,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “As the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity moves through the review process, I will continue to work with our city partners and Queens residents to ensure this proposal is as successful as possible.”
“The City Planning Commission’s vote on the ‘City of Yes for Economic Opportunity’ text amendment brings us one step closer to clearing the hurdles that keep our city’s businesses from growing, adapting to changes, and thriving,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.” I applaud the Department of City Planning for crafting this extensive proposal, and the City Planning Commission for its thoughtful consideration of this application and look forward to seeing its enactment.”
The proposal includes 18 sensible policy changes that would expand options for businesses to locate near their customers, support growing industries and sectors, foster vibrant neighborhoods and commercial corridors, and provide businesses with clear zoning rules. Among these changes are policies to:
- More than double the space available for clean manufacturing, allowing small producers, such as microbreweries, apparel makers, and ceramic shops, to open and grow in commercial corridors in all five boroughs for the first time;
- Create new zoning tools to allow more than 17,000 businesses in industrial areas that are currently prevented from adding space to grow their businesses;
- Expand the number of businesses able to open in ground- and upper-floor spaces;
- Eliminate outdated rules that prohibit dancing, comedy, and open mic nights in restaurants and venues in commercial areas, and instead govern venues by size and volume;
- Create a process to allow new corner stores in residential areas, as approximately 265,000 New Yorkers currently live in areas where a new corner store could not be located within a quarter mile of their home;
- Update 1960s-era rules that limit where amusements are allowed, so experiential retail and family-friendly activities can be located closer to where New Yorkers live;
- Modernize how zoning regulates laboratories so life sciences research can flourish in offices and near universities and hospitals;
- Remove outdated restrictions on indoor urban agriculture;
- Fill empty storefronts by fixing decades-old rules that ban businesses from setting up in certain long-term vacant facilities;
- Allow a wider range of businesses, including barbers and interior designers, to be based in homes;
- Jumpstart local small businesses by helping them expand local delivery capacity; and
- Facilitate adaptive reuse of commercial buildings by modernizing loading dock rules, among other critical updates.
In the lead-up to the CPC’s approval, City of Yes for Economic Opportunity received positive recommendations from 21 community boards, as well as from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens borough presidents. It will now go to the New York City Council for a public hearing and a final vote in the coming months. Of the community boards that offered component-by-component recommendations, 16 of the 18 proposals received at least 50 percent approval with conditions. To be responsive to community concerns heard throughout the process, several changes were made to the initiative during the CPC’s review. For example, to address worries that allowing commercial uses on the upper floors of mixed-use buildings could create conflict with existing apartments, the plan was modified to ensure that spaces occupied by existing homes could not be converted to upper floor commercial uses. In response to concerns that home business expansion might create quality-of-life issues, the CPC made modifications to clarify that such businesses must be limited to an individual’s dwelling unit and cannot occupy residential common areas, such as hallways or lobbies. A 1,000-square-foot cap for home businesses was also reinstated to deter the combination of residential units for business activities. Other modifications include clarifications about which types of businesses qualify to newly locate in commercial zones and the required environmental protection standards for life sciences facilities. Several other small modifications were made to clarify parts of the zoning text for practitioners, developers, and enforcement by the New York City Department of Buildings. City of Yes for Economic Opportunity is the second of Mayor Adams’s three “City of Yes” initiatives to foster a greener, more affordable, and more prosperous city by updating outdated zoning rules. The first — City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality — was adopted by the City Council in December. The third — City of Yes for Housing Opportunity — will be referred for public review by community boards and borough presidents this spring and be put to a vote by the City Council before the end of the year.
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