The New York City Zoning Resolution is basically a giant instruction manual that tells you what you can build, where, and how big, before you even talk about DOB permits.

NYC zoning districts are named using:

• a letter (what the area is mainly for), plus

• numbers (intensity/density), and sometimes

• a suffix letter (a “flavor” of the district—often contextual)

1) How many zoning “categories” does NYC have?

NYC has three main zoning district categories:

A) Residence Districts (R)

• R = Residential (homes, apartments, plus community facilities like schools/houses of worship in many cases).

• NYC’s zoning guide describes 10 basic residence districts: R1 through R10 (with additional mapped variations and contextual versions).

• NYC also has very high-density districts like R11 and R12 in the Zoning Resolution—think “super high-rise city” intensity.

B) Commercial Districts (C)

• C = Commercial (retail, offices, services—plus sometimes housing, depending on the district and “residential equivalency”).

C) Manufacturing Districts (M)

• M = Manufacturing/Industrial, with three basic districts: M1, M2, M3 (light → heavier industrial impacts).

2) What is R6B zoning in NYC?

R6B is a medium-density residential district that’s designed to preserve a lower-rise “neighborhood look”—think 3–5 story buildings, lots of rowhouse/brownstone context, and a streetscape that doesn’t want random towers popping up.

In plain English: R6B gives you apartment-building potential, but with strict rules that keep the building from getting too tall or too bulky.

3) R6B “quick numbers” (the stuff owners always ask first)

Here are the core planning/bulk controls you’ll hear in nearly every R6B conversation:

A) Max FAR (Floor Area Ratio)

• Max residential FAR: 2.0

• In Inclusionary Housing designated areas, you may see up to 2.2 FAR with the bonus (when applicable).

What FAR means:
If your lot is 2,500 sf, then 2.0 FAR ≈ 5,000 sf of buildable floor area (roughly—not counting every possible exemption/definition detail).

B) Base height + maximum height

A typical R6B envelope is:

• Base height: 30′ min / 40′ max

• Max building height: 50′

• Setback rules kick in once you reach the base height (see below).

C) Lot coverage (how much of the lot you can “cover” with the building footprint)

• Corner lot: up to 80%

• Interior/through lot: up to 60%

D) Required front setback above base height

Once you go above the base height:

• Set back at least 10′ on a wide street, or

• 15′ on a narrow street

4) Street wall rules in R6B (why your architect keeps saying “line-up”)

R6B is contextual. That means the city cares a lot about where your building “hits” the street, not just how tall it is.

Line-up rule (classic R6B logic)

In R6B (and a couple similar contextual districts), your new building’s street wall generally must not be closer to the street line than the nearest adjacent building wall, and not farther than the farthest adjacent building wall—assuming the adjacent building qualifies under the rule.

Why this matters:
If your neighbors are built right up near the sidewalk, you usually can’t randomly push your façade way back (or shove it forward) and break the rhythm of the block.

If the line-up rule doesn’t apply

There are also percentage-based street wall rules (like 70% of the wall within a certain distance of the street line), with different distances for wide vs narrow streets.

5) Curb cuts and parking location (don’t design this wrong)

Curb cut limits

R6B can restrict curb cuts based on frontage width, such as:

• Curb cuts prohibited for zoning lots with frontages < 40′

• One curb cut allowed when frontage is wider than 40′

Where parking is allowed

In R6B, off-street parking is typically allowed:

• within the building, or

• to the side or rear,
  and not between the street wall and the street line.

Also, open areas between street wall and street line often must be planted/landscaped.

6) Parking requirements (real talk: it depends where the property is)

A huge zoning “gotcha” is that parking requirements vary based on transit zones (Inner/Outer Transit Zone vs beyond the Greater Transit Zone), and the rules were updated in recent citywide changes.

For example, beyond the Greater Transit Zone, the Zoning Resolution includes a table showing (for R6) a parking requirement tied to dwelling units, with different percentages for standard vs income-restricted units, plus a waiver threshold (if the required number is small enough).

Owner takeaway:
Don’t assume the parking ratio from an old chart. Always confirm:

1. what transit zone you’re in, and

2. which table applies to your project type.

7) R6B feasibility: how to quickly tell what’s realistic on your lot

If you’re a building owner (or a student learning how zoning turns into real buildings), here’s a simple feasibility workflow:

Step 1 — Confirm the exact zoning (not just “R6B”)

Check for:

• Commercial overlays (C1- or C2- overlays can change ground floor use options)

• Special districts (they can override underlying zoning)

Step 2 — Measure the zoning lot correctly

You need accurate:

• lot area

• lot width + frontage

• corner vs interior

• wide street vs narrow street condition

Step 3 — Calculate max buildable floor area

Start with:

• 2.0 FAR (and see if the site is eligible for 2.2 in an Inclusionary Housing area)

Step 4 — Check the building “envelope”

R6B is not a “go as tall as you want” zone:

• 30–40′ base height, then setback, and 50′ max height

Step 5 — Check street wall alignment

R6B often requires you to respect existing street wall placement on the block.

Step 6 — Don’t forget practical constraints

Even if zoning allows it, feasibility can get crushed by:

• egress + stairs

• elevator core size

• light/air, courts

• structure + mechanical

• landmark or contextual review issues

• DOB filing constraints and existing building conditions

8) Why NYC zoning is one of the most complicated in the U.S.

NYC isn’t complicated because planners like suffering (okay… maybe a little). It’s complicated because NYC is dense, old, layered, and constantly evolving.

A few real reasons:

• The Zoning Resolution is massive: it includes many articles, appendices, and zoning maps, and it doesn’t operate like a single “one-size-fits-all” codebook.

• Districts have hyphen variations and suffixes to reflect neighborhood context and scale.

• NYC also uses Special Purpose Districts that can add extra rules on top of underlying zoning (and sometimes totally change what’s allowed).

• Parking rules, bulk rules, and use rules can change based on geography, transit zones, and housing type.

9) Why zoning consultation matters (and how it saves money)

A solid zoning consult isn’t just “reading the map.” It’s usually:

• finding the real limiting factor (height? street wall? rear yard? parking? FAR? special district?)

• catching “silent killers” like curb cut restrictions and required setbacks

• producing a feasibility memo you can actually base a project on

In NYC, one incorrect assumption can cost months—sometimes the most expensive mistake is designing a building that zoning doesn’t allow.

FAQ (R6B Zoning NYC)

1) What does R6B mean?

R6B is a medium-density residential zoning district with contextual bulk controls that limit height and shape to match the neighborhood scale.

2) What is the maximum FAR in R6B?

Generally 2.0 FAR, and in certain areas you may see up to 2.2 FAR with Inclusionary Housing bonus rules (when applicable).

3) How tall can a building be in R6B?

A common R6B envelope is 30–40′ base height and 50′ max height, with setbacks above the base height.

4) Do I need to line up my façade with my neighbors?

Often yes—R6B has street wall “line-up” rules tied to adjacent buildings in many cases.

5) What’s the fastest way to know what I can build in R6B?

Do a zoning feasibility check using: lot area, lot type (corner/interior), street type, FAR, height envelope, street wall rules, and parking applicability.