Wide Street vs Narrow Street: Why 75 Feet Matters

Whether a lot fronts a street at least 75 feet wide changes its FAR, its height limits and its setbacks, so it is one of the first things to check on any NYC site.

The definitions

A "wide street" is any street 75 feet or more in width, and a "narrow street" is any street less than 75 feet wide (ZR 12-10). The width is the street as mapped, between the street lines, which are the lot lines separating a street from other land. It is not the width of the paved roadway.

• In C5-3, C6-4 and C6-6 districts, a street portion averaging 75 ft or more with a minimum of 65 ft may be treated as wide, and so may a portion 70 ft or more wide, under 700 ft long, between two portions 75 ft or more wide (ZR 12-10).
• Two named exceptions: the roadways of Broadway between West 94th and West 97th Streets (Manhattan Community District 7) and of Allen Street between Rivington and Delancey Streets (Community District 3), which are separated by mapped park, are each considered a wide street (ZR 12-10).

Where it changes floor area: ZR 23-22

In four non-contextual districts, zoning lots, or portions of them, within 100 feet of a wide street get a higher standard residential FAR.

Source: ZR 23-22 and its footnote 1. In R8 outside Mandatory Inclusionary Housing areas, UAP developments and qualifying senior housing within 100 ft of a wide street can reach 8.64 FAR (footnote 2). Contextual districts such as R6A or R7A have the same FAR either way.

Where it changes height: ZR 23-432

For standard residences, these districts have taller base and building heights within 100 ft of a wide street. Values are minimum base height / maximum base height / maximum building height, in feet.

Source: ZR 23-432, footnotes 1 and 2. For zoning lots with only wide street frontage, the narrow-street values apply to the portions beyond 100 ft of the street line. Qualifying affordable and senior housing have separate, taller limits in the same table.

Where it changes the setback: ZR 23-433

In R6 through R12, above the base, a building must set back at least 10 feet from a street wall on a wide street and at least 15 feet from a street wall on a narrow street. The setback can shrink by one foot for each foot the street wall sits back from the street line, but generally not below seven feet (ZR 23-433). On a typical 100-ft-deep lot, those five extra feet on a narrow street come off every upper floor.

Low-density districts care too

In R1 to R5, one way for a zoning lot to be a "qualifying residential site", which unlocks the higher FAR column in ZR 23-21, is to have frontage along a wide street or along the short dimension of a block, together with at least 5,000 sq ft of lot area, a location in the Greater Transit Zone, and a district other than R1 or R2 (ZR 12-10).

A worked example in R7-2

Compare two 10,000 sq ft lots in an R7-2 district.

• On a 100-ft avenue, lot entirely within 100 ft of it: 10,000 x 4.00 = 40,000 sq ft of standard residential floor area. Base height up to 75 ft, building height up to 85 ft, 10 ft setback above the base (ZR 23-22, 23-432, 23-433).
• Midblock on a 60-ft street: 10,000 x 3.44 = 34,400 sq ft. Base height up to 65 ft, building height up to 75 ft, 15 ft setback. That is 5,600 sq ft less floor area on the same lot area.
• A deep lot fronting the avenue: a 50 x 150 ft lot (7,500 sq ft) has 5,000 sq ft within 100 ft of the wide street at 4.00 (20,000 sq ft) and 2,500 sq ft beyond it at 3.44 (8,600 sq ft), for 28,600 sq ft in total, against 25,800 sq ft (7,500 x 3.44) if the whole lot used the narrow-street number.

How to check the width

Use the mapped street width, not a tape measure on the sidewalk. A street that looks wide because of a planted median or wide sidewalks may still be mapped under 75 ft, and the reverse also happens. For a corner lot, check both streets; the 100-ft distance is measured from the wide street.

Wide street FAQ

Related pages

• R6 zoning
• R7-1 zoning
• R8 zoning
• Zoning floor area