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Zoning in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

What is Bedford-Stuyvesant zoned?

Bedford-Stuyvesant is mostly R6B: 12,079 of its 16,616 tax lots (72.7%) are in R6B, based on PLUTO 26v2 lots inside the 2020 NTA boundaries. R6B allows a standard residential FAR of 2.00 and a maximum height of 55 ft for standard buildings (ZR 23-22, ZR 23-432). Check any Bedford-Stuyvesant address free on Zohgo.

Bed-Stuy is overwhelmingly R6B, with R6A, R7A and R7D on its busier streets and a mixed-use edge to the north.

Tax lots
16,616PLUTO 26v2
Most common
R6B72.7% of lots
Commercial overlay
2,199lots (13.2%)
Median lot
2,000 sq ftlot area

Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of the largest rowhouse neighborhoods in the city, and its zoning shows it. Of 16,616 tax lots in the two 2020 NTAs (Bedford-Stuyvesant West and East), 12,079 (72.7%) are R6B, a contextual district with a 55-foot height cap. R6A covers another 2,328 lots (14.0%), and R6B, R6A, R7A and R7D together account for 15,219 lots (91.6%).

The rest is a patchwork: 351 lots in R5B, commercial districts such as C4-4L (248 lots) and C4-5D (126), and manufacturing and Special Mixed Use (MX) lots concentrated toward the northern edge, where M1-2/R6A pairs (141 lots) allow housing and light industry side by side. Because R6B dominates, the typical Bed-Stuy question is not how tall you can go but how much floor area a narrow rowhouse lot can hold under a 2.00 FAR.

Zoning districts in Bedford-Stuyvesant by tax lot

Zoning district (zonedist1)Tax lotsShareStandard residential FARMax height (standard residences)
R6B12,07972.7%2.00base 30-45 ft, max 55 ft
R6A2,32814.0%3.00base 40-65 ft, max 75 ft
R7A4392.6%4.00base 40-75 ft, max 85 ft
R7D3732.2%4.66base 60-85 ft, max 105 ft
R5B3512.1%1.50max 35 ft
C4-4L (commercial)2481.5%4.00 (as R7A, its residential equivalent)
M1-1 (manufacturing)1881.1%manufacturing district
M1-2 / R6A (MX pair)1410.8%3.00 (residential, as R6A)
M1-2 (manufacturing)1290.8%manufacturing district
C4-5D (commercial)1260.8%4.66 (as R7D, its residential equivalent)
R6900.5%2.20 (3.00 within 100 ft of a wide street)base 30-45 ft, max 55 ft (40-65 ft base, 75 ft max within 100 ft of a wide street)
C6-3A (commercial)270.2%7.52 (as R9A, its residential equivalent)
All other districts (15)970.6%
Total16,616100%

Source: PLUTO 26v2, field zonedist1 (the district covering the largest part of each lot), lots inside the 2020 NTA boundaries BK0301, BK0302. FAR and heights are the ZR 23-21 / 23-22 and ZR 23-421 / 23-422 / 23-432 limits for standard residences; qualifying affordable or senior housing can go higher. Commercial districts use their residential equivalent from ZR 34-112. In MX districts the residential side follows the paired R district (ZR 123-622).

What the main districts allow

What can you build on your Bedford-Stuyvesant lot?

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Commercial overlays

2,199 lots (13.2%) carry a commercial overlay: C2-4 on 2,199 lots. An overlay sits on top of a residence district and allows local retail and services, usually on the ground floor of avenue and corridor buildings, while the residential rules of the underlying district still apply. For a zoning lot with only commercial use, the overlay FAR is 1.00 where the overlay is mapped in R1, R2, R3-1, R3A or R3X, 1.60 in R3-2, and 2.00 in R4 and every higher residence district (ZR 33-121).

Special districts

Historic districts

2,198 lots (13.2%) sit in a designated historic district according to PLUTO, led by Bedford Stuyvesant / Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District (802), Bedford Historic District (791), Stuyvesant Heights Historic District (427), Willoughby-Hart Historic District (142). Zoning still sets the envelope, but exterior work on these lots also goes through the Landmarks Preservation Commission, so a lot that zones for more floor area may not be able to use it.

446 lots (2.7%) are split by a district boundary (PLUTO splitzone). On those, each portion follows its own district; see split zoning lots.

Worked example

Take a 2,000 sq ft lot in R6B, close to the neighborhood's median lot size. At the standard FAR of 2.00, the maximum residential floor area is 2,000 x 2.00 = 4,000 sq ft (ZR 23-22). With qualifying affordable or senior housing rules the FAR is 2.40, so 2,000 x 2.40 = 4,800 sq ft. For a standard multiple dwelling outside special density areas, the unit cap divides floor area by the dwelling unit factor of 680: 4,000 / 680 = 5.88, which allows 6 units because fractions of 0.75 or more count as a unit (ZR 23-52).

How we counted

We took every tax lot in PLUTO 26v2 (NYC Department of City Planning, August 2026), kept lots whose latitude and longitude fall inside the 2020 Neighborhood Tabulation Area polygons for Bedford-Stuyvesant (BK0301, BK0302), and counted the zoning district PLUTO lists first (zonedist1). Lot counts are not land area: one large lot counts the same as a 20-foot rowhouse lot. Zoning maps change through rezonings, so always confirm the district for a specific address.

Bedford-Stuyvesant zoning FAQ

What is the most common zoning district in Bedford-Stuyvesant?

R6B. In PLUTO 26v2, 12,079 of the 16,616 tax lots inside the 2020 Bedford-Stuyvesant NTA boundary (72.7%) have R6B as their main district.

What FAR does R6B allow?

R6B allows a standard residential FAR of 2.00 and 2.40 for qualifying affordable or senior housing (ZR 23-22).

How tall can a building be in R6B?

For standard residences: base 30-45 ft, max 55 ft. Qualifying affordable or senior housing: base up to 45 ft, max 65 ft (ZR 23-432).

How many apartments fit on a 2,000 sq ft R6B lot?

At FAR 2.00 the lot allows 4,000 sq ft of residential floor area. Divided by the dwelling unit factor of 680 that is 5.88, so 6 units for a standard building outside special density areas, since fractions of 0.75 or more count as a unit (ZR 23-52).

Related pages

Sources

Lot counts are our own tabulation of PLUTO 26v2 inside the 2020 NTA boundary, pulled October 27, 2026. PLUTO is updated a few times a year, so counts will drift.