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FAR is the most important zoning number. Learn what it is, why it's a ratio (not a height), and how to read it on a 12-famous-NYC-buildings scale.
Floor Area Ratio (or ) is the single most important zoning number in NYC. It controls how much you can build, regardless of how tall or wide. Once you understand FAR, you understand the basic deal the city makes with developers.
FAR = total enclosed floor area of all floors ÷ lot area.
So a 3.0 FAR district means: if your lot is 10,000 sqft, you can build up to 30,000 sqft of total floor space — across however many floors you can squeeze in, with whatever footprint per floor you want (subject to setbacks, height limits, sky-exposure planes, lot coverage, and a bunch of other rules — but FAR is the FIRST cap).
Two buildings on identical 10,000sf lots with FAR = 3.0:
Both have FAR = 3.0. The other zoning rules (setbacks, height, sky-plane, lot coverage) determine which shape you actually get.
NYC FAR values span an enormous range. Some anchor points:
| Building | Approx. FAR | |----------|-------------| | Wyckoff House (1652, Brooklyn) | 0.3 | | A Royal Tenenbaums-style brownstone | 1.5 | | Carrie Bradshaw's brownstone-style apartment | 2.0 | | A typical R6A mid-rise | 3.0 | | Empire State Building | 13 | | Chrysler Building | 25 (insane, pre-1916) |
When you hear "R10 has 10.0 FAR" — that's max-density residential. "C6-4 has 15.0 commercial FAR" — that's Midtown.
City of Yes Housing Opportunity (Dec 2024) introduced two new max-density residential districts:
These can ONLY be mapped by City Planning, and only with Mandatory Inclusionary Housing requirements attached. Private property owners can't just request R12.
Use the widget below — pick a district, see how the buildable envelope changes, and where your district falls on the 12-NYC-buildings FAR scale.
What does FAR = 3.0 actually mean on a 10,000sf lot?
Sample inputs to test the widget above: