Why it matters
Pre-CoY, NYC required developers to provide off-street parking even in subway-served neighborhoods — typically 0.5-1.0 spaces per dwelling unit. A single underground parking space costs $50K-$150K to build. For a 50-unit apartment building, that's $2.5M-$7.5M just for parking infrastructure that residents often didn't use (high transit availability + low car ownership).
Parking minimums killed dozens of housing projects on small-medium lots — the parking floor ate the basement and the rest of the project couldn't pay for itself. The reform unlocks an enormous backlog of feasible housing sites.
The 4 tiers
South of 96th Street in Manhattan. Highest density + transit access. Zero residential parking required (pre-existing pre-CoY).
Brownstone Brooklyn, LIC, Astoria, Bronx-near-subway. Heavy subway coverage. Zero residential parking required (NEW post-CoY).
Bayside, Riverdale, Throgs Neck — further-flung but subway-accessible. Reduced parking: 0.20-0.40 spaces per dwelling unit.
Easternmost Queens, southern Brooklyn, Staten Island interior. Full ZR §25-22 minimums apply (typically 0.50-1.00/DU).
Commercial uses too
Commercial parking minimums also reduced under the same tiered system, though less dramatically. Manhattan Core: most commercial uses require zero on-site parking. Inner Transit Zone: ~50% reduction. Beyond: full §25-30 commercial minimums apply.
Bike parking (the trade-off)
In exchange for slashing car parking, CoY added indoor bike-parking minimums: 1 secure indoor bike space per 2 dwelling units in Manhattan, 1 per 4 elsewhere. Replaces some of what the parking floor used to be.
Transit Zone area data
- greater — 362 sq km
- inner — 74.48 sq km
- manhattan core — 36.74 sq km
- outer — 272.68 sq km
- special 25 241 — 25.12 sq km