C1-6A Zoning District — New York City
C1-6A is a contextual, low-density Local Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
C1-6A is a contextual, low-density Local Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City. It allows commercial uses, and generally also housing under the rules of a residential-equivalent district. As of right, the maximum residential FAR is 4 and the maximum commercial FAR is 2. 369 tax lots citywide carry C1-6A as their primary zoning designation.
Records for lots carrying this designation describe a prewar stock with a genuinely mixed-use land pattern layered on top: a median construction year of 1910, 84% of buildings predating 1940, and mixed residential-and-commercial use covering 54% of these roughly 370 lots. Walk-up apartment buildings lead the building classes at 40%. A modest 6% of lots sit inside the mapped flood zone and 17% carry historic-district status, while 63% of lots record floor area below their allowance.
What actually stands in this district
The building stock on lots carrying this designation is substantially prewar without being uniformly ancient: the median construction year is 1910, and 84% of recorded buildings predate 1940. The postwar boom added only 6% to the stock, and 5% of buildings have gone up since 2000 — a slow but real trickle of recent construction rather than none at all. That places this designation's stock a few decades younger, on the median, than some of the older-dated designations in the file, even while still counting as thoroughly prewar by any ordinary reading of the numbers. Even that small residual share built since 2000 stands out against designations elsewhere in this batch that show no recent construction on record at all.
Walk-up apartment buildings lead the recorded classes at 40%, mixed residential-and-commercial buildings follow at 20%, and condominiums add 11% — a combination that points to ground-floor commercial space folded into an otherwise residential fabric rather than a purely single-use pattern. Land use bears this out directly: mixed residential-and-commercial use covers 54% of lots, well ahead of the 20% recorded as multi-family walk-up and 7% as one- and two-family use. Overall, 88% of lots are coded residential, and the file counts 6,281 homes across the designation, a solid unit count for a designation of this footprint.
Lots run modest in size, with a median of 2,474 square feet and the 90th percentile reaching 8,250 square feet. Buildings rise to a median of 5 stories, with 10% recorded above 6 floors — taller, on the whole, than the most rowhouse-uniform designations in the file. Historic-district status touches 17% of these roughly 370 lots, and 6% sit inside the mapped federal flood zone, both real shares rather than the near-zero or near-total figures some designations show, and together they describe a designation with some, but not overwhelming, exposure on either front. That pairing of a real, if modest, flood share and a real, if partial, historic-district share is less common in this batch than either a near-zero or a near-total figure on both counts.
Development room is fairly broad: 63% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 0.6 FAR — a wider margin than the more built-out designations in this file tend to show. Anyone comparing a specific address against these citywide shares can find its own recorded numbers on that lot's page, with the applicable floor-area and height rules cited in the tables above.
Bulk rules for C1-6A
| Context | Residential FAR | Commercial FAR | Community facility FAR | Heights | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As of rightContextual letter-suffix district; height/setback governed by § 23-43 per § 33-40 (out of this chunk's scope). | 4 | 2 | 4 | Base 40–75 ft · Max 85 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 34-112, § 23-43, § 23-431, § 23-432, § 33-122 (via § 11-25 from C1-6) |
Values from the NYC Zoning Resolution, verified 2026-06-12; site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify them — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
About commercial districts
Commercial districts allow retail, office, and service uses, and most also allow housing under the rules of a residential-equivalent district. Commercial bulk is governed by § 33- of the NYC Zoning Resolution.
Contextual districts pair their floor-area ceilings with prescribed base and maximum building heights so new buildings mirror existing neighborhood form; non-contextual districts govern the envelope through more general height and setback rules, such as sky exposure planes. Commercial districts also allow residences under the rules of a residential-equivalent district, while manufacturing districts generally exclude new residences. Overlays and special purpose districts can modify any of this on a specific lot.
Example lots zoned C1-6A
- 333 East 14 Street — 15,487 sq ft lot, 12.78 built FAR, built 1965
- 124 8 Avenue — 22,172 sq ft lot, 6.19 built FAR, built 1989
- 433 East 13 Street — 25,429 sq ft lot, 3.66 built FAR, built 2016
- 500 East 14 Street — 30,781 sq ft lot, 5.8 built FAR, built 2017
- 726 Greenwich Street — 18,207 sq ft lot, 7.74 built FAR, built 1930
- 214 East 14 Street — 22,922 sq ft lot, 4.18 built FAR, built 2013
- 127 8 Avenue — 13,800 sq ft lot, 5.23 built FAR, built 2008
- 677 Washington Street — 14,158 sq ft lot, 5.85 built FAR, built 1987
- 85 8 Avenue — 22,419 sq ft lot, 4.51 built FAR, built 1973
- 371 West Street — 66,825 sq ft lot, 3.23 built FAR, built 1960
- 225 8 Avenue — 11,225 sq ft lot, 6.82 built FAR, built 1998
- 102 8 Avenue — 19,307 sq ft lot, 5.29 built FAR, built 1905
C1-6A — quick questions
- What is the maximum residential FAR in C1-6A?
- 4, as of right, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 34-112, § 23-43, § 23-431, § 23-432, § 33-122 (via § 11-25 from C1-6). Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- What is the maximum commercial FAR in C1-6A?
- 2, as of right, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 34-112, § 23-43, § 23-431, § 23-432, § 33-122 (via § 11-25 from C1-6). Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is C1-6A a contextual district?
- Yes. C1-6A is a contextual district — its bulk rules pair floor-area ceilings with prescribed base and maximum building heights intended to mirror existing neighborhood form.
- What era do the buildings on these lots come from?
- Mostly prewar: a median construction year of 1910, with 84% of buildings predating 1940. The postwar boom added 6%, and 5% have gone up since 2000.
- What kind of buildings does this designation's stock consist of?
- Walk-up apartment buildings lead at 40%, mixed residential-and-commercial buildings at 20%, and condominiums at 11%. Overall, 88% of lots are coded residential, holding 6,281 homes.
- Is there a commercial component to this designation's land use?
- Yes — mixed residential-and-commercial use covers 54% of these roughly 370 lots, well ahead of the 20% recorded as purely multi-family walk-up use.
- How much unused floor-area capacity is recorded for this designation?
- 63% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 0.6 FAR.
- Do any of these lots carry a flood-zone or historic-district designation?
- Modest shares of each: 6% sit inside the mapped flood zone and 17% carry historic-district status.
Keep learning
What do the C1-6A rules mean for a specific lot?
PearlAudit resolves the governing zoning for any NYC tax lot — district, overlays, special districts — and cites the Zoning Resolution section behind every rule claim.
District data: NYC municipal records (Department of City Planning) and the NYC Zoning Resolution. See our sources and methodology. Parcel data as of 2026-07-11.