C4-7 Zoning District — New York City
C4-7 is a high-density General Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
C4-7 is a high-density General 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. Under the as of right — narrow street rules, the maximum residential FAR is 10 and the maximum commercial FAR is 10. 124 tax lots citywide carry C4-7 as their primary zoning designation.
This designation holds the tallest and newest recorded stock in the group: a median building height of 12 stories, 63% of buildings rising above 6 floors, and a median construction year of 1974 — squarely in the postwar era rather than before it. Lots run large, too, with a median of 15,263 square feet, and the roughly 120 parcels carry 17,190 housing units, the highest count in this comparison set.
What actually stands in this district
No designation profiled alongside this one runs taller or newer: the median building rises 12 stories, and 63% of recorded structures climb above 6 floors — both the highest figures in the group. The median construction year is 1974, placing the typical building here inside the postwar era rather than before it — an outlier against most of the others profiled on these pages, where prewar construction dominates. Height and recency track together here in a way they rarely do elsewhere in this comparison set, where the tallest recorded stocks tend to be old and the newest tend to be low-rise.
The construction record backs up that lean toward newer building. Only 37% of recorded structures predate 1940, the lowest prewar share in this group, while 17% fall inside the 1945-1975 postwar boom and 20% have gone up since 2000 — meaning roughly a fifth of the recorded stock is itself twenty-first-century construction. Taken together, the record describes a designation whose building stock kept being added to well past the point where most of the others in this set had stopped, with three genuinely distinct eras of construction each contributing a meaningful share rather than one era dominating outright.
Lots here run larger than anywhere else in this comparison: a median of 15,263 square feet, with a 90th percentile reaching 60,154. By recorded class, condominiums lead at 28%, elevator apartment buildings follow at 20%, and office buildings add 14%. Land use splits across mixed residential-commercial parcels at 38%, commercial and office parcels at 27%, and multi-family elevator parcels at 14%. Fifty-two percent of the roughly 120 lots are residential, and the file counts 17,190 units on them — again the largest housing total in this comparison group, achieved on the fewest lots of any of the designations that approach that scale, which points toward tall, large-footprint buildings rather than density built up from many small parcels.
Recorded floor-area headroom is real but the narrowest majority in this set: 61% of lots show built area below their mapped allowance, at a median residual of 3.2 FAR — modest given how large these lots run. Four percent of lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone, and 6% fall inside a designated historic district; both are small, present-day shares from the current maps rather than predictions. Those figures, and the height and floor-area limits that actually govern any one of these 120 lots, are cited in full in the rules tables above, alongside whatever landmark or flood overlay applies to a specific parcel.
Bulk rules for C4-7
| Context | Residential FAR | Commercial FAR | Community facility FAR | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As of right — narrow street§ 33-432 slope differs by street type: 2.7:1 narrow / 5.6:1 wide. | 10 | 10 | 10 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-122, § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 33-43, § 33-432, § 33-451, § 34-112 |
| As of right — wide street§ 33-432 slope differs by street type: 2.7:1 narrow / 5.6:1 wide. | 10 | 10 | 10 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-122, § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 33-43, § 33-432, § 33-451, § 34-112 |
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 C4-7
- 60 Columbus Avenue — 316,430 sq ft lot, 0.84 built FAR, built 1964
- 827 11 Avenue — 85,996 sq ft lot, 13.86 built FAR, built 2015
- 625 West 57 Street — 110,457 sq ft lot, 5.73 built FAR, built 2013
- 400 West 61st Street — 92,878 sq ft lot, 9.11 built FAR, built 2016
- 1992 Broadway — 55,462 sq ft lot, 12.74 built FAR, built 1992
- 20 West 64 Street — 59,822 sq ft lot, 16.28 built FAR, built 1970
- 15 Central Park West — 57,899 sq ft lot, 12.02 built FAR, built 2005
- 21 West End Avenue — 83,139 sq ft lot, 7.58 built FAR, built 2013
- 1 West End Avenue — 72,099 sq ft lot, 10.43 built FAR, built 2014
- 400 West 59 Street — 49,962 sq ft lot, 18.41 built FAR, built 1997
- 30 West 63 Street — 38,149 sq ft lot, 15.36 built FAR, built 1979
- 124 West 60 Street — 22,038 sq ft lot, 25.68 built FAR, built 1986
C4-7 — quick questions
- What is the maximum residential FAR in C4-7?
- 10, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-122, § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 33-43, § 33-432, § 33-451, § 34-112. 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 C4-7?
- 10, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 33-122, § 33-123, § 33-25, § 33-26, § 33-43, § 33-432, § 33-451, § 34-112. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is C4-7 a contextual district?
- No. C4-7 is not a contextual district; its building envelope is governed by the district's general height and setback rules rather than a prescribed contextual envelope.
- What's the typical building height recorded under this designation?
- The tallest in this comparison set: a median height of 12 stories, with 63% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors — both the highest figures among these designations.
- Is the building stock here mostly prewar or postwar?
- Postwar and newer, unusually for this group: the median construction year is 1974, only 37% of buildings predate 1940, and 20% have been built since 2000.
- How large are the lots under this designation?
- Larger than any other designation in this set: a median of 15,263 square feet, with a 90th percentile reaching 60,154, carrying 17,190 recorded housing units across roughly 120 lots.
- How much recorded capacity remains unbuilt on these lots?
- Some, but the smallest majority in this comparison group: 61% of lots record floor area below their mapped allowance, at a median residual of 3.2 FAR.
- What do the flood and historic-district maps show for this designation?
- A small share of each: 4% sit inside the mapped federal flood zone and 6% inside a designated historic district, both current-map facts rather than predictions.
Keep learning
What do the C4-7 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.