What is the maximum residential FAR in C5-2?

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 C5-2?

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 C5-2 a contextual district?

No. C5-2 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.

How thin is the recorded floor-area headroom under this designation?

Thinner than anywhere else in this set: just 55% of lots show any recorded residual, and the median gap is only 1.3 FAR — the narrowest headroom figure in this comparison group.

Is the recorded stock under this designation mostly prewar?

Largely yes: a median construction year of 1925, with 71% of buildings predating 1940. Only 10% date from the 1945-1975 postwar boom, and 11% have gone up since 2000.

How exposed is this designation to flood risk or landmark review?

Lightly, by the current record: 1% of lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone and 10% inside a designated historic district — both current-map facts.

C5-2 Zoning District — New York City

C5-2 is a high-density General Central Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.

C5-2 is a high-density General Central 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. 364 tax lots citywide carry C5-2 as their primary zoning designation.

Office buildings dominate the recorded stock here more than in any other designation in this group: 38% of recorded building classes are office buildings, and commercial and office land use covers 53% of the roughly 360 lots. Floor-area headroom is also the thinnest recorded in this set — just 55% of lots show any residual, at a median of only 1.3 FAR — describing a designation whose built stock already sits close to its mapped ceiling.

What actually stands in this district

This designation's recorded stock leans toward offices more than any other profiled in this comparison set. Office buildings make up 38% of recorded building classes, condominiums add 15%, and elevator apartment buildings 12%. By land use, commercial and office parcels cover 53% of the roughly 360 lots — also the highest such share in this group — with mixed residential-commercial parcels at 26% and multi-family elevator parcels at 9%. That combination — the leading building class and the leading land-use category both landing on commercial and office use — is the clearest office-first signature of any designation in this batch.

Recorded floor-area headroom is the narrowest in this comparison set. Only 55% of lots show built area below their mapped allowance, and the median residual is just 1.3 FAR — describing a stock that, on the whole, already sits close to what the map allows. That is a records fact about built floor area against a mapped ceiling; it says nothing about any single lot's specific circumstances, which are on that lot's own page. A designation with an office-dominated stock and this little recorded headroom describes parcels that were, on the whole, built out close to their mapped capacity when the stock on them went up, rather than left with room to spare.

Height runs tall: a median of 11 stories, with 64% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors — one of the higher shares in this group. The stock is also comparatively old, with a median construction year of 1925 and 71% of buildings predating 1940. Only 10% of recorded structures fall inside the 1945-1975 postwar boom, while 11% have been built since 2000. That pairing of an old median year with a genuinely tall recorded stock suggests much of the height here was part of the original prewar build-out, in an era when this kind of office-and-commercial designation was already producing tower-scale construction.

Only 36% of the roughly 360 lots are recorded as residential, yet the file still counts 15,247 units — a large total concentrated on a minority of parcels, consistent with the office-heavy mix described above. Lots run to a median of 5,021 square feet, with a 90th percentile of 19,980. One percent of lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone, and 10% fall inside a designated historic district — both real but minority shares, describing today's federal and landmark maps for these specific parcels rather than a prediction about either one. Those limits — the floor-area and height figures that actually govern any one of these 360 lots — sit in the rules tables above, cited in full.

Bulk rules for C5-2

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 C5-2

151 East 58 Street — 84,348 sq ft lot, 13.08 built FAR, built 2001
1097 Broadway — 51,642 sq ft lot, 13.65 built FAR, built 1909
285 5 Avenue — 36,575 sq ft lot, 15.14 built FAR, built 1920
220 East 42 Street — 70,112 sq ft lot, 12.95 built FAR, built 1928
845 United Nations Plaza — 37,050 sq ft lot, 19.26 built FAR, built 2000
666 1 Avenue — 193,528 sq ft lot, 0 built FAR
685 First Avenue — 32,364 sq ft lot, 21.21 built FAR, built 2016
355 5 Avenue — 82,950 sq ft lot, 10.67 built FAR, built 1913
2 Park Avenue — 40,487 sq ft lot, 21.06 built FAR, built 1928
743 Lexington Avenue — 84,350 sq ft lot, 9.95 built FAR, built 1868
150 East 58 Street — 28,491 sq ft lot, 20.02 built FAR, built 1968
200 Madison Avenue — 40,981 sq ft lot, 14.79 built FAR, built 1926

Browse all 364 lots zoned C5-2 →

C5-2 — quick questions

What is the maximum residential FAR in C5-2?: 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 C5-2?: 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 C5-2 a contextual district?: No. C5-2 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.
Is this designation mostly office or residential?: Office-dominated: 38% of recorded building classes are office buildings, and commercial and office land use covers 53% of the roughly 360 lots. Only 36% of lots are recorded as residential.
How thin is the recorded floor-area headroom under this designation?: Thinner than anywhere else in this set: just 55% of lots show any recorded residual, and the median gap is only 1.3 FAR — the narrowest headroom figure in this comparison group.
What does the record show about building height here?: Tall: a median of 11 stories, with 64% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors.
Is the recorded stock under this designation mostly prewar?: Largely yes: a median construction year of 1925, with 71% of buildings predating 1940. Only 10% date from the 1945-1975 postwar boom, and 11% have gone up since 2000.
How exposed is this designation to flood risk or landmark review?: Lightly, by the current record: 1% of lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone and 10% inside a designated historic district — both current-map facts.

Keep learning

What do the C5-2 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.

Run a free lookup See plans

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.