What is the maximum residential FAR in C5-P?

8, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 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-P?

8, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 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.

How much unused floor-area capacity does this designation record?

An unusually large amount: 93% of the roughly 67 lots carrying this designation record floor area below their allowance, with a median gap of 5.8 FAR — among the deepest recorded residuals in this set of districts.

How old are the buildings on these lots?

Old: the median construction year is 1920, and 81% of recorded buildings predate 1940. Only 9% dates to the 1945-to-1975 boom, and 6% has been built since 2000.

How big are the lots here?

Small: a median of 2,510 square feet, with the largest lots on record reaching 7,531 square feet — tight ground beneath a designation that otherwise records substantial unused floor-area capacity.

Is this designation inside the mapped flood zone?

No — 0% of the lots carrying this designation are recorded inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area.

C5-P Zoning District — New York City

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

C5-P is a contextual, 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 8 and the maximum commercial FAR is 8. 67 tax lots citywide carry C5-P as their primary zoning designation.

Development records on the roughly 67 lots carrying this designation show more recorded headroom than almost any other file in this set: 93% of lots carry floor area below their allowance, with a median gap of 5.8 FAR. The ground beneath is old and small-lotted — a median construction year of 1920, 81% of buildings predating 1940, on a median lot of just 2,510 square feet.

What actually stands in this district

Few designations show as much recorded unused capacity as this one. Across roughly 67 lots, 93% carry floor area below their allowance, and the median residual is 5.8 FAR — both the share and the depth of the gap are large, meaning most of these lots have real, buildable-sized room left on record rather than a thin sliver. Few other designations in this set combine such a high share of lots with headroom and such a deep median gap at the same time; that pairing is itself the defining record here.

That headroom sits on old, small-footprint ground. The median construction year is 1920, and 81% of recorded buildings predate 1940 — one of the higher prewar shares in this set. Only 9% of the stock dates to the 1945-to-1975 postwar boom, and 6% has been built since 2000. Lots run a median of just 2,510 square feet, with the largest lots on record reaching 7,531 square feet, a small-parcel pattern recorded alongside that headroom figure — old buildings, tight lots, and a wide recorded gap between what stands and what the file allows. The gap between the prewar share and everything built since is wide enough that recent decades have added comparatively little to the file.

By recorded class, office buildings lead at 30%, mixed residential-and-commercial buildings follow at 19%, and elevator apartment buildings add 16%. Land use runs 46% mixed residential-and-commercial and 36% commercial and office, with multi-family elevator use recorded on 7% of lots. Residential use covers 54% of these lots, and the file counts 1,076 homes on record — a meaningful share on a designation this size, layered onto ground that is otherwise dominated by mixed and commercial use. None of the remaining recorded building classes reaches a double-digit share on its own, consistent with a stock spread across several smaller categories rather than concentrated in one.

Height runs to a median of 5 floors, with 30% of the recorded stock rising above 6. By the federal flood map, none of these lots are recorded inside the Special Flood Hazard Area, and the historic-district layer is empty here too — two overlays this designation simply does not carry, on the current record. That absence, on a designation already showing this much recorded headroom, leaves the zoning figures in the rules tables above as the primary constraint on file. Every lot's own recorded figures sit on its own page, cross-referenced against the governing allowance those tables carry for the designation.

Bulk rules for C5-P

Context	Residential FAR	Commercial FAR	Community facility FAR	Citation
As of right — narrow streetC5-P — Special Midtown District designation (78 MapPLUTO zonedist occurrences (68 primary), W 55th-56th St area; spdist1 = MiD). § 81-021 (Last Amended 10/7/2021, raw live HTML 2026-06-12): 'Except as modified by the express provisions of this Chapter, the regulations of the underlying districts remain in effect', with the section's table mapping Midtown district C5P → 'Districts Whose Regulations Apply' C5-2 — so C5-2's HTML-verified rows are cloned at build time. Express FAR modifications: § 81-211(a)-(b) table row 'A. Basic Maximum FAR' (Last Amended 8/14/2025), C5P column = 8.0 for non-residential or mixed buildings (overrides C5-2's 10.0); § 81-241 (Last Amended 12/5/2024): residential FAR 'shall be 8.0 for zoning lots containing standard residences, and 9.6 for zoning lots containing qualifying affordable housing or qualifying senior housing' — the 8.0 standard value is stored (commercial districts carry no qualifying_* contexts in this DB; the 9.6 QAH/senior figure is recorded here). ZR spells this district both 'C5P' (§ 81-211 table) and 'C5-P' (§ 11-12, § 81-241); MapPLUTO uses 'C5-P'. Yards/height/setback inherited from C5-2 per § 81-021; within Midtown, height/setback are further governed by §§ 81-25 to 81-27 (daylight rules — geometry-based, not representable as scalar rows).	8	8	8	NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 33-122; § 33-123; § 33-25; § 33-26; § 33-43; § 33-432; § 33-451; § 34-112
As of right — wide streetC5-P wide-street context — see the narrow-street row for the full § 81-021 / § 81-211 / § 81-241 basis.	8	8	8	NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 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-P

18 West 56th Street — 7,230 sq ft lot, 13.88 built FAR, built 2014
17 West 54 Street — 25,104 sq ft lot, 7.97 built FAR, built 1937
10 West 55th Street — 10,343 sq ft lot, 13.67 built FAR, built 2024
33 West 56 Street — 10,040 sq ft lot, 8.56 built FAR, built 2008
57 West 55 Street — 11,798 sq ft lot, 9.49 built FAR, built 1962
13 West 56 Street — 5,025 sq ft lot, 10.94 built FAR, built 1999
20 West 55 Street — 4,523 sq ft lot, 16.58 built FAR, built 1987
23 West 55 Street — 4,267 sq ft lot, 12.75 built FAR, built 1966
25 West 54 Street — 8,535 sq ft lot, 8.53 built FAR, built 1939
45 West 54 Street — 7,481 sq ft lot, 8.23 built FAR, built 1948
39 West 55 Street — 5,025 sq ft lot, 8 built FAR, built 1913
40 West 55 Street — 7,531 sq ft lot, 6.06 built FAR, built 1925

Browse all 67 lots zoned C5-P →

C5-P — quick questions

What is the maximum residential FAR in C5-P?: 8, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 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-P?: 8, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-P underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 8.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential FAR 8.0; 9.6 QAH/senior); § 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-P a contextual district?: Yes. C5-P is a contextual district — its bulk rules pair floor-area ceilings with prescribed base and maximum building heights intended to mirror existing neighborhood form.
How much unused floor-area capacity does this designation record?: An unusually large amount: 93% of the roughly 67 lots carrying this designation record floor area below their allowance, with a median gap of 5.8 FAR — among the deepest recorded residuals in this set of districts.
How old are the buildings on these lots?: Old: the median construction year is 1920, and 81% of recorded buildings predate 1940. Only 9% dates to the 1945-to-1975 boom, and 6% has been built since 2000.
How big are the lots here?: Small: a median of 2,510 square feet, with the largest lots on record reaching 7,531 square feet — tight ground beneath a designation that otherwise records substantial unused floor-area capacity.
Is this designation inside the mapped flood zone?: No — 0% of the lots carrying this designation are recorded inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area.

Keep learning

What do the C5-P 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.