R3A Zoning District — New York City
R3A is a contextual, low-density Detached Residence District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
R3A is a contextual, low-density Detached Residence District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City. It principally allows housing and community facilities. As of right, the maximum residential FAR is 0.75. 54,536 tax lots citywide carry R3A as their primary zoning designation.
A deep prewar layer and unusually wide recorded headroom sit side by side on lots carrying this designation: 59% of buildings predate 1940 and the median construction year is 1930, yet 83% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 0.3 FAR. These roughly 55,000 lots are 94% residential, holding 76,646 recorded homes, with 6% inside the mapped flood zone.
What actually stands in this district
The construction record on lots carrying this designation runs well into the prewar era — a median year of 1930, with 59% of recorded buildings predating 1940 — far outweighing the 20% built during the 1945-1975 postwar boom that followed. What stands out is that this age has not translated into a tightly built-out stock: 83% of lots still record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 0.3 FAR, a wide recorded margin for a stock this old and one of the wider gaps recorded in this batch. Recent construction adds a further 9% since 2000, a modest but real trickle on top of an otherwise mid-century-and-earlier timeline.
The designation is mapped across roughly 55,000 tax lots citywide, a mid-sized footprint next to the largest and smallest designations profiled alongside it. One-family homes lead the recorded building classes at 57%, two-family homes follow at 33%, and vacant land accounts for 4%. Land use closely tracks that mix: one- and two-family use covers 90% of lots, vacant land 4%, and multi-family walk-up use 2%. Overall 94% of lots are coded residential, and the file counts 76,646 homes across the designation, a sizable recorded population for a stock built up mostly before the war.
Lots run a middle course in size for this bracket: a median of 3,020 square feet, with the 90th percentile reaching 5,299 square feet — larger than the more tightly packed designations in this batch, if smaller than the most spacious. Buildings rise to a median of 2 stories, and 0% of recorded buildings climb above 6 floors, consistent with the low-rise pattern the class mix describes above.
Flood exposure is modest: 6% of these roughly 55,000 lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone. That is a statement about the federal flood map rather than a ledger of which individual lots have taken on water, and it is always checkable against any single lot's own page. None of this designation's recorded stat families come back nulled for coverage, so the age and headroom figures above draw on a complete rather than partial read of the file. The regulatory specifics — how much floor area and height this designation actually permits — are addressed, with their legal citations, in the tables above rather than in this description of the recorded stock.
Bulk rules for R3A
| Context | Residential FAR | Community facility FAR | Heights | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As of right§ 23-21 footnote 1: For standard zoning lots with lot area >= 4,000 sq ft, max residential floor area associated with any single dwelling unit shall not exceed an equivalent FAR of 0.60. | Per § 23-332(a): detached single/two-family residence requires two 5 ft side yards. | Per § 23-361(a): in R3A, max residential lot coverage = lot coverage remaining after application of all required yards (no fixed percentage). | Per § 23-321(b), corner lots may reduce one front yard by 5 ft (min 5 ft). Per § 23-321(a), qualifying residential sites with lot width >= 150 ft may reduce by 5 ft. | Per § 23-342(a): detached and zero-lot-line buildings require 20 ft rear yard at or below 75 ft (30 ft above 75 ft where permitted). Semi-detached and attached buildings on lots <40 ft wide require 30 ft; on lots >=40 ft wide, 20 ft at or below 75 ft. Per § 23-342(b), shallow interior lots (<95 ft deep, existing pre-12/15/1961) may reduce by 6 in per ft below 95 (min 10 ft). | 0.75 | 1 | Base 25 ft · Max 35 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-21, § 23-421, § 24-11 |
| Qualifying residential sitePer § 23-21: 'Qualifying residential sites' FAR. Per § 23-333, on qualifying residential sites in R1-R5 no side yards are required (though 5 ft open area along side lot line if provided). Per § 23-321(a), front yard may be reduced by 5 ft on QRS with lot width >= 150 ft (min 5 ft). Per § 23-312(f), no parking permitted in front yard on QRS in R1-R5. | Per § 23-342(a): detached and zero-lot-line buildings require 20 ft rear yard at or below 75 ft (30 ft above 75 ft where permitted). Semi-detached and attached buildings on lots <40 ft wide require 30 ft; on lots >=40 ft wide, 20 ft at or below 75 ft. Per § 23-342(b), shallow interior lots (<95 ft deep, existing pre-12/15/1961) may reduce by 6 in per ft below 95 (min 10 ft). | 1 | 1 | Base 35 ft · Max 35 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-21, § 23-424, § 24-11 |
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 residential districts
Residence districts principally allow housing and community facilities. Bulk rules in the NYC Zoning Resolution (§ 23-) control how much floor area a lot can carry and how tall and close to lot lines a building may be.
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 R3A
- Cross Bay Boulevard — 6,100,680 sq ft lot, 0 built FAR
- 118-35 Farmers Boulevard — 40,209 sq ft lot, 2.01 built FAR, built 2016
- Cross Bay Boulevard — 2,409,539 sq ft lot, 0 built FAR
- 87 62 Avenue — 33,649 sq ft lot, 1.34 built FAR, built 1989
- 5676 Riverdale Avenue — 25,933 sq ft lot, 1.77 built FAR, built 1983
- 3779 East Tremont Avenue — 30,575 sq ft lot, 0.65 built FAR, built 1970
- 570 Tompkins Avenue — 34,983 sq ft lot, 0.32 built FAR, built 2009
- Billop Avenue — 81,900 sq ft lot, 0 built FAR
- 4051 Hylan Boulevard — 42,100 sq ft lot, 0.3 built FAR, built 2013
- 20 Merle Place — 40,000 sq ft lot, 1.53 built FAR, built 1964
- 6655 Broadway — 15,825 sq ft lot, 6 built FAR, built 1929
- 147-10 84 Road — 25,000 sq ft lot, 2.6 built FAR, built 1952
R3A — quick questions
- What is the maximum residential FAR in R3A?
- 0.75, as of right, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-21, § 23-421, § 24-11. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is R3A a contextual district?
- Yes. R3A 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 many tax lots are zoned R3A?
- 54,536 tax lots citywide carry R3A as their primary zoning designation, per NYC municipal records as of 2026-07-11.
- How old is the recorded building stock here?
- Substantially prewar: a median construction year of 1930, with 59% of buildings predating 1940, against 20% from the 1945-1975 postwar boom and 9% since 2000.
- Is there recorded room to build more on lots zoned this way?
- A wide margin for a stock this old: 83% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 0.3 FAR.
- What kind of buildings stand on these lots?
- One-family homes lead at 57%, two-family homes at 33%. 94% of lots are coded residential, holding 76,646 homes.
- Are these lots exposed to flooding?
- A modest share: 6% of these roughly 55,000 lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone.
Keep learning
What do the R3A 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.