R6 Zoning District — New York City
R6 is a medium-density General Residence District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
R6 is a medium-density General 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 2.2. 67,757 tax lots citywide carry R6 as their primary zoning designation.
This is the largest designation in this batch by a wide margin: roughly 68,000 tax lots citywide and 580,515 recorded homes. Walk-up apartment buildings lead the building classes at 35%, ahead of two-family homes at 29%, and 69% of buildings predate 1940 with a median construction year of 1930. Buildings run to a median of 2.5 stories, with 2% rising above 6 floors, and 90% of lots are coded residential.
What actually stands in this district
Scale sets this designation apart from most others in this batch. Roughly 68,000 tax lots carry it citywide, and the file counts 580,515 homes on record — a total that dwarfs the other designations profiled alongside it. Walk-up apartment buildings lead the recorded classes at 35%, followed by two-family homes at 29% and one-family homes at 11%, and by land use, one- and two-family parcels cover 40% of these lots with multi-family walk-up use adding 35% and mixed residential-and-commercial use 12%. A designation this large inevitably carries more internal variety than the smaller, tighter designations elsewhere in this batch, even where the leading categories look similar. That combination of scale and variety is itself worth noting: a designation mapped across this many lots citywide tends to gather a wider range of recorded outcomes than one confined to a small footprint.
Construction here is old but not as uniformly so as the smaller, quieter designations in this batch: 69% of buildings on record predate 1940, and the median construction year is 1930. Only 8% date from the 1945-1975 postwar boom, while 13% have gone up since 2000 — a recent-construction share on the higher end of this batch, meaning new building continues at real scale even against a stock this large and this old. At a designation of this size, even a modest percentage share of recent construction translates into a large absolute number of newer buildings.
Height runs a touch taller than the most uniform low-rise designations in this batch: a median of 2.5 stories, with 2% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors. Lots run a median of 2,200 square feet, with the largest recorded parcels reaching 5,004 square feet, and 90% of lots overall are coded residential — a high residential share to sustain across a designation this large. That height and lot-size combination sits closer to the middle of the range this batch shows than to either its tallest or its most tightly platted extremes.
The federal flood map places 3% of these lots inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, and 7% carry historic-district status on record — modest shares, though a designation this size still carries them across a meaningful absolute number of lots. On development, 84% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 1.1 FAR. Each of the roughly 68,000 lots carrying this designation has its own page with these figures broken out individually; the floor-area and height rules that govern it, with their citations, sit in the tables above.
Bulk rules for R6
| Context | Residential FAR | Community facility FAR | Max lot coverage | Heights | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As of rightPer § 23-335: detached single/two-family residence requires two 5 ft side yards (a); for all other residences no side yards required (b). R6-R12 districts are predominantly multi-family; the dominant rule is 'no side yards required'. | Per § 23-362(a): max residential lot coverage 80% on interior/through lots; 100% on corner lots. Per § 23-362(b), eligible-site provisions cap at 65% (lots >= 30,000 sf) or 50% (large sites). | 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). | 2.2 | 4.8 | 80% | Base 30–45 ft · Max 55 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-22, § 23-432 footnote 2, § 23-431, § 24-11 |
| Qualifying affordable housingPer § 23-22: 'Qualifying affordable housing' or 'qualifying senior housing' FAR (replaces pre-CoY per-MIH-area FAR columns; MIH program area details are in mih_program_areas table). | Per § 23-335: detached single/two-family residence requires two 5 ft side yards (a); for all other residences no side yards required (b). R6-R12 districts are predominantly multi-family; the dominant rule is 'no side yards required'. | Per § 23-362(a): max residential lot coverage 80% on interior/through lots; 100% on corner lots. Per § 23-362(b), eligible-site provisions cap at 65% (lots >= 30,000 sf) or 50% (large sites). | 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). | 3.9 | 4.8 | 80% | Base 30–65 ft · Max 85 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-22, § 23-432 footnote 2, § 23-431, § 24-11 |
| Qualifying affordable housing — wide streetWide-street qualifying treatment per §23-432 footnote 1 (within 100 ft of wide street); qualifying affordable housing / qualifying senior housing columns. This context was inserted because 4a-i did not have a wide-street qualifying row. | 3.9 | 4.8 | — | Base 40–65 ft · Max 95 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-432 footnote 1, § 23-431, § 24-11 |
| Wide street§ 23-22 footnote 1: For zoning lots, or portions thereof, located within 100 ft of a wide street. QAH FAR (3.90) does not differ from non-wide-street value. | 3 | 4.8 | 80% | Base 40–65 ft · Max 75 ft | NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-22 footnote 1, § 23-432 footnote 1, § 23-431, § 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 R6
- 2049 Bartow Avenue — 5,048,550 sq ft lot, 2.68 built FAR, built 1969
- 163-15 Baisley Boulevard — 4,672,960 sq ft lot, 1.49 built FAR, built 1962
- 9 Metropolitan Oval — 1,500,000 sq ft lot, 1.88 built FAR, built 1940
- 120 Erskine Place — 1,952,770 sq ft lot, 2.84 built FAR, built 1969
- 25 Metropolitan Oval — 951,289 sq ft lot, 2.31 built FAR
- 2 North 6 Street — 51,680 sq ft lot, 11.41 built FAR, built 2017
- 85 Commercial Street — 112,000 sq ft lot, 5.42 built FAR, built 2021
- 1409 Metropolitan Oval — 914,087 sq ft lot, 2.02 built FAR
- 14 Metropolitan Oval — 1,399,921 sq ft lot, 1.72 built FAR
- 486 Neptune Avenue — 211,538 sq ft lot, 4.42 built FAR, built 1964
- 325 Kent Avenue — 57,600 sq ft lot, 8.56 built FAR, built 2015
- 2830 Ocean Parkway — 539,730 sq ft lot, 3.34 built FAR, built 1962
R6 — quick questions
- What is the maximum residential FAR in R6?
- 2.2, as of right, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 23-22, § 23-432 footnote 2, § 23-431, § 24-11. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is R6 a contextual district?
- No. R6 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 many tax lots are zoned R6?
- 67,757 tax lots citywide carry R6 as their primary zoning designation, per NYC municipal records as of 2026-07-11.
- How many properties carry this zoning designation?
- A large number: roughly 68,000 tax lots citywide, with 580,515 recorded homes — among the largest totals of any designation in this batch.
- What kind of buildings dominate this district?
- Walk-up apartment buildings lead the recorded classes at 35%, ahead of two-family homes at 29%, on lots where one- and two-family land use covers 40%.
- How old is the building stock?
- Mostly prewar: 69% of recorded buildings predate 1940, with a median construction year of 1930. A further 13% have been built since 2000.
- Are these lots in a flood zone or historic district?
- Mostly not: 3% of lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone and 7% carry historic-district status, both minority shares of the roughly 68,000 lots recorded.
Keep learning
What do the R6 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.