The Daily Dirt: City seeks flexibility in commercial districts

The Adams administration wants to loosen up the rules for where commercial space can be located in a building.

The City of Yes for Economic Opportunity would geographically expand rules that allow commercial use on the second floor of mixed-use buildings in high-density districts. In districts where commercial use is already allowed on multiple floors of a building, the text amendment would permit commercial space above and on the same floor as residences, provided there are separate entrances for the two uses.

The idea is to create more design flexibility. The changes could also simplify some conversions of office to residential space.

On Monday, the City Planning Commission launched public review of the City of Yes proposal, the second to hit this milestone. The City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality is nearing the finish line: City Council approval. The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is expected to begin review next year.

This second proposal would do a number of things, notably updating nonsensical parts of the city’s zoning resolution. For instance, zoning still prohibits dancing at various venues, although the City Council in 2017 repealed a Prohibition-era measure called the Cabaret Law that barred dancing at most bars and restaurants.

The text amendment also seeks to simplify zoning in commercial districts to prevent situations where a business type is allowed on one side of a street but not the other.

It would also modernize business classifications, which still include labels such as “typewriter repair” and “umbrella repair,” two services that I am weirdly in need of at the moment, but that are probably not used very often.

“Businesses today can’t figure out what they can or cannot do,” City Planning head Dan Garodnick told reporters Friday. “Ambiguity is the enemy of business, and we want to deal with it here.”

The text amendment also changes rules that treat all manufacturers as “giant polluters of the past that need to be limited to manufacturing districts,” to allow “clean, small-scale” production facilities, such as breweries and pottery studios, to open shop in commercial districts.

Notably absent from the text amendment: Changes that would have created a path for rezoning for a casino. The administration had thought about including those changes in the City of Yes, but ultimately created a separate text amendment for casinos, the Queens Daily Eagle reports. It is easy to see why: Including a pathway for a casino would have overshadowed the other proposals.

What we’re thinking about: What City Council races are you watching closely? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: In Quebec, Oct. 30 is referred to as “Mat Night,” a name derived from the mischievous swapping of doormats between neighbors, according to the Montreal Gazette. New Jersey teens have a tradition of committing small to not-so-small acts of vandalism the night before Halloween. But so-called Mischief Night, Cabbage Night and my home town’s preferred term, Goosey Night, is on the decline, NJ Advance Media reports.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday visited Cornell University in response to violent and antisemitic comments posted on an online message board at the school, Politico New York reports. Last week the Anti-Defamation League reported a nearly 400 percent increase in antisemitic incidents across the U.S. since Oct. 7. “You cannot ignore these threats and hope they go away,” Hochul said. “Talking about them, talking about prosecuting, talking about trying to foster some understanding. There should be a greater sense of empathy for these students.”

— The Hochul administration is considering cutting back on state spending on the migrant crisis, NY1 reports. “New York’s ability to pay for these programs is not unlimited. As you know, the governor has publicly stated we are committed to balancing a budget without raising taxes or relying on one-time reserves to fund recurring obligations,” Hochul’s Division of the Budget Director Blake Washington said in a memo. “This will require revisions to projected spending growth for existing programs which will make our ability to provide assistance to asylum seekers and migrants unsustainable.”

— The 50th annual Village Halloween Parade kicks off tomorrow at 7 p.m., starting at Spring Street. This year’s theme is “Upside Down/Inside Out,” Gothamist reports. 

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Monday was $65.8 million for a condo at The Plaza Hotel, 768 Fifth Avenue.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $12.5 million for an apartment building at 1695-1705 Hoe Avenue in Crotona Park East, the Bronx.

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Monday was a co-op at 383 West Broadway in Soho asking $32 million. Reserve Partners has the listing.

Breaking Ground: The largest new building filing of the day was for a 75,000-square-foot education structure at 800 Division Road. The School Construction Authority filed the application.