Mayor Eric Adams speaks often about the need to make city government friendlier to businesses. A key zoning initiative set to enter the formal approval process later this year is one way his administration plans to do that.
The proposal aims to reform a raft of outdated rules that hinder business growth. As officials have conducted public engagement around the plan in recent weeks, they’ve shed light on some of the obscure provisions in the 1960s-era zoning code they’re looking to correct, and the types of businesses that would benefit from the changes.
“A lot of what we’ve heard is, let’s face it, New York City can be a challenging place to run a business, and dealing with government regulation is oftentimes frustrating, slow, confusing or simply illogical,” Matt Waskiewicz, a senior planner at the Department of City Planning, said at a public meeting last week. “All of this red tape makes investing in businesses hard…having fewer people able to start their business, having one more vacant storefront, having one more business having to leave their neighborhood.”
As one example, the plan would tweak an arcane rule that currently prohibits certain businesses like dance studios and clothing rental shops from operating on the ground floor in some commercial areas. Officials are also looking to amend restrictions on musical entertainment and dancing, and permit small-scale manufacturing uses and indoor amusements like arcades and trampoline parks in more parts of the city.
The plan aims to support specific industries like life sciences by tweaking outdated zoning language governing laboratory space. It may also address any zoning changes needed to permit casinos in the five boroughs.
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