ABSTRACT
Minimum parking requirements are a staple of local land-use controls, despite their potentially harmful effects on housing costs and traffic congestion. At the center of development politics in much of New York City is the conflict between new housing developments and on-street parking for the residents. In addition to raising development costs, parking requirements also have transportation and environmental consequences. Parking requirements were imposed for all residential, commercial, and manufacturing districts, with the exception of congested areas in Lower Manhattan. According to the 2014 American Community Survey, about 52 percent of New York City households outside of Manhattan have access to at least one car. Multiple community review panels recommended that the zoning initiative not be adopted, in part due to concerns over parking. The city council ultimately adopted the zoning initiative in March 2016, but only after reducing the size of the Transit Zone and after making it more difficult for existing parking lots to be redeveloped.
