Community District
Find the planning projects in your community district.
Planning Links
- CityADMIN
- Furman Center Research
- City Council Land Use Committee
- Dept. of City Planning
- HPD
- NYC Dept. of Transportation
- Property Shark
- NYCHANIS
- Municipal Art Society
- Pratt Center for Community Development
- New Yorkers For Parks
Academic and research
City agencies and authorities
Mapping and data
Nonprofit and advocacy
NEW YORK CITY PLANNING RESOURCES
Where can I learn more about zoning?
Is there a glossary for all this terminology?
Where can I find and create maps of my neighborhood or community district?
How do I get involved in the planning process?
What city agencies or organizations are involved in planning in the city? State agencies?
Where can I get more information about parks and open space in New York City?
ANSWERS
What is the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)? What are the steps and when does a planning project need to go through them?
The ULURP procedure and its origins is described on the Deoartment of City Planning's overview of the ULURP process. In particular, this ULURP process diagram [PDF] is a useful summary.
The Department of City Planing also has a detailed summary of the actions requiring ULURP.
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Where can I learn more about zoning?
First, a definition by way of the New York City Department of City Planning: "Through zoning, a city regulates building size, population density and the way land is used. Zoning recognizes the changing demographic and economic conditions of the city and is a key tool for carrying out planning policy." The Department of City Planning has a set of zoning pages with history and terminology. That might be a good place to start.
The Municipal Art Society has published the CITI Zoning Guide [PDF], an easy-to-read intoduction to zoning in New York City.
When you've gotten the hang of that, TenantNet has taken the Zoning Handbook, the Department of City Planning's "plain language" version of the zoning resolution, and put it on the web: Zoning Handbook.
Finally, the Department of City Planning keeps the full Zoning Text and Zoning Maps from the Zoning Resolution on their web site.
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Is there a glossary for all this terminology?
Yes! The Department of City Planning has a zoning-centric terminology page.
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Where can I find and create maps of my neighborhood or community district?
Community mapping is experiencing a renaissance. That's nice because it means there are dozens of free mapping resources available. What is more difficult is figuring out which mapping resource addresses your needs. Here's a brief guide.
Locating an address and finding directions
MapQuest is basically synonymous with finding directions. But Google Maps is a strong contender. We really like the way Google Maps looks and the ease of navigation. Plus, they include quick-drawing aerial photographs. And there is a New York-centric service called Hop Stop that gives you directions via transit.
Land use and zoning maps
The NYC Department of City Planning is the home of the city's zoning maps.
The Community Information Technology Initiative (CITI), the result of a collaboration between the Municipal Art Society and the Community Mapping Assistance Project (CMAP), is a great place to create your own land use maps. They have a bunch of layers you can add to your map: land use, subway stations, open space, schools, Wi-Fi hotspots, and more. They also have a training guide [PDF] to help you get to know their system.
Maps with data
So you want to know how your community district measures up against the rest of the city with regard to complaints about blocked driveways? Head over to the NYC Map Portal. You can get statistics about 311 complaints, demographic information, building code violations--all kinds of information provided by the city.
If you want to compare your neighborhood's housing, neighborhood and demographic indicators with other neighborhoods around the city, try NYCHANIS - the New York City Housing and Neighborhood Information System.
The Community Mapping Assistance Project has maps showing open space, community gardens, programs for after school education, and superfund sites.
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How do I get involved in the planning process?
Great question. The most important question, perhaps.
Here is a list of things you can do:
- Attend a Community Board meeting.
- Write a letter to the editor in your favorite newspaper.
- Call or write your City Councilperson, Assemblyperson, Senator, Borough President, Mayor, Governor, Representative, Senator, or President.
- Start writing your own community blog.
- Start your own advocacy organization.
- Vote!
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What city agencies or organizations are involved in planning in the city? State agencies?
The two organizations that are most directly involved in planning are the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
The Department of City Planning describes its mission in four bullet points according to this presentation of the agency's Strategic Plan [ 3MB PDF file ]:
- Prepare strategic plans and policies to promote the City's orderly growth and improvement
- Advance land use actions to implement strategic plans
- Conduct land use and environmental reviews to facilitate public and private development
- Provide technical assistance and planning information
EDC is a not-for-profit organization under contract with the City of New York to "encourage economic growth in each of the five boroughs of New York City by strengthening the city's competitive position and facilitating investments that build capacity, generate prosperity and catalyze the economic vibrancy of city life as a whole."
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Where can I get more information about parks and open space in New York City?
There are a number of organizations that are building, maintaining, and advocating for parks and open space within New York City and surrounding areas. Here are a few such organizations, with descriptions from their respective websites.
As stewards of nearly 14 percent of New York City's land, the Department of Parks & Recreation builds and maintains clean, safe, and accessible parks citywide and programs those parks with recreational, cultural and educational activities for people of all ages. Through this work, Parks & Recreation improves people's lives, providing outlets for creative expression, opportunities for healthy recreation, and exposure to the restorative beauty of the natural world."
New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) is an independent advocacy organization that serves as a watchdog for the people of New York and their parks, committed to attaining a higher level of park services in every community. NY4P raises awareness about the importance of parks as a vital public service essential to strengthening and rebuilding the city.
Founded by Bette Midler in 1995, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) is built upon the notion that every community in New York City deserves clean and green neighborhoods. NYRP partners with individuals, community-based groups, and public agencies to reclaim, restore, and develop under-resourced parks, community gardens, and open space in New York City, primarily in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Parks1 is coalition of civic, greening, recreation and community development organizations that are working together to promote parks and playgrounds as a vital issue in the 2005 election for Mayor, Public Advocate, Borough President and City Council.
Project for Public Spaces is a nonprofit that works on the design and management of public spaces. Founded in 1975, PPS has helped over 1,000 communities to improve their parks, markets, streets, transit stations, libraries and countless other public spaces.
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