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The Fashion District is governed by two different sets of zoning standards. Most of the District area west of Broadway is included within the Special Garment Center District, a special zoning area designated by the City Planning Commission in 1987. (The zoning provisions that govern the special district are described below.) Outside the Special District, the BID area is generally zoned as a high-density commercial area that allows a range of as-of-right uses, including light manufacturing, commercial office and residential use.
By contrast, the permitted uses within the Special Garment Center District are far more restricted - reflecting the City’s efforts of the late 1980s to protect the garment industry in the neighborhood. The district itself was created by City Planning as a reaction to concern that the ongoing vitality of the overall fashion industry was being threatened by the erosion of garment manufacturing activity in the area. The Department identified of garment manufacturing space to office and other non-garment industry uses as a major threat the conversion. Therefore, residential use was prohibited throughout the special district, and the side streets were designated as a “Preservation Area” with restrictions on the conversion of manufacturing space to office use (See Map 4). The preservation restrictions were also designed to accommodate other apparel industry tenants, such as warehouses and showrooms, which are allowable under the manufacturing conversion provisions. It was thought that these efforts would help maintain a geographic concentration of the various segments of the garment industry, and thereby reinforce the strength of the overall industry. It was also the hope that the restrictions of the preservation area zoning would slow the decline of apparel manufacturing employment in the area (and thus in New York City).
Map of the Special Garment Center District and Fashion Center BID Boundaries
Map 4
Preservation Area within the Special Garment Center District
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