2016 marks the 100th anniversary of New York City’s zoning code. You might not immediately think this an occasion to break out the champagne, but then again, it’s hard to overstate the impact the code has had on America’s most iconic city. As the New York Times points out in a recent article, there is barely an inch of the island of Manhattan that hasn’t been touched by the building code. From the tiered design of the Empire State Building to the coziness of Greenwich Village, the city we know and love came to us, to a large extent, through the code. How things have changed: Manhattan as depicted in 1873 … New York was the first American city to develop a comprehensive building code. Originally, the code was designed to stem the proliferation of overcrowded, dangerous tenements. Over time, however, the code changed to meet new challenges, including environmental and safety standards. Most recently, Mayor de Blasio received approval for an affordable housing scheme designed to slow the rise of gentrification. Because the code is always changing, many of the city’s buildings would never be approved for construction today. As the Times reports, a real ... , Pat Finn, read more http://ift.tt/1UoqTcB
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