Every lot in the City has a zoning designation. Zoning describes what a property owner can do without getting explicit permission on a particular property. An owner that wants to do something that the zoning does not allow will have to seek a varience and will usually need to go through the Uniform Land Use Review Process. 

You can find out the zoning for a particular property by following the link to New York City's Zoning & Land Use Map (ZOLA) from any property page.

These illustrations are from projects created by our friends at the Center for Urban Pedagogy.