Chapter 1 - Special Midtown South Mixed Use District (MSX)
GENERAL PURPOSES
The “Special Midtown South Mixed Use District” established in this Resolution is designed to promote and protect public health, safety, and general welfare. These general goals include, among others, the following specific purposes:
- to retain adequate wage and job-producing industries within the Midtown South District;
- to preserve a variety of types of space for a diversity of businesses that service the Midtown South District and the city;
- to establish an appropriate urban scale and visual character within the Midtown South District;
- to provide opportunities for housing growth through office to residential conversions and new development; and
- to promote the most desirable use of land within the district, to conserve the value of land and buildings, and thereby protect the City’s tax revenues.
General Provisions
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply within the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District. The regulations of all other Chapters of this Resolution are applicable, except as superseded, supplemented or modified by the provisions of this Chapter. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Chapter and other regulations of this Resolution, the provisions of this Chapter shall control. However, for transit-adjacent sites or qualifying transit improvement sites#, as defined in Section 66-11 (Definitions), in the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Chapter and the provisions of Article VI, Chapter 6 (Special Regulations Applying Around Mass Transit Stations), the provisions of Article VI, Chapter 6 shall control.
Definitions
District Plan
The regulations of this Chapter are designed to implement the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District Plan. The District Plan includes the following map:
Special Midtown South Mixed Use District
The map is located in Appendix A of this Chapter and is hereby incorporated and made an integral part of this Resolution. It is incorporated for the purpose of specifying locations where special regulations and requirements set forth in the text of this Chapter apply.
For the purposes of applying the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program provisions set forth in Section 27-10 (ADMINISTRATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING), Mandatory Inclusionary Housing areas within the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District are shown on the maps in APPENDIX F of this Resolution.
For conversions in buildings existing prior to [date of adoption], that are not otherwise subject to paragraph (a)(3)(v) of Section 27-131 (Mandatory Inclusionary Housing), the Board of Standards and Appeals may permit a contribution to the affordable housing fund, pursuant to the provisions of Section 73-624 (Modification of Affordable Housing Fund payment options in the SoHo NoHo Mixed Use District and the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District).
In the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District, M1 Districts are paired with a Residence District. In paired districts, the special use, bulk, and parking and loading provisions of Article XII, Chapter 3 (Special Mixed Use District) shall apply, except where modified by the provisions of this Chapter.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 123-10 (GENERAL PROVISIONS), in the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Chapter and the provisions of Article XII, Chapter 3, the provisions of this Chapter shall control.
USE REGULATIONS
Within the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District the use provisions of Article XII, Chapter 3 or the underlying district, as applicable, are modified by the provisions of this Section, inclusive.
In M1A Districts without a paired Residence District, uses listed under Use Groups IV(B), IX and X shall be limited to those permitted within M1 Districts paired with Residence Districts pursuant to the provisions of Section 123-21 (Modifications to M1 Use Regulations), inclusive.
Regulations for Use Group VI
In addition to all uses permitted in the designated M1A District, all uses listed under Use Group VI shall be permitted, and where such uses have a size limitation, as denoted with an “S” in the use group tables set forth in Section 42-16 (Use Group VI – Retail and Services), such size limitation shall not apply.
Streetscape Regulations
The underlying ground floor level streetscape provisions set forth in Section 32-30 (STREETSCAPE REGULATIONS), inclusive, shall apply, except that ground floor level street frontages along streets, or portions thereof, designated on Map 1 in the Appendix to this Chapter shall be considered Tier C street frontages.
SIGN REGULATIONS
All signs shall be subject to the regulations applicable in C6-4 Districts, as set forth in Section 32-60 (SIGN REGULATIONS). However, flashing signs shall not be permitted.
SPECIAL BULK REGULATIONS
Within the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District the bulk provisions of Article XII, Chapter 3 or the underlying district, as applicable, are modified by the provisions of this Section, inclusive.
On zoning lots above 20,000 square feet in lot area, up to 150,000 square feet of floor area within a public school, constructed in whole or in part pursuant to agreement with the New York City School Construction Authority and subject to the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education, shall be exempt from the definition of floor area for the purposes of calculating the permitted floor area ratio for community facility uses and the maximum floor area ratio of the zoning lot.
Rear yard equivalent
Where the designated Residence District is an R6 through R12 District without a letter suffix, for buildings, or portions thereof, containing residential uses, the alternative location allowances set forth in paragraph (c)(2) of Section 23-343 (Rear yard equivalent requirements) shall not apply.
On In M1 Districts paired with a Residence District, on any single zoning lot, if two or more buildings or portions of buildings are detached from one another at any level, such buildings or portions of buildings shall at no point be less than eight feet apart.
All zoning lots shall follow the underlying height and setback regulations.
Street wall regulations
For all buildings, 100 percent of the width of street walls along a street frontage at the ground floor level shall be located within eight feet of the street line. For any story above the ground floor level, at least 70 percent of the width of street walls shall be located within eight feet of the street line and extend to at least a minimum base height of 60 feet, or the height of the building, whichever is less; or as modified by Section 121-332 (Base Height Regulations). Up to 30 percent of the aggregate width of street walls above the ground floor may be recessed beyond eight feet of the street line, provided that any such recesses deeper than 10 feet along a wide street or 15 feet along a narrow street are located within an outer court. In addition, the street wall location provision of this paragraph shall not apply along such street line occupied by a public plaza as set forth in Section 37-70 (PUBLIC PLAZAS), nor within 15 feet of a landmark building or other structure.
Base height regulations
Except for zoning lots located south of West 31st Street and east of Avenue of the Americas, the maximum base height of a street wall may vary between the applicable maximum set forth in the underlying regulations, inclusive, and the height of the street wall of adjacent building before setback, if such height is higher than the maximum base height.
For zoning lots existing on August 14, 2025, containing landmark buildings or other structures, where more than 50 percent of the lot area is located within the Special Midtown South Mixed Use District, the provisions of Section 77-22 (Floor Area Ratio) shall be modified to permit the distribution of floor area anywhere on the zoning lot, regardless of the district boundary.
For zoning lots abutting the Theater Subdistrict of the Special Midtown District, the boundaries for which are shown in Map 1 of Appendix A of Article VIII Chapter 1, the provisions of Section 81-744 (Transfer of development rights from listed theaters) may be applied and such zoning lots may be “receiving sites” as defined in such section.
