Annual Awards 2020: Honoring New York City Council

In this second of our series to celebrate FRIENDS 2020 Annual Awards recipients we highlight our 2020 Expression of Thanks Awardee New York City Council for adopting Resolution No. 916, which amends the Zoning Resolution to put a cap on exempt mechanical void space within new buildings in residential neighborhoods.

The Council's vote provides another tool to protect the character of our neighborhoods. Click here to read more about what the amendment does to keep out of scale development in check.

To celebrate and give you some background, we share a lecture from 2017 entitled How Do Supertowers Get So Tall? Urban planning consultant George Janes (Principal of George M. Janes and Associates) examines the rise of the supertowers, how developers are able to build so tall, and FRIENDS' recommendations for how the zoning text can be amended to help reduce overall building height. We hope you find the video interesting and welcome your feedback and questions.

Mechanical Voids Zoning Text Amendment Summary and Impact

This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York City Department of Youth & Community Development in partnership with the City Council.