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Zoned Out! Race, Displacement, and City Planning in New York City
Gentrification and displacement of low-income communities of color are major issues in New York City and the city’s zoning policies are a major cause. Race matters but the city ignores it when shaping land use and housing policies. The city promises “affordable housing” that is not truly affordable. Zoned Out! shows how this has played in Williamsburg, Harlem and Chinatown, neighborhoods facing massive displacement of people of color. It looks at ways the city can address inequalities, promote authentic community-based planning and develop housing in the public domain.
176 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 29, 2019
This is a fantastic overview on the specific mechanisms by which a city neighborhood is "re-zoned" in NYC, and an incredibly disheartening read since it seems like only the rich might have any recourse against unwanted rezonings. The authors identify the 4 steps required for a neighborhood to be re-zoned:
Stage 1. Investors find and buy "under-utilized" parcels of land (often through an LLC). Existing leases are terminated to remove existing commercial or residential tenants. Short-term leases might be issued to businesses such as parking lots and storage facilities that pay higher rents. In the early stages of the speculative period, land value remains low, but as soon as it becomes clear that land is being assembled for future development, land values skyrocket.
Stage 2. The Department of City Planning (DCP)--either of its own volition, or after being asked by property owners or by the community board--undertakes a "land use study" to consider the future of these under-utilized pieces of land. Usually, land use studies are undertaken only when the DCP is already reasonably certain that they will re-zone the neighborhood; the study merely guides the contours of the rezoning. The DCP will consult the local community board as a courtesy (the community board has merely "advisory" votes). While the DCP study is underway, land values increase in anticipation of rezoning. In East New York, since the city administration started pushing for a rezoning in early 2015, the median sales price for a home in the main zip code rose from $25,500 to $275,000.
Stage 3. The DCP has monopoly control over the zoning process and the substance of zoning change. All rezoning proposals must be accompanied by an environmental review that meets the approval of DCP staff. A Chinatown-based citizen advocacy group once sued successfully on the grounds that the DCP did not consider the massive displacement of current residents--an environmental impact--that their rezoning plan would inevitably cause. Unfortunately, the successful lawsuit was a fluke, and the vast majority of environmental reviews do not consider displacement.
Stage 4. In order to be finalized, the DCP's rezoning proposal must be put through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP): after a few months of public hearings, various officials vote on the proposal, including the local community board, borough president, CPC, city council, and occasionally the mayor. Note that a unanimous NO vote from the community board is not enough to kill the proposal, since their vote is only advisory. For optics/political reasons, the city will often attempt to persuade the community board to vote in line with the others through verbal promises to the local community board; unfortunately, these promises are not legally enforceable, and are almost never carried out.
The authors also identify the common tools of rezoning: upzoning, downzoning, and changing neighborhood use designations (summarized below). Zoned Out looks at a few case studies of recent rezonings: Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Harlem, and Chinatown/LES/East Village. Zoning boards have surprisingly precise tools--a typical rezoning like that of the East Village will see street-facing properties down-zoned to maintain the low-rise, residential characteristic, whereas avenue-facing properties will be up-zoned to allow mid-rise or high-rise residential buildings with ground-floor commercial spaces.
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of zoning changes. A block might be "upzoned," which might mean that instead of the status quo 4-story residential apartment complexes, developers can now build 8-story mid-rise buildings with ground-floor commercial space. Whereas the old building might have had housing for low or middle-income people, developers usually build luxury condos for a maximum profit margin, thereby displacing the original tenants in the area. Upzoning can also refer to changing the use of a neighborhood from industrial to "mixed-use" or residential. Unfortunately, a new "mixed-use" designation for a neighborhood is often followed by landlords converting formerly industrial properties into higher rent-paying residential properties.
A block might also be "downzoned," a protective measure usually wielded for middle or upper income white people. In a downzoning, a row of townhouses might come to perfectly fit the maximum height limit and FAR utilization, meaning that future development work can only be renovations and not expansions, thereby limiting profit margin and thereby disincentivizing future development in the area.
Stage 1. Investors find and buy "under-utilized" parcels of land (often through an LLC). Existing leases are terminated to remove existing commercial or residential tenants. Short-term leases might be issued to businesses such as parking lots and storage facilities that pay higher rents. In the early stages of the speculative period, land value remains low, but as soon as it becomes clear that land is being assembled for future development, land values skyrocket.
Stage 2. The Department of City Planning (DCP)--either of its own volition, or after being asked by property owners or by the community board--undertakes a "land use study" to consider the future of these under-utilized pieces of land. Usually, land use studies are undertaken only when the DCP is already reasonably certain that they will re-zone the neighborhood; the study merely guides the contours of the rezoning. The DCP will consult the local community board as a courtesy (the community board has merely "advisory" votes). While the DCP study is underway, land values increase in anticipation of rezoning. In East New York, since the city administration started pushing for a rezoning in early 2015, the median sales price for a home in the main zip code rose from $25,500 to $275,000.
Stage 3. The DCP has monopoly control over the zoning process and the substance of zoning change. All rezoning proposals must be accompanied by an environmental review that meets the approval of DCP staff. A Chinatown-based citizen advocacy group once sued successfully on the grounds that the DCP did not consider the massive displacement of current residents--an environmental impact--that their rezoning plan would inevitably cause. Unfortunately, the successful lawsuit was a fluke, and the vast majority of environmental reviews do not consider displacement.
Stage 4. In order to be finalized, the DCP's rezoning proposal must be put through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP): after a few months of public hearings, various officials vote on the proposal, including the local community board, borough president, CPC, city council, and occasionally the mayor. Note that a unanimous NO vote from the community board is not enough to kill the proposal, since their vote is only advisory. For optics/political reasons, the city will often attempt to persuade the community board to vote in line with the others through verbal promises to the local community board; unfortunately, these promises are not legally enforceable, and are almost never carried out.
The authors also identify the common tools of rezoning: upzoning, downzoning, and changing neighborhood use designations (summarized below). Zoned Out looks at a few case studies of recent rezonings: Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Harlem, and Chinatown/LES/East Village. Zoning boards have surprisingly precise tools--a typical rezoning like that of the East Village will see street-facing properties down-zoned to maintain the low-rise, residential characteristic, whereas avenue-facing properties will be up-zoned to allow mid-rise or high-rise residential buildings with ground-floor commercial spaces.
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of zoning changes. A block might be "upzoned," which might mean that instead of the status quo 4-story residential apartment complexes, developers can now build 8-story mid-rise buildings with ground-floor commercial space. Whereas the old building might have had housing for low or middle-income people, developers usually build luxury condos for a maximum profit margin, thereby displacing the original tenants in the area. Upzoning can also refer to changing the use of a neighborhood from industrial to "mixed-use" or residential. Unfortunately, a new "mixed-use" designation for a neighborhood is often followed by landlords converting formerly industrial properties into higher rent-paying residential properties.
A block might also be "downzoned," a protective measure usually wielded for middle or upper income white people. In a downzoning, a row of townhouses might come to perfectly fit the maximum height limit and FAR utilization, meaning that future development work can only be renovations and not expansions, thereby limiting profit margin and thereby disincentivizing future development in the area.
January 25, 2026
i read parts of this book a few years ago for a class i took and wanted to revisit it. wanted more out of the last section, but i do think the recommendations at the end were a good starting point. would’ve loved it if they spoke more about community land trusts and community ownership.
December 23, 2024
Thanks tom angotti and sylvia morse this was pretty helpful. Stein’s essay on Chinatown was great.
April 28, 2018
While readers may be sympathetic to some of the hypotheses and perspectives in this collection of anecdotes, those searching for a data- or research-based argument will be disappointed. The typos and logical leaps would suggest this was put together in a hurry. Nevertheless, an important text for understanding the point of view of those in academic and activist circles who take issue with recent planning policy in NYC.
December 21, 2024
A vital (and accessible!) analysis of NYC housing policy’s over-reliance on rezoning as the main tool for addressing the housing crisis, which challenges the logic of trickle-down housing economics and asks not only “how many” new units but “for whom”. With case studies that illustrate how Williamsburg, Harlem, and Chinatown have, as a result of rezoning in the last couple decades, experienced widespread displacement of low-income and minority communities while also seeing rents and property values rise faster than city averages (in direct opposition to the supply-demand market logic such plans rely on). A huge takeaway is how “affordable” housing, which private developers receive subsidies for including alongside majority market-rate (functionally luxury) development, is defined by a distorted metric which neglects the economic realities of specific neighborhoods and furthermore is in most cases not permanently affordable! Again asking the central question of affordable “for whom”.
I think it’s important to consider this as a great introduction to the topic and a jumping off point to educate myself further on research and policy proposals, as it’s not the most detailed in presenting data or recommending solutions. There were a few moments when the authors would say “there’s no requirement/effort to X” and follow up shortly thereafter with essentially “well, technically/sometimes there is, but it’s unenforced”. Which is crucial context, but I think weakens their stance to take such broad strokes which can be easily rebutted by those dictating or defending policy. This led me to look into recent papers on AMI calculations and how NYC defines “affordable”.
I think it’s important to consider this as a great introduction to the topic and a jumping off point to educate myself further on research and policy proposals, as it’s not the most detailed in presenting data or recommending solutions. There were a few moments when the authors would say “there’s no requirement/effort to X” and follow up shortly thereafter with essentially “well, technically/sometimes there is, but it’s unenforced”. Which is crucial context, but I think weakens their stance to take such broad strokes which can be easily rebutted by those dictating or defending policy. This led me to look into recent papers on AMI calculations and how NYC defines “affordable”.
July 24, 2025
super helpful for practicing planners and clarifies the importance of planning by walking through how an overemphasis on zoning as the only planning mechanism has further entrenched inequality and played God (or lord?) with land values and displacement.
only thing i wish the book explored more is why planning departments choose to support policies that raise land values by-any-means-necessary. every single planner i know probably identifies as a socialist or at least socialist-friendly and still we're stuck subsidizing luxury developments/raising land values and facilitating gentrification. Stein gets at this a bit in Capital City but Zoned Out! relies a bit too much on the moral do-gooding of planners instead of also analyzing the political-economic entrenchment of planning departments in the real estate empire and their reliance on property taxes/bonds/assessments as financing sources to fund plans and new projects. as long as planner departments depend on raising property taxes to fund themselves, morality can really only go so far.
ultimately, does a lot to answer how planning departments support racial dispossession through zoning (and some planning) but not why they do. as such, the solutions at the end feel a bit half-elaborated and obvious, if well articulated. i'm facing this a lot at work too. we all know where planning needs to go but how we de-entrench our built environment from capitalist accumulation i.e. how we free planning is another story entirely.
only thing i wish the book explored more is why planning departments choose to support policies that raise land values by-any-means-necessary. every single planner i know probably identifies as a socialist or at least socialist-friendly and still we're stuck subsidizing luxury developments/raising land values and facilitating gentrification. Stein gets at this a bit in Capital City but Zoned Out! relies a bit too much on the moral do-gooding of planners instead of also analyzing the political-economic entrenchment of planning departments in the real estate empire and their reliance on property taxes/bonds/assessments as financing sources to fund plans and new projects. as long as planner departments depend on raising property taxes to fund themselves, morality can really only go so far.
ultimately, does a lot to answer how planning departments support racial dispossession through zoning (and some planning) but not why they do. as such, the solutions at the end feel a bit half-elaborated and obvious, if well articulated. i'm facing this a lot at work too. we all know where planning needs to go but how we de-entrench our built environment from capitalist accumulation i.e. how we free planning is another story entirely.
September 20, 2018
A niche book, but one that I wish all of the people in local government in NYC would read. Anyone espousing affordable housing and thinking that rezoning is the only solution for a neighborhood could do well to see the simple facts behind it, before NYC becomes a homogenous city of luxury apartments, which in the short-term at least, barely anyone can afford.
The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it focuses the solutions upon racial inequality, instead of income inequality (effectively saying that poor white people can remain voiceless). Shift the view a tiny bit, and I would say this book is excellent, instead of just pretty great.
The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it focuses the solutions upon racial inequality, instead of income inequality (effectively saying that poor white people can remain voiceless). Shift the view a tiny bit, and I would say this book is excellent, instead of just pretty great.
May 6, 2024
Thoroughly depressing. It's clear that 'race neutral' decisions by NYC in housing policies are ultimately racist and classist [obviously], by nature of the fact that real estate developers will always prioritize high-income, majority-white/asian residents and transplants over affordable housing.
I can't imagine what it's like to struggle, work on your community and neighborhood for years while the city ignores you, only to have them rezone you and sell off your home the second they realize it's become attractive to the market.
Security of tenancy should be federal code.
I can't imagine what it's like to struggle, work on your community and neighborhood for years while the city ignores you, only to have them rezone you and sell off your home the second they realize it's become attractive to the market.
Security of tenancy should be federal code.
April 11, 2018
Very strong critique of YIMBYism and the idea that zoning for more market-rate housing will ease displacement pressures, slow gentrification, and reduce prices. The first few chapters are good summaries of how to think about housing markets (lots of focus on land values and speculative investing), and then they have 3 case studies about recent zoning policies in Williamsburg, Harlem, and Chinatown.
October 1, 2023
Really informative read about zoning in NYC and how it contributes to gentrification — pretty quick and well-researched and taught me a lot. This book just confirmed for me how uniquely expensive / poorly planned the city is but highlighted how this disproportionally impacts non white and low income people
February 6, 2020
A fantastic primer on zoning in NYC. I definitely recommend this as foundational reading for all New Yorkers interested in understanding and becoming engaged in community struggles to protect the further erosion of our neighborhoods.
April 11, 2018
Do you live in a city? You should read this book
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews