Design
How to Game the Zoning Codes to Build Supertall Skyscrapers
Three supertall New York City skyscrapers reveal just how creative lawyers can be in gaming the city’s zoning codes.
Manipulating the intricate zoning code of New York City has long been a badge of honor among a small cadre of developers.
In 1993 developer Laurence Ginsberg was required to lop 12 floors from a 31-story tower on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after he conveniently failed to notice that a height limit applied to his property. For a project called Trump City, the real estate mogul who is now President claimed development rights on a site near Lincoln Center that was partially under the Hudson River. The submerged area would have contributed as much as 4.5 million developable square feet to a massive project that contemplated a 150-story tower and 13 other skyscrapers.