81-42 Retail Continuity Along Designated Streets

For buildings developed or enlarged after May 13, 1982, where the ground floor level of such development or enlarged portion of the building fronts upon a designated retail street (see Appendix A, Map 3), uses within stories on the ground floor or with a floor level within five feet of curb level shall be limited to retail, personal service or amusement uses permitted by the underlying zoning district regulations but not including uses in Use Groups 6B, 6E, 7C, 7D, 8C, 8D, 9B, 10B, 11 and 12D or automobile showrooms or plumbing, heating or ventilating equipment showrooms. Museums and libraries shall be permitted. A building's street frontage shall be allocated exclusively to such uses, except for:

(a)        lobby space or entrance space;

(b)        entrance areas to subway station improvements for which bonus floor area is granted and street wall continuity restrictions waived pursuant to Sections 74-634 (Subway station improvements in Downtown Brooklyn and in Commercial Districts of 10 FAR and above in Manhattan) and 81-292 (Subway station improvements);

(c)        one or more of the following pedestrian circulation spaces subject to the street wall continuity requirements of Section 81-43 (Street Wall Continuity Along Designated Streets):

(1)        relocated subway stairs provided in accordance with Sections 37-40 and 81-46 (Off-street Relocation or Renovation of a Subway Stair);

(2)        through block connections provided in accordance with paragraph (h) of Section 37-53 (Design Standards for Pedestrian Circulation Spaces); and

(3)        off-street improvements of access to rail mass transit facilities provided in accordance with Section 81-48 (Off-street Improvement of Access to Rail Mass Transit Facility).

Except as provided in the following sentence, in no event shall the length of street frontage occupied by lobby space, entrance space and/or a building entrance recess exceed the lesser of 40 feet or 25 percent of the building's total street frontage exclusive of any frontage occupied by a relocated subway stair, a through block connection, an off-street improvement of access to rail mass transit facility or the entrance area to a bonused subway station improvement. However, the total length of street frontage occupied by lobby space and/or entrance space need not be less than 20 feet.

Storefronts for the permitted ground floor uses shall be not more than 10 feet from the street line or, where an arcade is provided with supporting columns at the street line, not more than 10 feet from the supporting columns.

Access to each retail, personal service or amusement establishment required under this Section shall be provided directly from the designated retail street. Where more than one entrance is provided to the establishment, direct access from the designated retail street shall be provided via the entrance with the greatest aggregate clear opening width. At least 50 percent of the street wall surface of each required establishment shall be glazed with clear untinted transparent material and not more than 50 percent of such transparent surface shall be painted or obstructed with signs. For the purpose of this glazing requirement, the establishment's street wall surface shall be measured from the floor to the height of the ceiling or 14 feet above grade, whichever is less.

Special use regulations apply along designated retail streets located within the boundaries of the Penn Center Subdistrict, the East Midtown Subdistrict, the Theater Subdistrict or the Fifth Avenue Subdistrict and uses along such designated streets shall be subject to the respective subdistrict retail requirements in Sections 81-531, 81-674, 81-72 and 81-82.

Special ground level and entertainment-related use regulations apply to zoning lots located within the Theater Subdistrict Core, as defined in Section 81-71 (General Provisions), and such zoning lots shall meet the ground level and entertainment-related use requirements of Section 81-72 (Use Regulations Modified).