CityRealty Insider > A Fight for the Right to Curb Cut

A Fight for the Right to Curb Cut

AUGUST 26, 2010

Recent scuffles over the elusive private Manhattan driveway have led to stricter rules and fewer loopholes.

While no one has called it Drivewaygate yet, the controversial installation of a curb cut, driveway and garage alongside an Upper East Side row house–and a similar tussle at a 15th street condo (via Curbed)–has had the city’s lawmakers scrambling. Earlier this year, a couple decided they wanted to install a driveway and a garage at their row house on East 94th Street and applied for a permit. The city politely tossed their paperwork back, believing the request would be impossible to sanction. The residents found a loophole claiming that the aforementioned rules only applied to developments, sued the city, and won. The driveway and garage arrived (despite objections from the residents’ community board).

To head off a deluge of city homeowners deciding it was time for a new place to park the car, City Council speedily passed amendments to the zoning regulations. While they couldn’t retroactively eject the Upper East Side residents’ cozy car cottage, under the amended rules the city can nix any curb cut that it deems “inconsistent with the character of the existing streetscape” (NY Times), and more revisions may be on the way before the year’s end.

The full menu of rules regarding residential parking spaces, curb cuts and garages can be found at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zonetext.shtml.

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