Air rights are the legal rights to the airspace above a parcel of land. In a dense city like New York, that vertical dimension can be nearly as valuable as the land itself. When one owns a property, they automatically own the corresponding air rights. How far up you can build depends on zoning laws.
New developments in NYC are regulated by a measure called the Floor‑Area Ratio (FAR), which sets the permitted total floor area relative to the lot size.
If a building on a lot is smaller than the zoning allows, say the lot allows 50,000 sq ft but the existing building only uses 30,000 sq ft, the difference of 20,000 sq ft represents “unused air rights.” That unused airspace can be saved, used later, or sold.
How Are Air Rights Owned and Transferred?
Air rights in NYC are inherently tied to property ownership. However, these rights can be separated from the land and transferred, often when the owner doesn’t plan to build to the maximum allowed height.
In practice, the most common way to transfer air rights
