Air Rights in New York City are a Big Deal...people make Fortunes!
Another great example of air rights! A skyscraper is cantilevered over a historic building that sold their air rights. In a city like New York air rights are a big deal. There are law firms that do almost nothing but negotiate "air rights." It started in the late 1800s/early 1900s...people loved their views from the new skyscrapers but what happens when you suddenly lose your view because some a-hole builds a tower next door? Zoning laws were enacted to create air rights...all over Manhattan I can show you buildings like this that were built over or around. Small buildings like this are called real estate "holdouts" but historic buildings like mansions, theatres, churches can all sell their air rights and make fortunes doing it. The Vanderbilts owned Grand Central and the New York Central Railroad and all the railroad yards in and out of Grand Central. They created Park Avenue in the air rights over the 2-level train tracks and sold the air rights to developers wh