Manhattan could re-zone to permit a great deal more construction, but it is unlikely to happen.
First, residents strongly oppose it.
Second, much of the transport system is maxed out. Building more housing or office space would only overburden systems operating at capacity. (e.g. the west side highway, fdr drive, lexington avenue subway line are all unusably crowded)
What is the zoning like in Manhattan? I see intermingled residential/office/commercial spaces everywhere I go (heck, my last office was in the same building as apartments, with a store-turned-restaurant on the ground floor), so I didn't realize there were zoning restrictions in that sense.
there are crippling height restrictions all over the place, and you have to buy un-used "air rights" from your neighbors to build anything taller than what already exists in the neighborhood
environmental impact studies (weirdly) can be used against projects
local "community boards" have a lot of power
and the aforementioned centrally imposed limits on development -- the city's top-level boards may not like what you're doing to transportation
First, residents strongly oppose it.
Second, much of the transport system is maxed out. Building more housing or office space would only overburden systems operating at capacity. (e.g. the west side highway, fdr drive, lexington avenue subway line are all unusably crowded)