City approves mass timber, basement apartment rules

The future of New York’s skyline is … timber?

Building with cross-laminated timber, a type of engineered wood consisting of glued-together panels of lumber, will soon be permitted in the five boroughs.

The City Council on Thursday approved extensive changes to the building code, which include allowing the special timber on projects up to 85 feet tall, or six to seven stories. While some buildings in the city have already used the material, they required extensive, separate approvals.

The change still leaves the city behind others in the U.S. and light years behind other countries in legalizing timber. In Canada, for one, dozens of such towers have already been built.

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