In last week’s Courier article about the down-zoning movement in Carroll Gardens, there was mention of a zoning peculiarity that was news to us:

The neighborhood’s most unique feature front yard gardens present down-zoning advocates with particular challenges. The quirky nature of the gardens make it possible for potential new developers to construct new buildings with greater floor area ratios than normally allowed in some cases bumping it up for 2.2 to 3.0. That’s because the gardens are actually considered public property and part of the street under archaic New York City codes that go back to the 19th century. Lot lines go from building to building on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places. City fathers ostensibly left the gardens under the purvey of the Department of Transportation in the event that the streets needed to be widened.

We’re a little confused by the part about lot lines going from building to building. Does that mean that a property owner gets the benefit of including his yard, the street and the neighbors yard for the purpose of calculating FAR? A little help please.
Rezoning Advocates Home In On High Density Problem [Carroll Gardens Courier]