Greenwich Village in 1924 was pretty similar to what it is now. From 1996 to today it lost part of the greenery, and of course it gained more building and a lot of different stores. There are some buildings owned by New York University that were built in 1930-1940 so we can’t see them from the 1924 aerial view. Others were built in 1900 so even the earliest aerial view in 1924 pictures them. There are some recent ones like 1973 and 2000. My building was built in 1952 and before then I think it served another purpose.
As to zoning, my building is in C1 districts which are mapped along streets that serve local retail needs within residential neighborhoods. This was expected as when I was asked to draw my neighborhood in class, I basically only drew the two main streets close to my apartment which is 8th Street and Broadway. Except from that, I focused on the little stores, I draw some trees and mostly buildings so residential. In the surrounding there are R7-2 districts which are medium-density apartment house districts that encourage lower apartment buildings on smaller lots and, on larger lots, taller buildings with less lot coverage. This is very accurate as there are rare tall buildings and mostly lower apartment buildings.
My partner’s neighborhood is Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Her neighborhood is characterized by R4 districts that are general residence districts that allow a variety of housing types, including low-rise attached houses, small multifamily apartment houses, and detached and semi-detached one- and two-family residences. There are also some commercial overlays like C1 or C2 district that serve local retail needs like grocery stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, etc.
I also noticed an increase in building construction between 1996 to 2006. Comparing the two neighborhoods I can say no neighborhood is the same in New York City, especially since my classmate and I have also changed borough. They are all characterized by different zoning and land use. I can say that Greenwich and Bensonhurst are both residential districts, maybe mine is a little more commercial compared to hers that is mostly residential and parks.