Reporting on New York City: Housing & Neighborhoods

Search property records and view documents (such as deeds and mortgages) for properties in Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, and Brooklyn from 1966 to the present. (The Richmond County Clerk holds information on properties in Staten Island.) Click "Search Property Records" to start; to search by address, go back to the "Find Addresses and Parcels" option and lookup the Borough/Block/Lot or BBL first.

Online query system for building information from the Department of Buildings. Search for any property in the city to find complaints and violations, certificates of occupancy, permits, actions, applications, and inspections. Click "A: Building Information Search" to start. Note: DOB NOW will eventually replace BIS but both systems are currently used; more information overall is available in BIS but newer jobs, filings, and applications will be in DOB NOW.

DOB NOW is the Department of Building's online platform for permits, violations, inspections, and more. Note: DOB NOW will eventually replace BIS but both systems are currently used; more information overall is available in BIS but newer jobs, filings, and applications will be in DOB NOW.

A one-stop shop for property and tax information on New York City buildings.

The NYC Department of Finance tool for looking up property taxes, market value, and tax exemptions.

The Department of Finance’s list of properties that sold in the last 12-month period in New York City for tax class 1, 2, and 4. (See the Glossary for a list of the four tax classes.)

Up-to-date housing and neighborhoods data hub produced by the NYU Furman Center, including property-level housing subsidy information and neighborhood conditions.

Interactive tool from ANHD to understand housing, emphasizing where homeowners and tenants are at risk for displacement. Pulls info from ACRIS, BIS, and more.

Building information on housing complaints, violations, litigations, property registrations, and more from HPD.

Up-to-date neighborhood demographics, housing market data, and more produced by the Furman Center, a real estate center based at NYU. Neighborhoods are determined by community districts.

Background information on each of New York City's Community Districts. Useful for the Community Needs Statements.

A citywide survey of housing stock and population conducted about every three years by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the City. Includes detailed data and reports from 1991-2021 and initial finds for 2023.

Interactive tool from NYC Planning using decennial census and American Community Survey (ACS) data to provide statistics on population, demographics, economic factors, and more by local geographies such as neighborhood and community district. Data can be aggregated by Borough, Community District, City Council District, and other geographies. Tip: Use the "Data Source" and "Select Topics" menus to find additional data.

A free tool produced by the nonprofit JustFix and housing advocates to research individual buildings, including violations and property ownership. Created in part to address the use of Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs, AKA shell companies) by many landlords. Uses data from HPD, DOB, ACRIS, and other sources; read their Methodology for a full list.

An annual list of the city's top 100 worst landlords, based on open housing violations, released by the city's Public Advocate.

New York City’s interactive zoning and land use map, with information on every lot in the city.

Mapped land use applications and project tracking from NYC Planning. Use the filter options under the map. Individual projects have extensive lists of public documents.

Detailed infomration from the nonprofit the Coalition for the Homeless. See in particular: Facts About Homelessness for statistics and historical data and Callahan v. Carey and the Legal Right to Shelter, detailing the lawsuit that led to the right to shelter in New York City.

Information on individuals and families in shelters, from the Department of Homeless Services. See the “Daily Report” for daily statistics and “Data Dashboard” for more.