The NYC data we use
Brick Report is built from public records. We download them, keep our own copy, and use that copy to write a report for an address. We do not create the underlying facts, and we cannot guarantee that a city or federal file is complete or free of errors. The agency that published a dataset is the place a record can be corrected. You can also write to us at [email protected].
This page lists each dataset we use: what it is, what a report does with it, how often we refresh our copy, and a link to the publisher. It will grow as we add sources.
For NYC Open Data, we check about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed. A daily check does not mean the city published new facts that day. Some files move every day. Others, such as tax-lot records and flood maps, change only when the agency releases a new edition.
The building
These records describe the structure and the tax lot: the outline on the map, the year it was built, the kind of building it is, and how larger buildings report their energy use.
Building footprints
NYC Open Data
A building footprint is the outline of a structure on the city’s map. The record can also include the year construction finished and the height of the roof.
In a Brick Report. The outline drawn on the building map, plus construction year and roof height when the city has recorded them.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed. The city does not redraw footprints every day. A building’s outline usually changes only when the map is revised.
Source
PLUTO land use and building type
NYC Department of City Planning
Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output, or PLUTO, is City Planning’s file of tax-lot characteristics. Much of it comes from Department of Finance property records. It describes what a lot is used for, the building class, unit counts, floor area, and zoning.
In a Brick Report. The building type for an address, such as a multi-family elevator building or a mixed residential and commercial building. When PLUTO has no usable land-use code, we use the property type on the building’s energy disclosure instead.
Updates. City Planning publishes a new PLUTO release a few times a year. We check daily and load a release when a new one appears.
Source
Building energy and water grades
NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, with the Department of Finance
Local Law 84 requires many larger buildings to report annual energy and water use. The city turns that filing into an Energy Star score and a letter grade, which the building posts near the entrance.
A missing grade is common. Many smaller buildings are exempt, including a lot of multifamily buildings with fewer than 20 units, and an exemption is not by itself a sign that the building is inefficient.
In a Brick Report. The latest score, letter grade, and related energy and water figures when the building has filed them.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day. Buildings file once a year, so a grade usually changes annually. Our copy includes the current disclosure file and the separate file for calendar year 2021.
Sources
Violations, complaints, and evictions
These records are about a specific building: violations the city has issued, complaints people have filed, and evictions that were carried out. When HPD or Buildings lists the same building under more than one street address, a report shows the others as alternate addresses.
Housing maintenance violations
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development
HPD issues a housing maintenance violation when an owner has not met the housing code. That includes heat and hot water, pests, leaks, and similar conditions in homes. Violations are classed by severity. Class C is the most serious. Some are marked rent-impairing.
In a Brick Report. Open HPD violations from the past five years, with pest violations listed separately and counts by class.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Source
Department of Buildings violations
NYC Department of Buildings
A Buildings violation is a notice that an inspection found a problem with the building code, zoning, or a safety requirement, including work done without a permit. Some of these cases are heard at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH).
In a Brick Report. Violations that are still active, plus others from the past two years, with the status the city assigned, such as active, resolved, or dismissed.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Source
Department of Buildings complaints
NYC Department of Buildings
A Buildings complaint is a report, often from a tenant or a neighbor, asking the department to look at a possible unsafe condition. A complaint is not itself a violation. Buildings investigates and records what it found in a disposition code.
We keep two small reference lists so those codes can be read in plain language: the city’s disposition-code file, and the Department of Buildings complaint-category guide. Complaints the city marked as duplicates (disposition H1) are left out of the report.
In a Brick Report. Complaints from the past five years, with the category, the status, and what Buildings reported after it looked into the complaint.
Updates. Complaint records are checked about once a day. The disposition-code list changes rarely, and we refresh it on the same schedule.
Sources
Evictions
NYC Open Data
This file records evictions that city marshals have carried out. Each row is an executed eviction, with the building and, when the city included it, the apartment.
In a Brick Report. A count of evictions executed at the building over the past ten years. If you searched a unit, the count also notes how many of those rows list that unit.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Source
The neighborhood
These datasets describe the area around a building. A 311 call or a police complaint near an address is not a record of something that happened inside that apartment.
311 service requests
NYC 311
311 is the city’s non-emergency line. The Open Data file is the history of those requests since 2010, including noise, rodents, air quality, and many other types.
In a Brick Report. Maps of four complaint types near the building over the past five years: noise, rodents, air quality, and chemical hazards. A report does not list every 311 request in the city file.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Source
NYPD complaints
NYC Police Department
This is the NYPD’s record of criminal complaints reported to the police. The department publishes a historic file and a separate file for the current year. Locations in the file are approximate. A dot near a building does not mean the complaint happened in that building.
In a Brick Report. A map and a breakdown of complaints in the surrounding area over the past five years, with a trend compared with the rest of the borough.
Updates. We check both NYC Open Data files about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Sources
Restaurant inspection grades
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
The Health Department inspects restaurants and other food service establishments and posts letter grades. An A is the highest grade. A B means lesser violations. A C means more serious violations.
In a Brick Report. Nearby restaurants and food establishments, with the grade from the most recent inspection that received one.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day and pull in rows that are new or changed.
Source
Schools, parks, and other public facilities
NYC Open Data
The Facilities Database lists places that a city, state, or federal agency owns, operates, funds, licenses, or certifies in New York City.
In a Brick Report. Nearby parks and plazas, pre-kindergarten programs, and K-12 schools.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day. The city updates this file less often than daily complaint data.
Source
Neighborhood population, housing, and economy
U.S. Census Bureau, published for NYC neighborhoods by the Department of City Planning
Neighborhood statistics come from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. City Planning republishes those tables for Neighborhood Tabulation Areas, the neighborhood geography the city uses for planning. We also store the 2020 neighborhood boundaries so an address can be placed in one.
In a Brick Report. The neighborhood name, and figures for population, housing, income and employment, and social characteristics.
Updates. These tables are not part of the daily Open Data sync. We load a new edition when City Planning publishes an updated American Community Survey release. The boundaries change only when the city adopts a new set of neighborhoods.
Sources
Flood risk
Two different agencies map flood risk, and they answer different questions. FEMA maps where a flood is more likely. New York City’s index estimates how hard flooding would hit the people who live there.
FEMA flood zones
Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer is the flood map used for insurance. Zones that start with A or V are high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is generally required for a mortgage from a federally backed lender. Zones B, C, and X are moderate to low risk. Zone D means the risk has not been determined.
In a Brick Report. The flood zone at the building, a short explanation of that zone, and a map of nearby hazard areas.
Updates. We import FEMA’s flood maps for New York City and replace them when we load a new edition. This is not a daily feed.
Source
NYC flood vulnerability index
NYC Open Data
The Flood Vulnerability Index scores areas from 1 (lower vulnerability) to 5 (higher). It looks at how much harm flooding could do and how hard recovery would be, plus the risk of storm surge and of tidal flooding.
In a Brick Report. The index scores for the area that contains the building, with a short explanation of each one.
Updates. We check NYC Open Data about once a day. The city does not rescore the index that often, so most refreshes do not change a neighborhood’s numbers.
Source
Address search and maps
These are services we call when you search or when a map is drawn. We do not keep a full copy of them.
Address suggestions
NYC Planning Labs
The search box asks NYC Planning GeoSearch for matching addresses as you type. We send the text you enter and show the suggestions that come back.
How we use it. Suggestions under the address field on Brick Report. The line under the list credits GeoSearch.
Updates. Queried when you type. We do not download or store the city’s address index from this service.
Source
Address standardization
NYC Department of City Planning
Geoclient is the city’s geocoder. For some addresses we ask it to confirm the official house number, street, borough, and map coordinates, or to look up a building identification number (BIN).
How we use it. Used behind the search when our own records do not already identify the building. A successful match is what lets a report attach violations and other building files to the address you typed.
Updates. Queried as needed. We may keep a recent answer for the same search so we do not ask the city twice.
Source
Base maps
OpenStreetMap
The street map under a report, and the map on the Brick Report homepage, is drawn with map tiles from OpenStreetMap. Map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors.
How we use it. The background map. Building outlines, complaint dots, and flood shapes are drawn on top from the datasets above.
Updates. Tiles are requested when a map is drawn. We do not copy the OpenStreetMap database.