A Real-Time Map Tracks the Building Frenzy That’s Transforming New York

NEW YORK — Just walk down any street these days for a New York experience as authentic — and unavoidable — as gridlock and dollar pizza: construction.

Now there is a handy way to keep track of it.

The New York City buildings department has created an online construction map that tracks every major project across the five boroughs in real time — there were 7,425 of them as of Tuesday — making it easier to look up where all that hammering and banging is coming from, and to find out who exactly is responsible for disturbing the neighborhood peace.

The new map gives an overview of the frenzy of construction that has transformed blocks and entire neighborhoods. The buildings department issued 168,233 construction permits in 2017, its most ever — up from 125,579 construction permits in 2007. The largest chunk of those permits, 73,489, was, not surprisingly, for buildings in Manhattan, followed by Brooklyn (42,830) and Queens (32,401). The permits cover both new projects and multiyear projects that require annual permit renewals.

The map pinpoints the largest construction projects — typically new buildings and conversions — with blue dots that can be clicked for detailed information about each project, including its contractor, property history and any violations.

In addition, a dashboard keeps a running tally of the total square footage under construction around the city from major projects. As of Friday, 197.6 million square feet of new residential and commercial space was planned in the five boroughs — equivalent to an area roughly one-third the size of Manhattan. That included 132,833 new housing units.

Top 10 lists also address the most frequently asked questions. What is the biggest project? A new 68-story, 3.9 million-square-foot office tower at 500 W. 33rd St. What is the most expensive? Same building, with a projected cost of $576.7 million.

What is the tallest new building by number of floors? A new residential tower that will reach 98 stories at 217 W. 57th St., a stretch that has become known as Billionaires’ Row.

Rick D. Chandler, the city’s buildings commissioner, said he saw the online map as a way to make the department’s mountain of data more transparent. In the past, making sense of the data often required advanced computer skills and a background in the real estate or construction industry.

“Before you had to be somewhat of an analyst or a wonk,” Chandler said. “This is the natural evolution of what we’ve done over the last four-plus years: to make it accessible to every New Yorker, regardless of your industry or interest.”

Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit advocacy group, called the online map “a useful and long-overdue tool.” He said that his group has become increasingly concerned about the rash of development in Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo. It is frustrating to try to find out more details about specific projects through the buildings department’s clunky databases because information is hard to access, incomplete or missing altogether, he said.

Still, Berman noted the map alone was not enough, and that other measures were needed to tighten the city’s oversight of the building boom, including more enforcement of safety, zoning and construction regulations.

“It’s great to have statistics,” he said. “But the single most important thing the buildings department needs to do is enforce regulations that ensure that a building is done safely and conforms with what’s allowed to be built on that site.”

The online map is part of a $60 million digital initiative by the agency that began in 2015 and has offered an impressive level of detail about the city’s buildings. Other online maps display every elevator and escalator in every building, and track all the scaffolding erected around buildings under repair or construction. Such efforts have drawn support not only from community groups but also industry leaders, including the Real Estate Board of New York, a powerful trade association of the city’s largest building owners and landlords. “We applaud the effort to increase digital innovation that will lead to a buildings department that is more accessible to the public and more responsive to the needs of the private sector,” said John H. Banks, the organization’s president. “These digital improvements will increase transparency and public awareness of the economic activity, jobs and tax revenue generated at construction sites across the city.”

Chandler said the data has also been used behind the scenes to assess and improve the department’s operations. For instance, a data analysis showed that in October 2017, the department took more than 15 days to process certificates of occupancy for 161 new buildings. Building officials followed up by streamlining the process and tightening oversight of staff. Last month, only eight buildings took that long.

Buildings officials said the new construction map will be expanded based on feedback from users and as more comprehensive data becomes available. The map will be updated daily — offering a real-time advantage over analyst and industry reports.

Several community groups said they welcomed a more easy-to-use approach to learning about the construction taking place in their backyards.

“Clear, nontechnical information that a resident can access and understand would be very useful,” said Howard Kolins, president of the Boerum Hill Association, a volunteer group of residents that has been concerned about development in Brooklyn.