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New York City · guides

For anyone checking what stands against a building

Two agencies, two meanings, never one number

The Department of Buildings cites the structure. Housing Preservation and Development cites the conditions inside a rental. A building can be clean on one and heavy on the other.

Two registers, two agencies, two meanings. Adding them produces a number that answers nothing.

The Department of Buildings cites the structure

Work without a permit, an unsafe facade, an elevator out of inspection, a boiler. 2,476,614 rows across the city. These are filed against the BUILDING, by BIN.

Housing Preservation and Development cites the conditions

No heat, no hot water, vermin, peeling paint, a broken door - the things a tenant lives with. Each one is graded, and the grade is the finding:

In the twelve months to September 2026 the city recorded 382,323 class B, 279,975 class C, 219,579 class A and 68,940 class I.

Why a building can be clean on one and heavy on the other

The Empire State Building carries 115 Department of Buildings violations since 2016 and no housing maintenance violations at all, because nobody lives there. A Brooklyn walk-up in the same window carries none from the Department of Buildings and two from housing, one of them class I. Neither building is being flattered or maligned by its own number; they are simply different questions, and this report keeps them apart.

Counts run 12 September 2026.

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