Check out DOB’s flashy analysis of 20 years of construction

Agency launches quarterly report on permits filed

(credit: Department of Buildings)
(credit: Department of Buildings)

The Department of Buildings on Wednesday unveiled a comprehensive analysis of construction volume in the city dating back nearly 20 years.

The “NYC Construction Dashboard” highlights the volume of permits — for new buildings, renovations, minor alterations and demolitions — issued during the third quarter of 2017. Through a series of interactive maps and charts, the dashboard compares the year’s latest data with that of previous quarters, dating back to 2000. The DOB will update the charts quarterly, tracking both newly issued permits and those that have been renewed.

“This is a new era for the Department of Buildings,” DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler said in an interview Wednesday evening. “This information is one piece to improve our consistency and transparency.”

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The dashboard is part of the DOB’s “Building One City” initiative, a series of changes to the department that Chandler announced in 2015. As part of these efforts — which are meant to modernize the agency and increase transparency — the DOB’s data analytics team released a report in May that showed the more than 7,700 sidewalk sheds in the city and when they were installed. Some of the scaffolding has been in place for more than a decade.

The DOB’s latest report shows that the agency issued 129,363 permits since the beginning of this year. Of this total, 6,166 were for new buildings.