Building Permit Search

​With gratitude to and respect for all those who are interested in the history of New York City, we have digitized abstracts of the New Building (NB) applications filed in Manhattan from 1900 to 1986, and made them available as a searchable database. We are currently working on adding 19th-century information to this database as well. If you are seeking information for a specific NB permit before 1900, please contact us at Research@MetroHistory.com.

In Manhattan, New Building permits were first issued in 1866 and continued until a change to a nine-digit system in the early 1990s. New Building permit information is given in the format of a number and a year, divided by a hyphen or slash. For instance, NB 336-11 (which could also be displayed as NB 336-1911, or NB 336/11) is the 336th New Building application filed in 1911.

Search Tips:

  • Make sure to put the numeral only in the NB field, and the year in the Year field. For example, putting “336-1911” or “336-11” in the NB field will not yield any results, but putting “336” in the NB field and “1911” in the Year field will give you the information for that permit.

  • If you want to determine the date and architect of your building, and you live, for instance, on West 86th Street in a building you think was built around 1930, search for "86th" in the address field and work backward from 1933 or so. Bear in mind that the present 130 West 86th may have been filed as 124-132 West 86th, or even simply 128 West 86th.

  • Some permits are not rendered in address form, but in "metes and bounds"—that is, "86th st, n s, 175 e Amsterdam" indicates the building lot on the north side of West 86th Street beginning 175 feet east of the corner of Amsterdam Avenue. To interpret this, we recommend the NYPL digital map collections and the Department of Finance Property Information Portal.

  • Another route to finding the NB application number for a particular building is to go to the New York City Department of Buildings website, which lists, in many cases, the particular NB number for a specific address. Type in the address, and look under "Actions." In most cases, you will find an NB associated with your building.

Caveats:

  • Not all building permits are carried out, and some are changed in scope after filing.

  • The year given in this database is the filing date for the building. The year of completion is often later.

  • Many buildings are alterations of older structures. Alterations are a completely different set of applications.

  • Some applications are filed against one cross street and not another. You may have to search both.

  • There are many flaws, omissions, and typos in this list, most from the original sources.

Updates:

  • 2022: We are in the process of including information on street name and address numbering changes, notably the southward extension and renumbering of Sixth Avenue, and street renaming and renumbering in Manhattanville. The “Address” field below includes information from our research about such changes. The “Original Address in Source” field shows the address as given in the historical source.

  • 2023: With thanks to our colleagues at Landmark West!, we have added some 19th-century permit information for the Upper West Side (i.e., West 59th Street to West 110th Street, Fifth Avenue to Hudson River). Note that the year 1892 has two separate series of NB numbers, the first beginning in January, as is typical, and the second beginning in June. If you are seeking similar information for a Manhattan building outside of the Upper West Side, please contact us at Research@MetroHistory.com.

Software Development: Andrew O’Reilly