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There is no single source that provides building plans—you must find them through the process of elimination. Below, we have provided some key resources that should help you in your search and yield good results. Remember that not everything is digitized. Please see a Librarian should you need additional help navigating any of these resources. |
Ground Floor Plan. 2017. MFA2 Thesis: Terra New York by Min Kyung Kang, New York School of Interior Design, 2017. |
Think Generic not Iconic
Zero in on neighborhoods or areas that best meet your needs. This page has several recommended resources that can help you find information on New York buildings.
Neighborhood Research
Neighborhood data is critical for understanding local housing and demographic trends, identifying community needs, and informing policy conversations. The NYU Furman Center's New York City Neighborhood Data Profiles are a one-stop platform for viewing and downloading neighborhood indicators, providing an in-depth look at
demographic
, housing market, land use, and neighborhood services indicators for the city’s 59 community districts.
This is your gateway to data, maps, and other resources describing New York City’s 59 community districts. Choose a community district profile by clicking on the map, or by searching for a district, neighborhood, or address
Other useful websites for insight on NYC neighborhoods in the 5 boroughs:
Use Google Earth or Google Maps to scope out a building, check out the roof line, the street or surrounding area.
Think about where you travel every day. Like a neighborhood? Use Google Maps and zoom in to it.
Walk around!
Use OASIS (NYC Open Accessible Space Information System) to determine important information on your NYC building such as block number, lot number, square footage, owner, etc. Tip: Once you're on the site type in your building's address + [Search] and then select [Location Report] in right pane.
Adjacent properties
You can also use the resulting OASIS map to determine the addresses and information for adjacent properties (simply click on the adjacent property map and the "Location Report" data changes to reflect the information for that particular address.
Visit the building and draft your own floor plan
Use OASIS to record your BUILDING FRONTAGE (width of the building ) and BUILDING AREA (square footage). This will be useful to determine the footprint of the building and estimate the depth; (width x depth = square footage; frontage measurement/square footage = depth of building).
Some students have drawn their own floor plans using this information along with using door and window measurements for additional scaling. A photo taken of the egress signage near a stairwell or elevator can be used as an additional tool.
Address: 280 Broadway, 3rd Fl. New York, NY 10007 Tel. 212-566-5000
Always call for hours. It is best to go in the morning and allow at LEAST a good half-day. You must be in the building by 3:30 pm to request plans but this will not be enough time to start your initial research there. You will need a number to be served at a window. You obtain your number (paper ticket) by going to the 3rd floor Borough Commissioner Office (Room 316). They will direct you from there.
Familiarize yourself with the DOB website and the information you will need by trying the following EXAMPLE SEARCH using the OASIS NYC map: http://www.oasisnyc.net/map.aspx
Enter address: 170 East 70th Street
Choose Borough: Manhattan
Choose: Location Report (on right margin)
Notice all the details you see in the Location Report (# of floors, frontage, Building Area square footage, owner, etc.) LOT and BLOCK number are particularly important for Department of Buildings
Click through to the Department of Buildings site on the OASIS Location Report (midway down the page) Note: Address on the DOB site will say 166-170 East 70th Street.
There are 3 areas you want to look at for your property on the DOB site (we recommend that you familiarize yourself with this before you visit the DOB).
In this example, the first page does not mention NB, so try the second page by selecting “NEXT” (e.g. see both NB numbers below with filing dates (right column) of 1901 and 1970. and write these BOTH down or PRINT THE PAGE. The DoB people can do this for you, but it saves time if you have it printed before you arrive. Be sure to see ALL PAGES of “Actions” to check for NB numbers.
If there is no NB Number then you can ASK FOR ADVICE from the DoB staff (they are out in the middle of the floor). You will be advised to look at Job Filings and Certificate of Occupancy reports. The DoB staff can help you understand which report numbers might yield good results, but here are some important tips:
You will give the clerk at the window the NB number(s) or other relevant numbers (job filing numbers and/or CO numbers) and they will pull any corresponding Microfilm for you to view across the room. You will use the Microfilm to determine what plans you want printed out on 11 x 17 paper.
Some retrieval may be faster with no need for Microfilm if the plans have been recently scanned. Either way, you will be charged for the floor plan(s).
ADDITIONAL TIPS: Going back to OASIS notice the BUILDING FRONTAGE (width of building) and BUILDING AREA square footage. For those drawing plans, this will be useful to determine the footprint of the building and estimate the depth; (width x depth = square footage; frontage measurement/square footage = depth of building). Some students have drawn their own floor plans using this information along with using door and window measurements for additional scaling. A photo taken of the egress signage near a stairwell or elevator can be used as an additional tool.
Take some time to walk around in potential neighborhoods appropriate for your project and look for office and retail space ads and write down the contact information! Even though the space may not be appropriate for your particular project, they may have floor plans for other properties in the same building or the same area.
Use OASIS to find the owner of the building.
Real Estate Websites such as the following are often a great source of floor plans:
Digital copies: 2010-present
Subject to the approval of your instructor, you may utilize the base/skeleton floor plans illustrated in the case studies or potential sites in these books for your project.
Remember that you should never use a site for the same program (for example if your thesis project is a retail establishment, you may not use the floor plan of a retail building).
Print copies: 2000 - Present
Subject to the approval of your instructor, you may utilize the base/skeleton floor plans illustrated in the case studies or potential sites in these books for your project.
Remember that you should never use a site for the same program (for example if your thesis project is a retail establishment, you may not use the floor plan of a retail building).
While you are discouraged from using iconic, significant or landmarked buildings, there may be instances where your instructor approves the use of a historical structure.
The following resources may be of use in researching older New York City buildings
HABS/HAER/HALS (1933-Present) The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) and the Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) online collections include measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials. Since the National Park Service's HABS, HAER, and HALS programs create new documentation each year, digital images will continue to be added to the online collections.
New York City Architecture: How to Research a Building Researching a New York City building can be daunting and complicated. Based on the handout for the Investigating New York City Architecture Class from the Art & Architecture Collection of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, this guide will introduce you to the vast number of resources relating to the architecture of New York City that are in the collections of the New York Public Library, as well as other institutions.
