THE BLOOMINGDALE BUILDING DATABASE
| bdb_update__hightower__2-22-22.pdf |
The table above was compiled mainly to answer two questions that we at BNHG are often asked: “How old is my building?” and “Who designed it?”
The table is the product of more than three years of research and field work by BNHG members, led by Gilbert Tauber. It lists all of the approximately 1,056 buildings in the area from the north side of 96th Street to the south side of 110th Street between Central Park West and Riverside Drive. In the table, the buildings are arranged by street address. (A corner building is usually shown by its avenue address.) Also shown for each building are: its tax block and lot number; its Department of Buildings identification number (BIN); its Department of Finance building classification; the number of floors; and, for residential buildings, the number of apartments in the building.
A green tint over an address indicates a playground, park or community garden. Utility buildings on such lots, such as comfort stations, are not included in the database. About 37 addresses are shown with a yellow tint, indicating a building for which information could not be found or is in doubt.
The tenth column shows, in most cases, the year and number of the NB (New Building) permit issued by the NYC Department of Buildings. This is generally also the year that construction began. The next column shows the documented or estimated year of completion. Estimated completion dates are followed by the letter E. The name of the architect is generally that given on the NB permit.
It should be noted that the building completion dates here refer only to the original construction of a building. Many older buildings have been gut-renovated, given new facades, or otherwise modernized If you would like to see what a particular building looked like in 1940 (or 1980), go to the NYC Municipal Archives collection of tax photos. The map website https://1940s.nyc will help you locate a photo of any building in the five boroughs that existed as of those dates.
SOURCES
Roughly one-third of the buildings in our area are within historic districts. Data for these buildings was obtained from Designation Reports published by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/designations/designation-reports.page)
For non-landmarked buildings erected between 1900 and 1986, data was obtained from the on-line Building Permits Data Base compiled by the Office for Metropolitan History under the direction of the late Christopher Gray. (https://www.metrohistory.com/dbpages/NBsearch.lasso)
For non-landmarked buildings erected prior to 1900, information was obtained from the listings of New Building Permits that were published weekly in the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide (R&G). The digitized archive of this trade magazine, which has some gaps, can be accessed online at http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/
Where issues of the R&G were missing or illegible, a search was conducted of the microfilmed Buildings Department docket books in the NYC Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers St. Unfortunately portions of the docket books are also missing or illegible.
Additional sources for building dates and architects included various editions of Norval White and Elliot Willensky’s AIA Guide to New York City; Robert A. M. Stern et al. New York: 1880 and its sequels for 1900, 1930, 1960 and 2000; and the 2018 map/brochure of the organization Landmark West!.
Where a building’s date was not found in any of the above sources, a range of years was determined by comparing real estate atlases available in the New York Public Library for the years 1885, 1889, 1891, 1897 and 1902 to see when a building first shows up. For example, the range “1891 to 1897” indicates that the building was not shown 1891 but was in 1897.
The number of floors and number of housing units are, in most cases, taken from either the Oasis NYC website. (http://www.oasisnyc.net/map.aspx) or the DOITT website (http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/). In most other cases, unit counts are from Department of Buildings digitized images of Certificates of Occupancy or from the database of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, both of which are accessible through links on the Oasis and DOITT websites. Building Identification Numbers and DOF Building Classifications were taken from the Department of Buildings’ online Building Information System, which can also be accessed through the Oasis and DOITT map links.
As detailed above, the information in this database has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable. However, we assume no liability for any errors or omissions. We would, on the other hand, welcome any information you might have that would improve the accuracy and completeness of this database, especially regarding the addresses highlighted in yellow. If you have any questions regarding the database, please contact the Database Team at the Contact Us page.
This introduction and the table have copyright protection.
The table is the product of more than three years of research and field work by BNHG members, led by Gilbert Tauber. It lists all of the approximately 1,056 buildings in the area from the north side of 96th Street to the south side of 110th Street between Central Park West and Riverside Drive. In the table, the buildings are arranged by street address. (A corner building is usually shown by its avenue address.) Also shown for each building are: its tax block and lot number; its Department of Buildings identification number (BIN); its Department of Finance building classification; the number of floors; and, for residential buildings, the number of apartments in the building.
A green tint over an address indicates a playground, park or community garden. Utility buildings on such lots, such as comfort stations, are not included in the database. About 37 addresses are shown with a yellow tint, indicating a building for which information could not be found or is in doubt.
The tenth column shows, in most cases, the year and number of the NB (New Building) permit issued by the NYC Department of Buildings. This is generally also the year that construction began. The next column shows the documented or estimated year of completion. Estimated completion dates are followed by the letter E. The name of the architect is generally that given on the NB permit.
It should be noted that the building completion dates here refer only to the original construction of a building. Many older buildings have been gut-renovated, given new facades, or otherwise modernized If you would like to see what a particular building looked like in 1940 (or 1980), go to the NYC Municipal Archives collection of tax photos. The map website https://1940s.nyc will help you locate a photo of any building in the five boroughs that existed as of those dates.
SOURCES
Roughly one-third of the buildings in our area are within historic districts. Data for these buildings was obtained from Designation Reports published by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/designations/designation-reports.page)
For non-landmarked buildings erected between 1900 and 1986, data was obtained from the on-line Building Permits Data Base compiled by the Office for Metropolitan History under the direction of the late Christopher Gray. (https://www.metrohistory.com/dbpages/NBsearch.lasso)
For non-landmarked buildings erected prior to 1900, information was obtained from the listings of New Building Permits that were published weekly in the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide (R&G). The digitized archive of this trade magazine, which has some gaps, can be accessed online at http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/
Where issues of the R&G were missing or illegible, a search was conducted of the microfilmed Buildings Department docket books in the NYC Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers St. Unfortunately portions of the docket books are also missing or illegible.
Additional sources for building dates and architects included various editions of Norval White and Elliot Willensky’s AIA Guide to New York City; Robert A. M. Stern et al. New York: 1880 and its sequels for 1900, 1930, 1960 and 2000; and the 2018 map/brochure of the organization Landmark West!.
Where a building’s date was not found in any of the above sources, a range of years was determined by comparing real estate atlases available in the New York Public Library for the years 1885, 1889, 1891, 1897 and 1902 to see when a building first shows up. For example, the range “1891 to 1897” indicates that the building was not shown 1891 but was in 1897.
The number of floors and number of housing units are, in most cases, taken from either the Oasis NYC website. (http://www.oasisnyc.net/map.aspx) or the DOITT website (http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/). In most other cases, unit counts are from Department of Buildings digitized images of Certificates of Occupancy or from the database of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, both of which are accessible through links on the Oasis and DOITT websites. Building Identification Numbers and DOF Building Classifications were taken from the Department of Buildings’ online Building Information System, which can also be accessed through the Oasis and DOITT map links.
As detailed above, the information in this database has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable. However, we assume no liability for any errors or omissions. We would, on the other hand, welcome any information you might have that would improve the accuracy and completeness of this database, especially regarding the addresses highlighted in yellow. If you have any questions regarding the database, please contact the Database Team at the Contact Us page.
This introduction and the table have copyright protection.