Glossary

Every term that appears in a report, in plain English — including the ones that most often get misread.

Identifying a property

BBL

The unique ten-digit identifier for a New York City tax lot: one digit for the borough, five for the block, four for the lot. Every property in the city has exactly one, and it never changes even when the address does. Searching by BBL is always unambiguous; searching by address sometimes is not.

Borough code

The first digit of the BBL. 1 = Manhattan, 2 = the Bronx, 3 = Brooklyn, 4 = Queens, 5 = Staten Island.

Block and lot

The city divides each borough into numbered blocks, and each block into numbered lots. A "lot" is the parcel of land — the thing that is bought, taxed and zoned. A building sits on a lot; occasionally more than one does.

BIN

A building identification number. Where a BBL identifies the land, a BIN identifies a structure standing on it. One lot with three buildings has one BBL and three BINs.

Tax lot

The unit of land the city taxes and zones. Usually, but not always, what a layperson would call "the property".

Value and taxes

Assessed value

The value the city assigns to a property for the purpose of taxing it. It is not an appraisal and it is not what the property would sell for — it is produced by a formula, and it is routinely far below market value. Tax is calculated from this number, not from market value.

Market value on record

The city's own estimate of what the property is worth. It is a statutory figure used as an input to the assessment, not a broker's opinion, and you should not treat it as a listing price.

Taxable assessed value

The portion of assessed value that is actually taxed after any phase-ins are applied. Where a report shows no separate figure for it, it is the same as the assessed total.

Assessed land value

The share of assessed value attributed to the land alone, ignoring anything built on it.

Assessed building value

Assessed total minus assessed land — the share attributed to the structure. We calculate this; it is not published as its own field.

Tax class

The category a property falls into for taxation, driven by what it is and how many units it has. The class determines the rate applied, so two buildings on the same street can be taxed very differently.

Tax rate

The percentage applied to taxable assessed value to produce the annual levy. It is set per tax class and changes from year to year.

Estimated annual levy

Our estimate of the yearly tax: taxable assessed value multiplied by the published rate for the class. It excludes exemptions, abatements, interest and arrears, so it will not match a real bill exactly. Order of magnitude only.

Exemption

A reduction that removes part of a property's value from taxation — for example for certain owners or certain kinds of development. An exemption a property carries will make its real bill lower than our estimate.

Abatement

A reduction applied to the tax bill itself rather than to the assessed value. Same practical effect on our estimate: the real bill will be lower.

Tax-lien sale list

A list of properties whose unpaid municipal debt the city may sell to a third party, which can then pursue the debt and, ultimately, foreclose. Appearing on it is a serious signal of financial distress. Note that it reflects unpaid tax and water charges — not the enforcement penalties shown elsewhere in a report.

Zoning and development

Floor-area ratio (FAR)

The ratio of a building's total floor area to the area of its lot. A 10,000 sq ft building on a 5,000 sq ft lot has a built FAR of 2.0. Zoning sets a maximum FAR — this is the single number that governs how much building is allowed on a piece of land.

Built FAR

The FAR the existing building actually occupies. Compare this to the permitted FAR for the use you intend — never to the highest permitted FAR in the row.

Permitted FAR

The maximum FAR the zoning allows, given separately for residential, commercial and community-facility use. They are different numbers and they are not interchangeable.

Unused FAR

The gap between built FAR and the permitted FAR for a given use. Where positive, it represents development headroom. Where negative, the building is larger than current zoning would allow.

Air rights

The unused development capacity of a lot, expressed in buildable square feet. It can sometimes be sold or transferred to a neighbouring lot. Our figure is an upper bound derived from FAR, not a valuation and not a guarantee it can be built.

Non-conforming / over-built

A building that is larger or denser than today's zoning would permit, because it was built before the current rules. It is generally lawful and may remain — but it typically cannot be enlarged, and may not be rebuildable as-is if destroyed.

Lot coverage

How much of the lot's footprint the building occupies. A constraint that can prevent you from using FAR headroom even when the headroom exists on paper.

Setback

A required distance between a building and the lot line, or a required step-back higher up. Another constraint that can make theoretical FAR unbuildable.

Landmarked

A property, or a district containing it, designated for historic preservation. Exterior alterations are restricted and typically require city approval before any work — a material constraint on both cost and timeline.

Historic district

An area, rather than a single building, under preservation protection. A perfectly ordinary building inside one is still subject to the restrictions.

Community facility

A use category covering schools, clinics, houses of worship and similar. It usually carries a higher permitted FAR than residential — which is exactly the trap that catches people reading a zoning table too quickly.

Condition and compliance

Violation

A formal finding that a property breached a rule — a housing standard, a building code, a fire-safety requirement. Violations vary enormously in seriousness, from a missing smoke-detector notice to a structural hazard.

Open violation

A violation that has not been recorded as resolved. Note that a violation can be fixed in reality and still sit open on the record if it was never certified as corrected. Open counts measure paperwork as much as they measure condition.

Outstanding penalty balance

Money recorded as owed on enforcement actions. It is not the property's total debt to the city: it excludes unpaid property tax and water and sewer arrears, which are often much larger.

Complaint

A report made against the property, typically by a resident or a passer-by. A complaint is an allegation, not a finding — many are dismissed. A sustained pattern of them is nevertheless informative about how a building is run.

Permit

Authorisation to carry out work. The absence of permits does not prove no work was done — it may equally mean work was done without one, which is its own kind of signal.

Certificate of occupancy

The document stating what a building may lawfully be used for and how many units it may contain. A building whose actual use has drifted from its certificate is carrying a real, and sometimes expensive, problem.

Housing-court proceeding

A legal case brought in connection with the property, often concerning conditions or non-payment. Recurring cases are a meaningful signal about management.

Ownership and transactions

Owner of record

The party the city has on file as the owner. It is frequently a holding company rather than a person, and it may lag a recent sale.

Registered contacts

The parties a building is required to keep on file — typically an owner, a managing agent, or a head officer. This is often the most direct route to whoever actually controls a building.

Deed

The recorded instrument transferring ownership. It carries a date and an amount, though the amount is not always a market price.

Mortgage

A recorded loan secured against the property. Our reports list recorded documents but do not compute an outstanding balance — a document is not a payoff figure.

Recorded sale price

The consideration stated on a recorded transfer. It may be a genuine market price, or it may be $0 or $10 on a transfer between related parties, an estate settlement or a corrective filing. Do not assume it is a valuation.

Arm's-length sale

A sale between unrelated parties, each acting in their own interest. Only these tell you much about market value. A $0 recorded price is, by definition, not one.

See these terms applied to a real building in how to read a report, or read how each figure is sourced and calculated in the methodology.