The greatest number of New Building permits were issued in CD503 in Staten Island, while the most Demolition permits were issued in CD312 in Brooklyn. CD301 in Brooklyn had the most A1 permits. The borough of Manhattan had the greatest number of A2 and A3 permits issued overall.

The greatest year-to-year increase in total number of permits issued occurred from 2003 to 2004 where New Building permits increased by 20% and Demolitions increased by 27%. This upward surge in New Building and Demolition permits continued through 2005, but was followed by a six year period of decline. Between 2017 and 2020 New Building and Demolition permits declined, however since 2020 both permit types have steadily increased. In 2022 New Building permits increased by 36% and Demolition permits increased by 27% since 2020. This chart shows all permits issued by the Department, that remained valid at the end of the quarter – Status: Permit Issued or Permit Entire.

In 2009 there was a 12% reduction in New Building square footage from the previous year. The 2008 economic crisis can be attributed toward this decline in New Building construction. In 2015 there was a 44% increase in New Building square footage from the previous year. This spike can be attributed to the 2015 expiration of a tax benefit (421-a) for new construction. The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 saw overall decreases in NB/A1 square footage and proposed dwelling units. In 2022 there was a 46% increase in New Building square footage and a 29% increase in proposed dwelling units from the previous year. Similar to 2015, this spike can be attributed to the 421-a tax benefit expiring in 2022. Both Alt1 square footage and Alt1 proposed dwelling units decreased in 2022 from the previous year by 5% and 20% respectively.

This map shows concentrations of demolition permits between 2000-2022 (press play or click and drag time slider to iterate over years). Darker shades of red indicate higher concentrations of demolition permits while darker shades of green indicate lower concentrations.

This map shows concentrations of new building permits between 2000-2022 (press play or click and drag time slider to iterate over years). Darker shades of red indicate higher concentrations of new building permits while darker shades of blue indicate lower concentrations.

Employment in the industry of building construction has steadily increased in New York City between 2010 and 2019 with a 59% increase in 2019 since 2010. 2020 showed it's first decline in building construction employment since 2010 with a 14% decrease from the previous year. In 2022 building construction employment increased by 4% from the previous year. There was a decline in permit activity between 2018 and 2020 however has since been gradually increasing. In 2022 there was a 2% increase in permits from the previous year and 4% increase since 2020. There is a strong correlation between construction employment numbers and permitting activity.

Source: US Department of Labor