Press Release: A Click Away: DCP’s Digital ‘NYC Street Map’ Makes Development History of City Grid Accessible - DCP

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For Immediate Release
August 20, 2018

Contacts:
Rachaele Raynoff, Joe Marvilli – press@planning.nyc.gov (212) 720-3471

A Click Away: DCP’s digital ‘NYC Street Map’ makes development history of city grid accessible

Interactive tool offers wealth of information for public, community advocates, students, historians, trivia aficionados, development professionals

Aug. 20, 2018 – Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Marisa Lago today announced the launch of NYC Street Map, a digital tool that makes unique information about New York City’s streets, past and present, easily accessible.

“This Administration is committed to harnessing the power of technology, to empower New Yorkers with useful information about their city. This easy-to-use NYC Street Map means that community advocates, students, historians -- indeed everyone – can delve into New York City history – block by block, and street by street. It offers the public another tool to participate in building New York City’s future,” Director Marisa Lago said.

The NYC Street Map allows New Yorkers to easily find detailed information about the streets near their homes, find convenient routes to work and determine where bike lanes are protected. For those on the move, the tool is available on mobile devices. It offers a search engine that lets you find street corners and places named for 9/11 victims. For history buffs, the NYC Street Map features historic street and building images, dating back to 1924. It combines more than 8,000 paper map documents that are maintained by DCP, allowing the public to more easily delve into development potential and restrictions related to the streets on which they live.

NYC Street Map enables you to:

Find streets, corners and public areas named to honor 9/11 victims, including first responders, and many other notable individuals.

These ceremonial name spaces are displayed in purple and include a link to the City Council report enacting the place name.

Find the City’s 56 public “step streets,” where staircases replace roadbeds and sidewalks. (The Bronx has the most with 42.)

Find streets that have been converted to another use, such as parkland for example. (Until 1962, Fifth Avenue ran through Washington Square Park.)

See that Battery Park City was built in the 1970s (on landfill from excavation for construction of the World Trade Center).

See when a street was mapped or built, including historical images and data reaching as far back as 1924.

View streets that are private or unmapped, and find out if a building is on a mapped street that has not been built.

See if your home or business is in a federally-designated flood zone.

In honor of City Hall in Your Borough Week in Brooklyn, here is some local street trivia:

See that on 39th Street, between 8th and 9th avenues, the street width abruptly narrows mid-block -- from 80 feet to 60 feet. The shift marks the former border between the city of Brooklyn and town of New Utrecht.

See that before the development of Cadman Plaza, Fulton Street extended to Fulton Ferry and connected with Old Fulton Street.

See that Bedford Avenue is Brooklyn’s longest street, extending from Williamsburg all the way to Sheepshead Bay.

Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations applicable citywide, and its contribution to the preparation of the City’s 10-year Capital Strategy. DCP promotes housing production and affordability, fosters economic development and coordinated investments in infrastructure and services, and supports resilient, sustainable communities across the five boroughs for a more equitable New York City.

In addition, DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of approximately 450 land use applications for a variety of discretionary approvals. The Department also assists both government agencies and the public by advising on strategic and capital planning and providing policy analysis, technical assistance and data relating to housing, transportation, community facilities, demography, zoning, urban design, waterfront areas and public open space.