More than 500 New York City Construction Projects Currently Stalled

Brooklyn is Home to 46 Percent of Stalled Projects Citywide; Queens Is Next at 27 Percent As of November 29, 2009, work had stopped on a total of 515 formerly active construction sites throughout the five boroughs of New York City, according to a New York Building Congress analysis of New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) inspection records. The DOB began tracking stalled sites on July 21,... [more]

Brooklyn is Home to 46 Percent of Stalled Projects Citywide; Queens Is Next at 27 Percent As of November 29, 2009, work had stopped on a total of 515 formerly active construction sites throughout the five boroughs of New York City, according to a New York Building Congress analysis of New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) inspection records. The DOB began tracking stalled sites on July 21, 2009. While no breakdown of building type is available, virtually all of the stalled projects are residential developments. Among the five boroughs, Brooklyn is the hardest hit – with 237 stalled projects (46 percent of the total number of stalled buildings in New York City). In fact, eight out of the ten New York City neighborhoods with 10 or more stalled projects are located in the Borough. The Northern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint and North Side-South Side, which have been the focus of intense residential development in recent years, are home to 30 percent of the stalled Brooklyn projects. Queens contains the second highest level of stalled construction projects, with 140 (27 percent of Citywide total), down from a peak of 147 on November 1, and up only slightly from July 21, when the numbers stood at 136. As of November 29, a total of 80 projects were listed as stalled in Manhattan (16 percent of Citywide total), up from 57 on July 26. Manhattan's Turtle Bay-East Midtown area contains 11 buildings, or 14 percent of Manhattan's stalled projects. The number of stalled projects more than doubled on Staten Island over the past three months – from 15 projects as of July 26, to 34 on November 29. According to DOB’s weekly inspection data, the number of stalled projects has remained relatively steady in the Bronx – rising slightly from 22 on July 26, to 24 as of November 29. “Earlier this year, we reported on the dearth of applications for permits to begin new residential projects in New York City. Apparently, the economic contagion has now spread to residential projects that were already permitted and where construction already began,” said Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “Though the late November numbers offer some encouragement, it is important for government and the development community to continue working together to minimize the immediate environmental and quality-of-life impacts of these stalled projects on the hardest hit communities.” . [less]