3. Essential Major Construction Map

Essential Active Construction Map DOBImage courtesy NYC Department of Buildings

While currently all non-essential construction is put on hold, we can be certain it will be one of the first industries to bounce back when the pandemic lets up. A service of New York’s Department of Buildings, the curious can probe the nitty-gritty details behind the construction projects shaping our city in a real-time NYC Essential Active Construction map. A spokesperson for the Department of Buildings tells us “The vast majority of the over 35,000 construction sites in the City were shut down on March 30th due to the Governor’s Executive Order. This map shows the sites that were deemed essential and are allowed to remain open.”

The categories deemed essential include hospitals and healthcare sites, affordable housing, public housing, schools, homeless shelters, utilities, and other approved work. This map does not seem to include state projects under construction, such as the Farley Post Office redevelopment across from Penn Station for Amtrak that we observed to be active as of two days ago. Additional real-time maps from Department of Buildings include the After Hours Construction Map, the Sidewalk Shed Map, the Site Safety Construction Site Map, and the DOB Building Profiles Map.