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nyc-dob-violations

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Look up open and resolved DOB and ECB violations for any NYC building, with class, status, and penalty detail. Use when the user asks whether a building has violations, stop-work orders, or outstanding ECB penalties. NYC only; for housing-code violations use /nyc-hpd.

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/nyc-dob-violations — DOB & ECB Violations

Look up DOB violations and ECB (Environmental Control Board) violations for any NYC building. Flags open violations prominently. No API key required.

Usage

/nyc-dob-violations 120 Broadway, Manhattan
/nyc-dob-violations 1000770001          (BBL)
/nyc-dob-violations 1001389             (BIN)

Step 1: Parse Input

Accept one of:

  • Address + Borough/Zip — "120 Broadway, Manhattan" or "120 Broadway 10271"
  • BBL — 10-digit number (boro 1 + block 5 + lot 4)
  • BIN — 7-digit Building Identification Number

Borough codes: Manhattan=1/MN, Bronx=2/BX, Brooklyn=3/BK, Queens=4/QN, Staten Island=5/SI

Step 2: Resolve via PLUTO

Query PLUTO to get BBL, BIN, and building metadata. No API key needed.

By BBL:

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/64uk-42ks.json?bbl={BBL}

By address:

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/64uk-42ks.json?$where=upper(address) LIKE '%{STREET}%'&borough='{BORO_CODE}'&$limit=5

Address normalization: Uppercase, strip unit/apt suffixes. Borough names to codes: Manhattan=MN, Bronx=BX, Brooklyn=BK, Queens=QN, Staten Island=SI. If multiple results, ask the user to pick. If zero, try variations or suggest providing a BBL.

Store from PLUTO: bbl, bin (or bldgbin), address, borough, bldgclass, zonedist1, yearbuilt, ownername, numfloors, lotarea, latitude, longitude.

Parse BBL into: boro (1 digit), block (5 digits zero-padded), lot (4 digits zero-padded).

Step 3: Query Violations

Query 3 datasets using BIN:

DOB Violations

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/3h2n-5cm9.json?$where=bin='{BIN}'&$order=issue_date DESC&$limit=50

Key fields: isn_dob_bis_viol, violation_type, issue_date, violation_category, disposition_date, disposition_comments

ECB Violations

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/6bgk-3dad.json?$where=bin='{BIN}'&$order=issue_date DESC&$limit=50

Key fields: isn_dob_bis_extract, ecb_violation_number, violation_type, issue_date, penality_imposed, amount_paid, balance_due, hearing_status, ecb_violation_status, severity

Active/Open Violations

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/sjhj-bc8q.json?$where=bin='{BIN}'

Returns only currently open violations (pre-filtered subset of DOB violations).

Step 4: Print Results

Open violations go first, flagged with ⚠.

## DOB & ECB Violations — {Address}

### ⚠ Open Violations: {count}

| Violation # | Type | Date | Description | Disposition |
|-------------|------|------|-------------|-------------|
| ... | ... | YYYY-MM-DD | ... | ... |

### All DOB Violations ({count} total)

| Violation # | Type | Issue Date | Category | Disposition Date | Comments |
|-------------|------|------------|----------|------------------|----------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### ECB Violations ({count} total)

| ECB # | Date | Violation Type | Severity | Penalty Imposed | Paid | Balance Due | Status |
|-------|------|----------------|----------|-----------------|------|-------------|--------|
| {ecb_violation_number} | {issue_date} | {violation_type} | {severity} | ${penality_imposed} | ${amount_paid} | ${balance_due} | {hearing_status} |

**Total penalties assessed:** ${amount}
**Total balance due:** ${amount}

Source: [DOB Violations](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Housing-Development/DOB-Violations/3h2n-5cm9) | [ECB Violations](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Housing-Development/DOB-ECB-Violations/6bgk-3dad)

If no violations found: "No DOB or ECB violations found for this property."

Conventions

  • All dates: YYYY-MM-DD
  • Dollar amounts: comma-separated ($1,234)
  • Open/active items flagged with ⚠
  • If Socrata returns empty array: "No results found"
  • If HTTP error: note it and suggest checking the address
  • If the user requests, write results to a file