Data Search Tool Guide FAQ
The Data Search Tool Interface
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What can I do with the Furman Center Data Search Tool?
The Data Search Tool is a new online application that provides direct access to New York City data collected by the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Visitors to the site can select from a range of variables to create customized maps, downloadable tables, and track trends over time.
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Why does the Data Search Tool have separate sections for “Subsidized Housing (SHIP)” and “Neighborhood Information”?
The two sections of the Data Search Tool, Subsidized Housing (SHIP) and Neighborhood Information, return different types of results. Subsidized Housing displays Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP) properties individually or grouped by up to three characteristics. Neighborhood Information displays Neighborhood Information indicators at a variety of larger geographic levels.
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Can I switch back and forth between the Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP) and Neighborhood Information sections?
You can switch back and forth whenever you want by clicking on the tabs on the upper left.
The map can show both SHIP and Neighborhood Information data at the same time. The table displays them separately.
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What can I view on a map?
The map can show the location of properties that you have selected with SHIP filters. It can also show your selected Neighborhood Information indicator for a single time period. It can display these separately or together. Mapping both together does not affect the results shown from either.
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Where is the legend for the map?
You can see the legend for the map by clicking on the “Legend” button on the upper-right hand corner of the map.
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Why is there an option to sign up?
Signing up allows you to access more SHIP information, particularly the dates when subsidies end.
Signup is instantaneous, but you must fill out this form to be granted access to the additional data.
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Can I hide Neighborhood Information data on the map without losing my filter selections?
Yes, Neighborhood Information can be hidden. To do so, open the map legend if it is not already open. This can be done by clicking on the “Legend” button on the upper-right hand corner of the map. The checkboxes, labeled “Neighborhood Info Results” can hide or show data on the map without clearing filter selections.
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Everything is squeezed together and overlapping—what is the recommended screen resolution?
We recommend you set your monitor to at least 1024 x 768 to use the Data Search Tool. All major browsers allow you to increase your font size to compensate; read how to do so for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer.
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There’s a mistake in the data — how do I correct it?
Click on the “Feedback” tab, located on the lower right of the table or map. Please tell us about the error in the “Comments” section.
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Can I download this data? What format is it in?
You can download tabular data using the “Export to CSV” link above the table to the right side.
This option is only available if you are viewing the data as a table. The data is formatted as a CSV, which can be opened in Excel or imported into a variety of applications for analysis. On Windows, right-click the file, select “Open With” in the submenu, and choose “Excel.”
On a Mac, right-click the file, select “Open With” in the submenu, and choose “Excel.”
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Are there limitations to how I can use this data?
Read the data disclaimer here.
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What can I view as a table?
You can create three types of tables:
If you are in the Neighborhood Information section, the table will display your selected indicator for the selected geographies and time periods. Each row is a single geography, for example “Queens” or “Upper West Side.” Each column is a single period of time, for example “1999” or “2003 Quarter 3.”
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What does the number inside each bubble on the map tell me?
The number tells you how many SHIP properties are near that bubble. Because there are thousands of Subsidized Housing properties in the city, they are grouped together by proximity when you are zoomed out. If you click on the bubble, you can scroll through its properties’ details.
If you want to see the properties individually, either zoom in manually or press the “Zoom Here” button to automatically zoom in on the selected area.
You may have to press the button repeatedly to get close enough to see individual properties.
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Does the SHIP filter I select affect the Neighborhood Information results, or vice versa?
No. Selecting a filter in Subsidized Housing does not affect Neighborhood Information results, and selecting an indicator in Neighborhood Information does not affect Subsidized Housing results. They will be displayed together on the map.
Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP)
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What do I get from the SHIP section?
This section allows you to filter and browse properties included in the Furman Center’s Subsidized Housing Information Project (SHIP). These are properties in the five boroughs of New York City that currently receive, or have received, subsidies from the Mitchell-Lama, project-based HUD Section 8, HUD-Insured, or Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs.
You can view these properties on the map, as a table of individual properties, or as a customized aggregated table with property, building, and unit counts.
The map and the table both provide links to property details pages. Each page lists the SHIP attributes that are accessible via the web interface for a single property. Each page also provides a link to download a detailed PDF report, which has additional information – for example, exact start and end times for individual projects – that are not available within the web interface.
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How do multiple SHIP filters affect one another? Why does selecting more filters sometimes increase the number of properties, and sometimes reduce the number of properties?
To learn more about using SHIP filters, we recommend doing the tutorial “How can I look for certain kinds of subsidies?”.
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Why does the map say that more SHIP properties meet my criteria than are displayed on the map? How do I see these properties?
We do not have precise coordinates for all SHIP properties, and these properties will not appear on the map. All properties will appear in the table. Make sure to use numbers from the table whenever you obtain a count of SHIP properties from the Data Search Tool.
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What boundaries are used to group SHIP properties into bubbles on the map?
No specific boundaries are used to group properties into bubbles. Do not attempt to read bubbles as corresponding to any real political or geographic boundaries.
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What do SHIP filter criteria, for example “Portfolio,” mean?
If you move your cursor over the question mark next to a SHIP filter criteria, a description will appear. These descriptions are also included in the Acronyms and Definitions page.
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What is the proper format for addresses? I can’t find an address I know is in the database.
Addresses in SHIP are derived from the Department of Finance’s Real Property Assessment Database (RPAD). The number comes first, with hyphens only for Queens addresses. Street directions, like “East” or “West”, are included and not abbreviated. Numbered streets include only the number, without suffixes like “th”. Words like “Avenue” and “Street” are included and not abbreviated.
To search for a specific address, you can enter the shortest part of the address that will narrow down your properties to a small subset. Searching for “51 St” would return properties at both “WEST 51 STREET” and “EAST 51 STREET”.
A good option for finding a property by address is to locate it locate it on the map instead of using a filter. To do so, clear your SHIP filters, click “Go To Address” on the map’s upper-right corner, enter your address, and press “Go”. Rather than filtering your SHIP properties, this feature will use Google’s excellent address filtering technology to bring you to the point on the map that matches your address. You can then click on nearby property bubbles to find your property.
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Does “Go to Address” affect my SHIP filters?
No. “Go to Address” is a tool to navigate the map, but does not filter your SHIP properties. It is often a good way to find a property by address, however.
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Why does the Data Search Tool sometimes return SHIP properties with a different name than the one I searched for?
A single SHIP property can have several names. When you search for a name, a match for any of these names will return a property. While all the names are listed in the detailed view of the property, we choose a single ‘main’ name to highlight in the list and on the map.
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Can I search for a property entering in only part of a name or address?
Yes. For any filter where you can enter in text (for example, property name, address, owner, or manager) the Tool will return any properties where a portion of the text matches. For example, if you filter for the owner “Jon”, you will retrieve all properties where the owner has “Jon” somewhere in their name. “Jonathan Smith”, “Erica Lee Jones”, and “Jonah Wright” would all match, but “John Davis” would not.
For best results, we recommend filtering the shortest section of a name you are sure to spell correctly, and looking through the several properties that may be returned for the correct one.
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How do I get details about individual SHIP properties?
If you are viewing the map, click on any of the property bubbles, then click “More Details”. If you clicked on a bubble containing several properties, you can use the arrow buttons to get details on another property inside it.
If you are viewing the table, click on the “Details” link, which is in the leftmost column.
Once you have opened the detailed view, you can get even more information about a single property with the Full Report. To do so, click on the “Download Full Report” link beneath the Google Street View.
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Where does SHIP data come from?
- New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development
- New York City Housing Development Corporation
- New York State Homes and Community Renewal
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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How much additional information about a Subsidized Housing property is available in the full report?
The Full Report gives you precise information about each subsidy, active or inactive, that affected a property. This includes the exact start and expiration dates of individual projects.
Neighborhood Information
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What do I get from the Neighborhood Information section?
The Neighborhood Information section allows you to create and download tables and maps of historic and current housing, demographic, and community information at different geographic levels in New York City.
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Why can’t I view my Neighborhood Information in quarters or months?
Most Neighborhood Information indicators are only available annually.
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At what levels can I view my Neighborhood Information?
All Neighborhood Information indicators are offered at several of the following geographic levels:
- City: this level provides a single value for all of New York City. All indicators are available at this level.
- Borough: this level splits the city into the five boroughs. All indicators are also available at this level.
- Community Districts: this level splits the city into its 59 community districts. This is the preferred division for Furman Center analysis, and we provide indicators we derive at this level. Community districts have similar, but not identical boundaries as sub-borough areas. They are not coterminous with census tracts.
- Sub-borough Area: this level splits each borough according to the boundaries of the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS). Indicators derived from the HVS and Census can have data available at this level. Sub-borough areas are coterminous with census tracts.
- Census Tract: this level splits the city into census tracts. It provides the finest possible detail. Only a few census and foreclosure indicators are available at this level. Census tracts are coterminous with Sub-borough areas.
- School Districts: this level splits the city by school district. A few educational indicators are available at this level.
- Police Precincts: this level splits the city by police precinct. Crime indicators are available at this level.
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Where does Neighborhood Information data come from?
- American Community Survey
- American Housing Survey
- FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
- National Household Transit Survey
- Neighborhood Change Database
- New York City Housing Authority
- New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey
- New York City Department of Buildings
- New York City Department of City Planning
- New York City Department of Education
- New York City Department of Finance
- New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development
- New York City Police Department
- New York State Department of Banking
- New York State Department of Criminal Justice
- New York State Department of Health
- New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal
- Public Data Corporation
- U.S. Census Bureau
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I just want to see the Neighborhood Information — how do I hide SHIP bubbles?
To hide the SHIP bubbles, open up the legend by clicking “Legend” on the upper-right hand corner of the map. Then, click the checkbox next to “Housing (SHIP) Results”. You can bring the SHIP bubbles back by clicking on the checkbox again, or re-submitting your SHIP filters.