Characteristics of the internal and external built environment in 59 New York City neighbourhoods
| Built environment | Mean | SD | Median | Range | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *This information was obtained from the NYCHVS. †This information was obtained from the NYC fire department through the mayor’s office of operations. ‡This information was obtained from the department of sanitation from the mayor’s office of operations. | |||||
| Internal built | Percentage of housing units experiencing toilet breakdowns* | ||||
| environment | Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood in which respondents experienced a time in the past three months when all toilets were not working for six consecutive hours. | 9.6 | 3.9 | 9.0 | 16.0 |
| Percentage of housing units with some non-functioning kitchen facilities* | |||||
| Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood in which respondents reported having one or more kitchen facilities that were not working at all. | 2.4 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 6.3 | |
| Percentage of housing units experiencing over three heat breakdowns in winter* | |||||
| Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood in which respondents experienced more than three breakdowns in heating equipment during the winter before the interview, during which time, heating equipment was completely unusable for six consecutive hours or longer. | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 16.6 | |
| Percentage of housing units needing additional heating in winter* | |||||
| Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood in which respondents reported using additional sources of heat (for example,a kitchen stove) during the winter before the interview to supplement the regular system, because the regular system, though functioning, did not provide enough heat. | 11.0 | 5.8 | 9.2 | 28.5 | |
| Percentage of housing units with a large area of peeling plaster or paint* | |||||
| Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood that displayed an area of broken plaster or peeling paint on the interior ceiling or walls of larger than 8.5 inches by 11 inches. | 6.5 | 3.5 | 5.9 | 13.8 | |
| Percentage of housing units with internal water leakage* | |||||
| Percentage of housing units within a neighbourhood in which respondents reported experiencing any water leaking into the unit in the past 12 months, not including leaks that resulted from the unit’s own plumbing fixtures backing up or overflowing. | 16.2 | 5.9 | 15.5 | 22.6 | |
| External built | Percentage of buildings observed to be in dilapidated condition* | ||||
| environment | Percentage of buildings within each neighbourhood that displayed one or more critical defects such as major open holes in the outside walls, or intermediate defects, like missing stair railings, or poor original construction and thus incapable of providing safe and adequate shelter for occupants. | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 7.6 |
| Percentage of buildings observed to be in deteriorating condition* | |||||
| Percentage of buildings within a neighbourhood that displayed a lack of proper upkeep that could not be corrected by normal maintenance, demonstrated through one or more intermediate defects like rotted or loose window frames or broken or missing stair railings. | 5.9 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 18.5 | |
| Percentage of buildings with any external wall problems* | |||||
| Percentage of buildings within a neighbourhood that displayed one or more of the following characteristics: missing bricks,siding, or outside wall material, sloping or bulging outside walls, or major cracks in outside walls. | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 12.5 | |
| Percentage of buildings with any window problems* | |||||
| Percentage of buildings within a neighbourhood that displayed one or more of the following characteristics: broken or missing windows, rotted or loose window frames or sashes, or boarded up windows. | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 11.5 | |
| Percentage of buildings with any exterior or interior stairway problems* | |||||
| Percentage of buildings within a neighbourhood that was determined to have one or more of the following characteristics: loose, broken or missing stair railways, or loose, broken, or missing steps. | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 16.2 | |
| Number of structural fire† | |||||
| Number of fire emergency incidents in each neighbourhood to which the NYC fire department responded that were classified as structural fires, or fires that have spread throughout the structure of a building (in concealed spaces, between walls, along the roof, or outside of the building). | 454.2 | 197.1 | 434.0 | 877.0 | |
| Percentage of acceptably clean streets‡ | |||||
| Percentage of streets in each neighbourhood that met an acceptable standard of cleanliness based upon a seven point picture based rating scale designed to reflect the public perception of acceptable cleanliness levels. This value is an annual average of twice monthly ratings of the city-wide street sample. | 80.0 | 8.4 | 78.7 | 33.4 | |
| Percentage of acceptably clean sidewalks‡ | |||||
| As above, percentage of sidewalks in each neighbourhood that met an acceptable standard. | 87.9 | 7.8 | 89.8 | 28.9 | |