Forget trying to find some unmarked hotspot—Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is worried about regular ol' buildings that don't display their numbers! Today, he released a study that shows nearly 40% of buildings studied along certain stretches of 13 busy corridors do not display their addresses. In fact, along East 42nd Street, 8th Avenue and Columbus Avenue, over 50% of the buildings don't have visible addresses.

The are details about which streets were studied after the jump. Stringer said, "The lackadaisical policy regarding building addresses in this borough raises questions about public safety and quality of life. Right now, finding a street address on even our busiest roads can be aggravating, and even worse, can waste valuable time in the event of an emergency. We need to get serious about creating a system for enforcement that will end decades of confusion."

Stringer's office notes that the City's Administrative Code requires building owners to display their numbers so they can be seen from the sidewalk. And since each Borough President can enforce this rule, Stringer suggests, for Manhattan, that the Department of Sanitation "should be given enforcement powers for buildings that do not have their numbers labeled externally" while the City Council should "pass legislation mandating that all doors for residences or businesses in a building be labeled with an address number," which would clear things up for buildings which have entrances on more than one street.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried also points out, "When a building doesn't have a legible street number, it not only means inconvenience. If ambulance crews, firefighters, or police can't quickly find the right building, lives can be lost."

  1. 181st Street, between Cabrini & Amsterdam: 41.9% of 117 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  2. 125th Street, between Fredrick Douglass & Lexington: 40.6% of 180 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  3. W. 96th Street, between CPW & Riverside: 24.7% of 85 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  4. E. 86th Street, between Madison & East End: 36.6% of 161 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  5. Lexington Ave., between 70th & 86th: 38% of 163 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  6. Columbus Ave., between 67th & 83rd: 53.8% of 182 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  7. 8th Ave., between 42nd & 59th: 58.2% of 165 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  8. 42nd Street, between 6th Ave & 1st Ave: 54.7% of 75 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  9. 23rd Street, between 10th Ave. & 5th Ave: 33% of 185 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  10. 1st Ave., between 1st & 18th: 24.7% of 178 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  11. Canal Street, between Bowery & Hudson: 37.8% of 156 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  12. Greenwich, between Murray & Spring: 48.7% of 119 locations surveyed with no labeled address.
  13. Broadway, between Cedar & Franklin: 20% of 55 locations surveyed with no labeled address.