N-3Borough · Brooklyn
Heat, hot water and pipes in Brooklyn
Brooklyn heat and plumbing depend on whether you rent in a walk-up, own a row house or share a two-family home, because each puts a different person in charge of the boiler.
Brooklyn has more walk-up apartments than any other kind of home. Rent in one? Start with the prewar walk-up sheet. Own a brownstone or a row house with your own boiler? Use the brownstone and row house sheet. A house split between an owner and one tenant fits the two-family house sheet, and the newer towers fit the new-build condo sheet.
Which building types hold Brooklyn’s homes?
Walk-ups lead, but no single type dominates. Our sums of DCP’s PLUTO 26v2 file find 1,113,893 Brooklyn homes, the most of any borough, and 57% of them in buildings recorded as built before 1940.
| Building category | Homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-family walk-up | 349,966 | 31% |
| Multi-family elevator | 283,775 | 25% |
| One and two family | 250,755 | 23% |
| Mixed residential and commercial | 220,510 | 20% |
Counts are units on tax lots, not people, and DCP warns the year built is right to the decade rather than the year. About 41% of Brooklyn units sit on lots with one to five homes, which matters for two rules below.
When does a Brooklyn building need its gas piping inspected?
On its community district’s four-year turn. DOB’s Local Law 152 schedule uses district numbers 1 to 18, and Brooklyn is the only borough with all 18, so all four sub-cycles are full here. Owners of one- and two-family houses are exempt, but a three-family house is covered, with a $1,500 penalty for not filing. Details sit on the Local Law 152 page.
| Sub-cycle | Districts | Neighborhoods, per DCP | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1, 3, 10 | Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bay Ridge | 2024, 2028 |
| B | 2, 5, 7, 13, 18 | Fort Greene, East New York, Sunset Park, Coney Island, Canarsie | 2025, 2029 |
| C | 4, 6, 8, 9, 16 | Bushwick, Park Slope, Crown Heights, Brownsville | 2026, 2030 |
| D | 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 | Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay, East Flatbush | 2027, 2031 |
Names come from DCP’s district profiles. Use DOB’s lookup for the exact year of your address.
Does my row house need a yearly boiler inspection?
No, if it has five families or fewer. DOB’s boiler compliance page exempts those buildings, which covers most brownstones and two-family homes. A walk-up with six or more apartments needs the yearly check, filed by the owner’s licensed inspector within 14 days. Any work on the boiler, burner or gas line belongs to a licensed professional, never the resident.
What about Brooklyn sewers and septic?
Much of Brooklyn sits on older combined sewers. DEP’s December 2024 backup report puts older combined sewers below today’s standard mostly in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. DEP applied for federal money for a pilot that would reimburse backwater valves at about 124 high-risk one- and two-family homes in five Brooklyn neighborhoods; the award was not confirmed when we checked. The CEQR manual adds that small parts of Brooklyn still use septic systems. See sewer backups.
Is Brooklyn in line for free lead line replacement?
Later, not yet. DEP’s 2025 replacement plan says neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens are named for future phases, pending contractor mobilization. Only owners who get DEP’s letter can sign up. Until then, a free kit from 311 tests your tap.
Who does what here?
| Situation | Responsible first | Where it goes next |
|---|---|---|
| Rented walk-up, radiators cold | Landlord or super | 311 complaint; HPD inspects |
| Single-family row house, owner only | You and your licensed plumber | City heat rules do not apply |
| Two-family house, tenant has no hot water | The owner | Tenant may call 311 |
| Water or sewer line to the street | Property owner | Licensed plumber; DEP for the main |
| Gas odor anywhere | Get out at once | 911 and the gas utility, from outside |
Look up your own building
- HPDONLINE · who is registered as owner, plus HPD complaints and violations at your Brooklyn address
- DOB gas piping lookup · whether your building owes a Local Law 152 inspection, and in which year
- DEP service line map · the recorded material of your water service line
- DOB License Search · confirm a plumber’s license is active before work starts
- ZoLa · year built, units and community district for any lot
Questions people ask
My brownstone has three apartments. Does Local Law 152 apply?
Yes. DOB exempts only one- and two-family homes and similar R-3 buildings. A three-family building needs the four-year inspection, and the rule sets a $1,500 penalty for failing to file.
Which Brooklyn districts are in LL152 sub-cycle C?
Districts 4, 6, 8, 9 and 16, which DCP lists as including Bushwick, Park Slope, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Brownsville. Sub-cycle C runs 2026, then 2030.
Renting out one floor of a Brooklyn row house: do the heat rules apply?
Yes. The Housing Maintenance Code covers every tenant-occupied one- or two-family house, so the rented unit must meet the heat and hot water minimums.
Does Brooklyn get different water from other boroughs?
It gets the same upstate supply. CEQR says City Tunnels No. 1 and No. 2 reach Brooklyn, and Stage 2 of Tunnel No. 3 is under construction here and in Queens.
How this plate was drawn
Sources: DOB’s gas piping and boiler pages, DEP’s 2024 backup report and 2025 lead plan, the CEQR manual and DCP’s PLUTO 26v2 and profiles, checked 11 Nov 2026. It does not cover NYCHA developments. The shares are our sums of DCP data. We found no count of Brooklyn homes on septic and no borough heat complaint figure, so neither appears.
Sources
- DOB — Local Law 152 gas piping inspections · districts by sub-cycle, exemptions · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DOB — Boiler Compliance · five-families-or-fewer exemption, 14-day filing · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DEP — sewer backup report, December 2024 · older combined sewers, Brooklyn backwater valve pilot · checked 11 Nov 2026
- DEP — 2025 lead line replacement plan · Brooklyn and Queens future phases · checked 11 Nov 2026
- Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination — CEQR chapter 13 · septic areas, tunnel routes · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City Planning — PLUTO dictionary 26v2 · categories behind the housing table · checked 11 Nov 2026
- City Planning — Brooklyn district profiles · neighborhood names · checked 11 Nov 2026
Borough sheet N-3 · revised 11 Nov 2026