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The Headline Tension
Ask "which NYC borough has the worst housing conditions" and the answer depends entirely on how you count.
By raw number of open hazardous and immediately hazardous violations (HPD Class B and C), Brooklyn leads with roughly 803,000 — about 40% of the city's roughly 2 million open B/C violations on record. But Brooklyn is also the city's most populous borough with the most apartments. A big borough produces big raw numbers.
Normalize for the number of apartments, and a different picture emerges. By open violations per 1,000 residential units, the Bronx is worst — about 838 per 1,000 units, well ahead of Brooklyn's 715. The Bronx has fewer apartments than Brooklyn but a higher concentration of unresolved hazards in each one.
So which borough is "worst"? Brooklyn by volume; the Bronx by rate. The rate is the more meaningful answer — it reflects the conditions an average tenant actually faces.
The Full Picture
Here is how the five boroughs compare on open Class B (hazardous) and Class C (immediately hazardous) HPD violations, as recorded in HPD's open-violations dataset as of June 2026:
| Borough | Open B+C violations | Per 1,000 residential units |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | ~803,000 | 715 |
| Bronx | ~497,000 | 838 |
| Manhattan | ~339,000 | 352 |
| Queens | ~321,000 | 360 |
| Staten Island | ~49,000 | 274 |
| Citywide | ~2.0 million | 536 |
Two clear tiers emerge. The Bronx and Brooklyn sit well above the citywide rate of 536 per 1,000 units. Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island sit below it — with Staten Island, at 274, roughly one-third the Bronx's rate.
Why the Bronx Leads on Rate
The Bronx's high violation rate reflects a combination of factors: an older housing stock, a higher concentration of large multifamily buildings with deferred maintenance, lower average rents that translate to thinner maintenance budgets, and a documented history of distressed ownership. The borough is home to several buildings that have appeared on the city's worst-landlord and Alternative Enforcement Program lists.
On the most serious category — Class C, immediately hazardous violations requiring correction within 24 hours — the Bronx again ranks disproportionately high relative to its size, with roughly 176,000 open. Brooklyn leads in raw Class C count (~228,000), consistent with its larger housing stock.
An Important Note on What These Numbers Are
These figures represent open violations on record in HPD's open-violations dataset — a standing backlog accumulated over time, not new filings in a single period. A violation stays "open" until the landlord certifies correction and HPD closes it, so the count reflects both how many problems exist and how slowly they get resolved. New filings in a single window can look very different: on one May 2026 inspection day, Brooklyn alone accounted for more than 90% of the city's new HPD violations.
Why This Matters for Tenants
Borough-level numbers are useful context, but conditions vary enormously building to building. A well-maintained building in the Bronx is safer than a neglected one in Manhattan. The borough rate tells you the baseline odds; the individual building record tells you the actual risk.
That's the practical takeaway: don't rely on borough reputation. Before you sign a lease, check the specific building. A building's open violation count, the severity breakdown (how many Class C), and whether it's in HPD's Alternative Enforcement Program tell you far more than which borough it sits in.
How to Check Any Building
Run the address through Weverit to see its full HPD violation history, open violations by class, complaint record, and enforcement status. The borough data above is the macro picture; a building report is the micro picture you actually need before signing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which NYC borough has the most housing violations? It depends how you measure. Brooklyn has the most in raw numbers (about 803,000 open hazardous violations, ~40% of the city's total). But adjusted for the number of apartments, the Bronx has the worst rate — about 838 open violations per 1,000 units versus Brooklyn's 715.
Which borough has the best-maintained housing? By violations per apartment, Staten Island has the lowest rate (about 274 per 1,000 units), followed by Manhattan and Queens.
Why do raw violation counts favor large boroughs? Larger boroughs have more apartments, so they accumulate more violations in absolute terms even if each individual building isn't worse. Normalizing per 1,000 units gives a fairer comparison.
Related NYC Housing Guides
- Staten Island Has NYC's Lowest Housing-Violation Rate
- How to Check HPD Violations for Any NYC Building
Sources: NYC HPD Open Data (housing maintenance code open violations, as of June 2026); NYC Department of City Planning (PLUTO) housing unit and building counts. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
