The Brooklyn Topographical Bureau

The Topographical Bureau reviews all City Planning Commission ULURP (Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure) mappings. Whenever an alteration to the city map is made, our office reviews the map change to make sure that the map conforms to the standards set by our office.

The Topographical Bureau provides surveyors with Benchmarks and Monuments in order to help them accurately survey a person’s property. This information provides both horizontal and vertical control, which allows the surveyor to find the city’s property line in relation to the private owner’s property line.

The Topographical Bureau has jurisdiction of the assignment, verification, and enforcement of all addresses within the borough.

Most people who visit the Bureau to verify addresses or apply for new or additional ones are professional engineers or architects who are working on behalf of a property owner. The property owner might be having work done on their property and need to receive a new address or verify the address.

Addresses are assigned based on entrance location, then sequentially, odd or even. Addresses assigned should be displayed prominently on the street entrance of the structure. Vanity addresses (addresses that do not conform to the regular addressing system established) may also be assigned as long as they do not conflict with the surrounding area both in location and addressing.