NYC Environment & Health
The intersection of physical infrastructure and public health. The lead-service-line inventory exposes a data void — a third of NYC's service lines have no recorded material — that's now driving state-level legislation. The DOHMH restaurant inspection data, parsed for pest type from free-text descriptions, becomes a borough-by-borough urban-biome map. Both stories started with datasets the agencies didn't design for surveillance and ended as surveillance tools.
Stories
The unknown pipes
The biggest threat in NYC's lead service line inventory isn't the lead — it's the third of the city's service lines classified 'Unknown.' The data void is the public-health crisis. The Find Lead Pipes Faster Act exists because the open data made the blind spots quantifiable.
Mice vs roaches
DOHMH doesn't track pest type as a column on its restaurant inspection data. But it's all there in the violation descriptions, parsed by the inspector. Mice, roaches, flies — the urban biome of NYC's kitchens, mapped per borough.
Datasets
NYC Lead Service Line Inventory
Per-property classification of which NYC buildings are still served by lead pipes. Published per the EPA's 2024 Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. The headline isn't the lead count — it's the staggering "Unknown" classification, the public-health data void at the heart of the city's 2037 replacement deadline.
NYC Restaurant Inspections
Every sustained violation issued to every food establishment by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. One row per violation per inspection. The grade card hung in your favorite spot's window comes from this dataset — and the famous 1900-01-01 placeholder dates.