To check an NYC zoning exhibit record, start with the actual exhibit copy and its recording reference, then compare it with the exact DOB filing. Keep the current tax-lot outline as a separate reference. Note the exhibit title, date, CRFN or reel/page, property identifiers, and exact DOB job or filing number. The DOB NOW Build FAQ describes a conditional path in which Exhibits I and III are recorded with the County Clerk or City Register, a CRFN or equivalent reel/page is obtained, and that reference is entered for the DOB filing. That path applies only to projects that need those exhibits, and whether a particular exhibit was recorded, or how today’s portal screen handles it, has to be checked in the file itself.
The question is whether the document in hand, the recorder’s copy, and the DOB attachment all point to the same instrument. A parcel map can help orient the search, while the named exhibit is the document you need. The NYC DOB property search guide covers the separate address, BIN, BBL, zoning-map, and job lookup. Use those identifiers to anchor this document comparison; the exhibit’s contents come only from the exhibit.
Track the exhibit, the ACRIS copy and the DOB filing side by side
Create one row per candidate exhibit. Keep each reference exactly as it appears, including a blank or partly legible field:
- Named exhibit: title or number, visible date and version, page count, property description, and any signature or recording stamp on the copy you actually hold.
- Recorded copy: CRFN or reel/page, recording date if shown, recording custodian, and the document title on the retrieved image. A reference typed into a different document is a clue that points to the image.
- DOB file: job or filing number, listed attachment title, document date, and the reference displayed beside it. Preserve the source of each value so two similar titles stay in separate rows.
Then compare title, version, property identity, and reference across the three rows. If one disagrees, describe the mismatch and keep each number with its own filing. A later amendment, a clerical difference, or a different property may explain it; the documents must decide which.
Example: an Exhibit I that lists two lots and a DOB diagram with three
Imagine a fictional address where an older Exhibit I names “Lot A” and “Lot B,” while a later DOB diagram outlines A, B, and “Lot C.” The DOB attachment list also shows an Exhibit III title, but the reader’s scan has a blurred CRFN. The useful question is which version of each named exhibit was recorded, what property description appears on that copy, and which exact DOB filing cites its reference. The current map alone can’t show that Lot C was always in the zoning lot.
Start with the legible job and exhibit title. Keep the later diagram’s date and scope in a separate row. If the recorded Exhibit III copy names a different job or property, treat it as a different document despite any visual resemblance. If the needed image or DOB attachment can’t be located, keep the attempted reference and ask for that document; title, floor area, development rights and current compliance stay open until the document turns up.
The DOB’s July 2009 ZD1 guide describes a zoning diagram and uses a historical glossary that allows one tax lot or multiple adjacent tax lots in a block. That dated guidance helps explain why a diagram and a tax-lot outline answer different reading questions. For the current legal definition, check the Zoning Resolution, and for the lots in a zoning lot, the recorded exhibit.
Get the missing exhibit from ACRIS or DOB
For a named recorded exhibit, the Department of Finance ACRIS information page documents images from 1966 forward for Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, with a help route. Those are stated image scope and borough limits. For an older instrument or a Staten Island property, identify the custodian that holds that particular copy.
If the missing object is the DOB-file attachment, the DOB FOIL page identifies NYC OpenRecords with the Department of Buildings selected. Name the exact exhibit, job or filing number, document date or period, available CRFN or reel/page, and property identifiers. For help choosing a physical DOB file key, use the NYC physical record request guide. A request for the recorder’s image and a request for DOB’s filed copy concern different custodians; ask for the missing object rather than an unspecified “zoning lot record.”
An inaccessible page, a reference that returns no located image, and an attachment absent from the copy you hold are three different gaps. Record which one you hit and the exact document sought, then send the request to the custodian that holds it. Each gap leaves the exhibit question open.
NYC DOB and Department of Finance pages checked October 6, 2026.