/as:nyc-bsa — BSA Variances & Special Permits
SkillDev toolsLook up NYC BSA variances, special permits, and appeals that modify as-of-right zoning. Use for zoning relief; use zoning-analysis-nyc for base controls.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the /as:nyc-bsa — BSA Variances & Special Permits skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by alpacalabsllc/skills-for-architects in skills/nyc-bsa/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
Harness note: use
/as:<skill>on Claude Code and$<skill>on Codex. Resolve<skill-root>as the directory containing this loadedSKILL.mdand<plugin-root>as the plugin root that containsskills/, and use equivalent native tools when host tool names differ.
Look up Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) applications, variances, and special permits for any NYC property. Records available from 1998 to present. No API key required.
Usage
/as:nyc-bsa 120 Broadway, Manhattan
/as:nyc-bsa 1000770001 (BBL)
/as:nyc-bsa 1001389 (BIN)
Steps 1–2: Parse Input & Resolve BBL
Read ../nyc-property-report/pluto-resolution.md (shared by all 7 NYC due-diligence skills) and follow it: parse the input (address, BBL, or BIN) and resolve via PLUTO. BSA queries key on BBL; BIN resolution is only needed when the user's input was a BIN.
Step 3: Query BSA Applications
Dataset IDs and field names are canonical in ../nyc-property-report/socrata-reference.md — on any disagreement, the reference wins.
Query by BBL first:
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/yvxd-uipr.json?$where=bbl='{BBL}'&$order=date DESC
If no results, try address fallback:
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/yvxd-uipr.json?$where=upper(street_name) LIKE '%{STREET}%' AND borough='{BOROUGH}'&$order=date DESC
Key fields: application, section, status, date, street_number, street_name, bbl, borough, decisions_url, project_description
Step 4: Print Results
## BSA Variances & Special Permits — {Address}
| Application # | Section | Status | Date | Description | Decisions |
|---------------|---------|--------|------|-------------|-----------|
| {application} | {section} | {status} | YYYY-MM-DD | {project_description} | {decisions_url} |
**Note:** Approved variances remain with the land. Check if conditions affect proposed work.
Source: [BSA Applications](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/BSA-Applications-Status/yvxd-uipr)
If no applications found: "No BSA applications found for this property (records from 1998-present)."
Conventions
- All dates: YYYY-MM-DD
- If Socrata returns empty array: "No results found"
- If HTTP error: note it and suggest checking the address
- If the user requests, write results to a file
Final Step: Disclaimer + Marker (required)
This skill produces regulatory output. End every report this skill produces — printed in chat or saved to a file — with the canonical disclaimer block from rules/professional-disclaimer.md, followed by one blank line and the machine-readable marker, exactly as shown:
> **Disclaimer:** This is an AI-generated analysis for preliminary planning purposes. All findings must be verified by a licensed professional before use in design, permitting, or regulatory submissions.
<!-- architecture-studio:requires-disclaimer -->
The marker is a single end-of-file sentinel — it appears exactly once, as the last line of the report. The post-write-disclaimer-check hook parses saved .md reports for the marker and blocks the write if the canonical disclaimer block is missing.
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 352
- Forks
- 73
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
nyc-bsa- Source
- github.com/alpacalabsllc/skills-for-architects