Two storms set the questions here. Sandy in 2012 was salt water from the harbor and the ocean; Ida in 2021 was rain that the sewers could not carry, far from any beach. Neither kind of water is covered by a standard property policy without something added. Send me the building’s flood history, its HPD record and its rent roll, and I can show underwriters a building they understand.
What underwriters ask about a Brooklyn or Queens building
- Below-grade spaceBoilers, meters and electrical panels usually sit in the cellar. So, in many buildings, does a tenant. Both change the flood and liability picture.
- Rain floodingThe city’s own report on Ida found the damage was felt inland, from rainfall and not from storm surge.
- The Sandy shorelineRed Hook and the Rockaways were under water in October 2012, and the surge reached the length of both boroughs’ waterfront.
- HPD recordRegistration, open violations and any history in the Alternative Enforcement Program are public and underwriters look them up.
- Six unitsIn buildings from before 1974, six apartments is generally the line for rent stabilization. A four-family and a six-family on the same block are different risks.
- Store on the ground floorA deli, restaurant or laundromat under the apartments changes the fire rating and the liability. How mixed-use buildings are insured.
The policy itself is built the way it is anywhere (how apartment programs are put together). The rest of this page is the local layer.
Basements, cellars and what Ida showed
On September 1, 2021 the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed 13 people in New York City. The city’s after-action report, The New Normal, says rain peaked at 3.15 inches in one hour against a sewer system built to carry roughly 1.5 to 2 inches an hour, and that the residential damage was concentrated in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island, mostly in basements and ground floors. Water came in three ways: runoff from the street, groundwater seeping in (the report says primarily in Queens), and water rising through basement plumbing fixtures.
Those three paths are three different insurance answers:
- Surface water from the street is flood. Standard commercial property policies generally exclude it; it takes a flood policy.
- Water coming up through drains is sewer or drain backup. It is usually excluded too, and is added back by endorsement with its own limit. Ask what that limit is.
- Seepage through foundation walls is commonly excluded outright, even by policies that cover the other two.
- A person living below grade is a liability question first. The same report says basement units house more than 100,000 New Yorkers and that many are unsafe and cannot be immediately legalized. An apartment that is not on the certificate of occupancy has to be disclosed, not discovered after a loss.
State law now puts flood on the lease as well. Real Property Law 231-b requires every residential lease to say whether the premises sit in a FEMA floodplain, the 100-year or the 500-year flood area, and whether the owner knows of past flood damage.
Red Hook, Coney Island and the Rockaways
The National Hurricane Center’s report on Sandy put the water at three to six feet above ground along the Brooklyn and Queens shoreline. Red Hook was under several feet of water, surveyors measured 5.4 feet in the Rockaways, and a fire in Breezy Point destroyed at least 100 homes during the storm. Buildings in those neighborhoods are still underwritten with that night in mind.
Three things follow for an owner near the water:
- Flood is its own policy. It comes from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private flood insurer. The federal program caps what it will write on one building, so larger buildings add excess flood. How flood insurance works.
- Wind may carry its own deductible. The state insurance regulator notes that some insurers require hurricane deductibles in the five boroughs. Read how yours is triggered. Hurricane deductibles in New York.
- There is a market of last resort, with gaps. The New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association writes fire and extended coverage, wind included, on commercial buildings that cannot find it elsewhere. It does not write liability, flood or theft, its limits are capped by statute, and it lists buildings with unsafe or illegal occupancy, or outstanding violations affecting occupancy, as not eligible.
Tell me where the boiler, meters and switchgear sit and whether anything was raised after 2012. Elevation of equipment is the first thing a flood underwriter prices.
HPD registration, violations and heat
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is the agency whose file follows a building.
- RegistrationRequired every year, by September 1, for multiple dwellings of three or more units and for one- and two-unit buildings where neither the owner nor immediate family lives. It must also be refiled when ownership or the managing agent changes.
- Alternative Enforcement ProgramAround January 31 each year HPD designates severely distressed multiple dwellings, chosen on hazardous and immediately hazardous violations and emergency repair charges. An owner has four months to correct enough of them to be discharged. After that HPD issues an Order to Correct, files it with the County Clerk, and can make the repairs at the owner’s expense, with a tax lien if the bill is not paid.
- Heat and hot waterHeat season runs October 1 through May 31: at least 68 degrees inside from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. when it is below 55 outside, and at least 62 overnight. Hot water must be at least 120 degrees all year.
- Lead paintLocal Law 1 of 2004 presumes lead-based paint in buildings built before 1960, which takes in the pre-war walk-ups. Many liability policies exclude lead, so ask.
Why an insurer cares: a failed boiler in January is a property claim, a violation and a habitability complaint at once. Equipment breakdown coverage is what pays for the boiler itself, and some habitational liability forms limit or exclude habitability claims. Open immediately hazardous (class C) violations make a small building hard to place, so clear and certify what you can before the submission goes out.
Small walk-ups, stabilized rents and battery fires
State housing regulators say rent stabilization in New York City generally covers buildings of six or more units built between February 1, 1947 and December 31, 1973, and tenants in older buildings who moved in after June 30, 1971. For a small owner that makes the unit count a rating fact and a rent fact. Loss of rents coverage replaces what you were collecting, so size it from the actual rent roll and a realistic repair time, not from asking rents on the block. How income coverage works.
Fire underwriters now ask about e-bikes. The Fire Department reported 277 fires started by lithium-ion batteries in 2024, against 268 the year before, and six deaths, down from 18. It also said 133 of the 2024 fires were outdoors, not in an apartment, business or home, and credited people storing and charging the devices outside. A written rule on where bikes are charged, and no charging in the hallway or under the stairs, is worth putting in the submission.
Rebuilding a pre-war walk-up after a serious fire means meeting current code. Ordinance or law coverage pays that difference, usually up to a separate limit, and a commercial umbrella sits over the liability limit.
What to send me
- Address, year built, stories, unit count and construction, with any store or office on the ground floor and what the tenant does.
- The certificate of occupancy, and a plain statement of whether anyone lives in the basement or cellar.
- Flood and backup history: Sandy, Ida and any other water in the building, what was damaged and what was changed afterward.
- Where the equipment is: boiler, meters, electrical panels and elevator machinery, and whether any was raised.
- HPD status: current registration, open violations by class, and any Alternative Enforcement Program history.
- The rent roll, marked to show stabilized units, and a recent operating statement.
- Five years of loss runs and current declarations pages for property, flood, liability and umbrella.
- Updates with years: roof, boiler, wiring, plumbing, and your e-bike charging rule if you have one.
Common questions
Does apartment building insurance in Brooklyn cover a flooded basement?
Usually not by itself. Surface water is flood and needs a flood policy, water rising through drains needs a sewer backup endorsement, and seepage through walls is commonly excluded.
Who insures small apartment buildings in Queens with a store on the ground floor?
Many habitational and mixed-use markets do, and they rate on what the commercial tenant does. A restaurant under apartments is underwritten very differently from an office.
Do I need flood insurance on a building in Red Hook, Coney Island or the Rockaways?
The city says owners with federally backed mortgages on buildings in the mapped high-risk areas must buy it, and Sandy put three to six feet of water along that shoreline. Flood is a separate policy from the property policy.
Will open HPD violations affect my apartment building insurance?
Yes. Underwriters look up the building’s HPD record, and open immediately hazardous violations or Alternative Enforcement Program history can lead to a decline. Clearing and certifying them first widens the market.
Can I insure a building with a basement apartment in Queens?
Tell the underwriter exactly what is there. A unit that is on the certificate of occupancy is rated like any other; one that is not is a disclosure and liability problem that has to be dealt with before the policy is written.
Why do insurers ask about e-bikes in my building?
Because the Fire Department counted 277 lithium-ion battery fires citywide in 2024. A written rule about where bikes and batteries are stored and charged helps the fire underwriting.
What if no regular insurer will write my building near the water?
The New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association writes fire and wind on buildings that cannot find coverage, within statutory limits. It does not write liability or flood, so those are placed separately.
General information about insuring apartment buildings in Brooklyn and Queens as of November 2026, not legal advice. HPD registration and enforcement, heat and lead rules, rent stabilization and flood maps are set by city, state and federal agencies and change; confirm your building’s status with HPD, the Department of Buildings and the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.