New York County Hydrography Polygons from 2023 Census TIGER Data

2023 TIGER/Line shapefiles from the U.S. Census Bureau provide polygon geometry for area hydrography features in New York County, NY. The data includes perennial and intermittent features like ponds, lakes, and large rivers, designed to be a seamless national extract. This standalone file can be combined with others for broader geographic coverage.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial distribution of perennial versus intermittent water bodies using the feature classification attributes.
• Calculate the total surface area of ponds and lakes within New York County from the polygon geometry.
• Integrate this area hydrography data with linear water feature shapefiles to create a complete water network map.
• Map the extent of large rivers and canals represented as double-line drainage features for environmental planning.

Strengths

• Data is part of the Census Bureau's seamless national Master Address File/TIGER Database (MTDB) with no overlaps or gaps.
• Includes both perennial and intermittent area hydrography features, providing a detailed water body classification.
• Shapefile format is widely supported by GIS software for spatial analysis and visualization.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column count, and data size are unknown, making it difficult to assess computational requirements.
• Single-line drainage features are not included in this file, requiring a separate dataset for a complete hydrographic picture.
• The description does not specify the coordinate reference system or spatial accuracy of the polygon geometries.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Extracted from the Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB).

Time Range

2023

Freshness

Data reflects the 2023 TIGER/Line vintage, with metadata last updated in August 2025.

Geography

New York County, New York, United States.