# NYC Licensed Business Search - DCWP Contractors & Licenses (`pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search`) Actor

Search NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) licenses: 19k home improvement contractors, tobacco and secondhand dealers, locksmiths, tow trucks, debt collectors and more. Get phone, address, status and dates.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Ava Torres](https://apify.com/pink_comic) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 license results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## NYC Licensed Business Search - DCWP Contractors & Licenses

Search **New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) licenses** from the official NYC Open Data publication (about 72k licenses, 44k active): **home improvement contractors** (19k), tobacco and e-cigarette dealers, secondhand dealers, electronics stores, locksmiths, tow truck companies, garages and parking lots, debt collection agencies, employment agencies, pawnbrokers, hotels and more.

Each result includes:

- business name and **DBA trade name**
- license number, business category, license type (Premises / Individual) and status
- **license creation and expiration dates**
- **contact phone**
- full address, ZIP, borough, community board, council district, BBL, latitude and longitude

Results are newest license first. No API key, no CAPTCHA. Pricing: **$0.002 per license + $0.0001 start**.

```json
{ "businessCategories": ["Home Improvement Contractor"], "boroughs": ["Brooklyn", "Queens"], "maxResults": 200 }
```

```json
{ "names": ["locksmith"], "zipCodes": ["100"] }
```

### Use cases

Contractor verification before hiring, B2B lead generation with phone numbers (building supplies, insurance, financing, software for contractors), compliance checks on tow, debt collection and employment agencies, and market mapping by borough.

### Limits

Point-in-time public data; the city refreshes this dataset periodically, so very recent licenses can be missing. Confirm current status with [DCWP license lookup](https://a866-dcwpwebsite.nyc.gov/LicenseLookup/). Names are matched as substrings.

### Related

- [Building Permits & Construction Leads](https://apify.com/pink_comic/building-permits-construction-leads)
- [New York Business Leads](https://apify.com/pink_comic/new-york-business-leads)
- [CSLB California Contractor License Search](https://apify.com/pink_comic/cslb-contractor-license-search)

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Quick single business or DBA name search (contains match). Leave blank to browse.

## `names` (type: `array`):

Business names or DBA trade names, contains match, case-insensitive.

## `businessCategories` (type: `array`):

Contains match, e.g. 'Home Improvement Contractor', 'Locksmith', 'Tow Truck Company', 'Debt Collection Agency', 'Tobacco Retail Dealer', 'Employment Agency', 'Garage & Parking Lot'.

## `boroughs` (type: `array`):

Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island.

## `zipCodes` (type: `array`):

ZIP code or prefix, e.g. '11201' or '112'.

## `cities` (type: `array`):

Address city as listed, e.g. 'BROOKLYN', 'NEW YORK', or out-of-city addresses like 'YONKERS'.

## `createdAfter` (type: `string`):

Optional YYYY-MM-DD. Use a recent date for newly licensed businesses.

## `licenseStatuses` (type: `array`):

Only used when Active Only is off, e.g. 'Expired', 'Ready for Renewal', 'Revoked', 'Suspended'.

## `licenseNumbers` (type: `array`):

Exact DCWP license numbers, e.g. '0016371-DCA' (ignores Active Only).

## `activeOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Return only Active licenses (ignored for license number lookups).

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum total paid dataset items, split across search terms. The default returns 10 licenses (about $0.0201 including the start event).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "",
  "names": [],
  "businessCategories": [
    "Home Improvement Contractor"
  ],
  "boroughs": [],
  "zipCodes": [],
  "cities": [],
  "createdAfter": "",
  "licenseStatuses": [],
  "licenseNumbers": [],
  "activeOnly": true,
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset items.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "",
    "names": [],
    "businessCategories": [
        "Home Improvement Contractor"
    ],
    "boroughs": [],
    "zipCodes": [],
    "cities": [],
    "createdAfter": "",
    "licenseStatuses": [],
    "licenseNumbers": [],
    "activeOnly": true,
    "maxResults": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "",
    "names": [],
    "businessCategories": ["Home Improvement Contractor"],
    "boroughs": [],
    "zipCodes": [],
    "cities": [],
    "createdAfter": "",
    "licenseStatuses": [],
    "licenseNumbers": [],
    "activeOnly": True,
    "maxResults": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "",
  "names": [],
  "businessCategories": [
    "Home Improvement Contractor"
  ],
  "boroughs": [],
  "zipCodes": [],
  "cities": [],
  "createdAfter": "",
  "licenseStatuses": [],
  "licenseNumbers": [],
  "activeOnly": true,
  "maxResults": 10
}' |
apify call pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pink_comic/nyc-licensed-business-search"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0ZZ1QzIKk7cnAPflt/builds/uAHbpAU4IGm0bp2vr/openapi.json