Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer yesterday released a study that found many buildings do not display their street addresses.

The study found that 39.7 percent of 1,837 locations surveyed were "unmarked."

"The lackadaisical policy regarding building addresses in this borough raises questions about public safety and quality of life," Mr. Stringer declared, adding that "Right now, finding a street address on even our busiest roads can be aggravating, and even worse, can waste valuable time in the event of an emergency."

"We need to get serious about creating a system for enforcement that will end decades of confusion," Mr. Stringer said.

According to the city's Administrative Code, building owners are required to display their house numbers so that they are visible from the sidewalk in front of the building at all times and borough presidents have the authority to establish and enforce rules relating to the size and placement of house numbers, the press release said.

Mr. Stringer proposed that the Department of Sanitation be given enforcement powers and the City Council should pass legislation mandating that all doors for residences or businesses be labeled with an address number because current regulations only require that the main point of entry be labeled but some buildings have more than one entrance.

The study looked at 13 "street segments of approximately 1,000 yards in length," and seven were on east-west streets and six were on north-south streets.

"When a building doesn't have a legible street number, it not only means inconvenience," said Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried. "If ambulance crews, firefighters, or police can't quickly find the right building, lives can be lost."

The report found that on 86th Street between Madison and East End Avenues, 36.6 percent o f 161 locations surveyed had no labeled address and that on 125th Street between Fredrick Douglass Boulevard and Lexington Avenue 40.6 percent of the 180 locations surveyed had no labeled address. It also found that on Lexington Avenue between 70th and 86th street, 38 percent of 163 locations surveyed had no labeled address, and that on 42nd Street between Sixth and First Avenues, 54.7 percent of 75 locations surveyed had no labeled address.

An article in today's edition of The New York Times by Andy Newman noted that the newspaper "fulminated 81 years ago" that "the vogue of numerology has certainly not extended to the theaters nor to many of the stores, shops and office buildings in the theatrical district."

The article also noted then that Edward Brady, the director of the Bureau of Encroachments and Incumbrances, said that his colleagues were processing 10,000 houses a year, but added "there are more than 100,000 separate structures in Manhattan alone and they, perhaps, fear that by the time they have made a complete round of notification, it will probably be necessary to begin all over again."