What Do the Red Squares on Buildings in New York Mean?

Recently, my parents and I went out to dinner altogether. As we were driving to the restaurant, we passed an abandoned restaurant. Mom took a look at the building as we were going by, and asked, "Do you guys know what the red square on a vacant building means?" Neither my dad or I knew. I would've sworn Dad would've known since he does real estate appraising, but he wasn't sure.

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It's something that we see in passing quite often, but have you ever wondered exactly what it meant? That, and what about it's variations? Because there are other versions which have one or two white lines running diagonally through the square. What is the difference between the three red squares? I thought the squares meant that the buildings were meant to be demolished, or perhaps the air quality within the building is unsafe to breathe because of asbestos. What's the real answer?

What Do the Red Squares on Vacant Buildings in New York Mean?

Any vacant or abandoned buildings or structures determined to be unsafe pursuant to Section 110 of this code relating to structural or interior hazards must be marked by placards on the front of the structure and on the side of each entrance. Placards are 24 inches square with a red background, and white reflective border and stripes. They bear the date of their application to the building and the date of the most recent inspection.

Plain Red: Normal structural conditions.

Red With White Slash: Structural or interior hazards exist and interior fire-fighting or rescue should be conducted with extreme caution.

Red With White X: Structural or interior hazards exist to a degree that consideration should be given to limit fire-fighting to exterior operations only, with entry only occurring for known life hazards.