The Municipal Library and Archives public reading rooms remain closed. Pending guidance from State and local authorities, the rooms will not reopen until late September or early October. Please check our website and social media for updates. We will continue to process vital record, photograph and property card copy requests submitted by mail and online. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

The Central Park: Original Designs for New York’s Greatest Treasure by Cynthia Brenwell – a conservator at the Archives - features hundreds of color photographs illustrations and plans, including the original winning entry for the park’s design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calbert Vaux.

More than 720,000 newly digitized historical photographs of every house and building in the 5 boroughs can be searched and viewed in the gallery.

From historical introductions to a sample of our archival and library holdings to curated digital galleries of our exhibitions, Archives.NYC offers dynamic content and spotlights the current projects and events at the Municipal Library and Archives.