Effective immediately, the Municipal Library and Archives public reading rooms at 31 Chambers Street are closed until further notice. Please check our website and social media for updates. We will continue to process vital record and photograph copy requests submitted by mail and online, but there may be delays in fulfilling the orders. 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.