NYC Municipal Archives
Ask An Archivist - The Answers
NYC Municipal Archives
Ask An Archivist, Celebrating American Archives ...
Cynthia Brenwall
A Few of Our Favorite Things
Pauline Toole
Coffee
Lauren Gilbert
The World Fashion Center New York Never Built

Building plans

Ask An Archivist - The Answers

October 14th was Ask An Archivist Day, and our staff answered many queries. Here are some of the most interesting exchanges.

Question 1: Do the Municipal Archives still hold the original Dutch minutes for that session, or only later translations? 

Answer (Rossy): Yes, we hold the original Dutch records, and you can view them in our digital collections’ portal!

MSS0040_1_1_01: The first ordinance Director General Petrus Stuyvesant issued a week after his May 1647 arrival was a law prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Page 1 of the Ordinances of New Amsterdam, 1647-1661. Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, NYC Municipal Archives.

Question 2: Do the Municipal Archives hold anything on the 1838 Halls of Justice, the Tombs, built over the filled-in Collect Pond? 

Answer (Michael): We have a glass lantern slide of the Tombs from the DeGregario collection. You can see how it got its name; it really looks like an Egyptian temple or tomb. The name stuck through all the later iterations even though they did not look like a tomb.

MSS0001_01_51: The Tombs [before 1897], DeGregario Lantern Slide collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

(Amy): We do not have any building plans for the first iteration of “the Tombs,” only plans for the 1941 Manhattan New York City Criminal Courts Building and City Prison, a later prison building also often referred to as “the Tombs.”

REC0074_0167_001_0033: New Criminal Courts Building and City Prison, Fifth Floor Plan, ca. 1941. Manhattan Building Plans collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

(Michael): The four buildings, known as “The Tombs” were: 

  • 1838–1902, New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention 

  • 1902–1941, City Prison 

  • 1941–2023, Manhattan House of Detention (Manhattan Detention Complex South Tower after 1983) 

  • 1990–2023, Manhattan Detention Complex North Tower 

We also have photos of the 2nd one, which was demoed in 1941. 

MSS0041_0056: “The Tombs” and “the Bridge of Sighs,” ca. 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Question 3: How are the NYC Municipal Library & Archives’ digital collections curated, created, and maintained? 

Answer (Matt): I can answer the creation part. We have a really wide range of materials, from books and volumes, to oversize maps, to photographs and A/V materials. This means that we employ different digitization methods for varied objects. Many of our collections, especially the most fragile ones, are photographed with overhead digital cameras specially made for this purpose. These cameras cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and allow us to maintain the highest archival standards. For other items, we have other purpose-built devices, such as oversize scanners for maps and drawings, a microfilm scanner, a book scanner, and various setups for digitizing A/V. Archival digitization is often delicate and time-consuming, and requires a lot of troubleshooting, as well as training and experience with different materials, equipment, and software. And that’s just the capture part. After that, we do extensive quality control, and handling the digital files is a whole other matter.

Conservation and digital programs staff moving the mounted Greensward Plan into position.

Question 4: Would your archives have records of police arrests and case files of murders? I am researching two murders, one in Manhattan in 1904 and one in the Bronx in 1907. The police records and court case files would be something I would like to research further, but not sure these files would exist, but if they do exist, where would I be able to access them? 

Answer (Katie): Our court records are very extensive, with the most extensive being for Manhattan. It would help to know what court, if any, the accused, appeared before. Historical newspapers could help with that. We have a variety of court indexes available on microfilm in our Manhattan reading room. We have indictment indexes for Manhattan available digitally here: https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/SO_80f4fdbf-d52f-4f01-ad57-02afcb64b032/ 

We do not have similar indexes for the other boroughs though. I would recommend emailing us with the details you have about the cases.

REC0059_010_1907-1908_A-K: New York County District Attorney record of cases,1907-1908, A-K. NYC Municipal Archives. 

(Rossy): We have magistrate court dockets for Manhattan and Bronx in this time period. If a Grand Jury voted to indict, we may also have indictment records for the Manhattan case. We do not have any Bronx District Attorney cases for these years. We also recommend checking the mayoral departmental correspondence with the courts as an additional resource since notable investigations are often mentioned there. 

Question 5: For families tracing Italian immigrant grandparents in Manhattan around 1900–1920, what's the best place to start in your collections? And any tips for when a surname shows up spelled three different ways by three different clerks? 

Answer (Ken): I have found the geographic birth index to be useful when searching families that have multiple name spellings. The trick is to know the family’s address—from census, or other vital records.

Births Reported in the City of New York, 1901-1903. NYC Municipal Archives.

(Sylvia): Italiangen.org is a good resource.  Also stevemorse.org allows for searching that includes first and last names that “start with” or “contain” delimiters. NYC Open Data is also a great way to search broadly on variations of names because you can download a specific data set (vital type/year) download spreadsheets of the indexed digitized records, and search name variations. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/browse?q=historical+vital+records&required=&sortBy=relevance&page=1&pageSize=20 

(Marcia): Before they start in our collections, they need to confirm that they were in Manhattan at the assumed time. To do that, check immigration records, the 1900 census is great, the 1915 NY State Census. Also, NY City Directories (NYPL.org). Then check germangenealogygroup.com (free) which allows you to search the GLOBAL SEARCH to search all databases. Then they can search for the vital records on the Historical Vital Records app online. 

Question 6: What’s one collection you wish more New Yorkers knew existed? 

Answer (Katie): I’d like to say the NYPD Intelligence records even though it’s very popular. Handschu in particular.

This is the finding aid: https://a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov/repositories/2/resources/82 

And an online exhibit from years ago: https://www.archives.nyc/unlikely-historians-1

Anniversary demonstration for Attica, September 13, 1972. Handschu Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. 

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

Today’s For the Record kicks off a new series we are calling “These are a Few of Our Favorite Things.” The staff at the Department of Records has the lucky task of working directly with the historic materials held in the country’s largest archive, and every now and then they come upon a real gem. Usually, they snap a picture on their phone, maybe share with a colleague or two and then the image lingers in the cloud with all their other quick pics. “Our Favorite Things” aims to end that and share some of these little treasures with you. We hope to highlight some of our lesser-known collections and share the passion and dedication that our archivists and records professionals have as they work to preserve the history of New York City.

For our inaugural post, Cynthia Brenwall finds hidden art and messages where you might never imagine them to be.

We hope you enjoy!

Cynthia Brenwall: Unexpected Art and Hidden Messages in the Municipal Archives

During my tenure in the Municipal Archives, I have had the opportunity to see and work with, literally, thousands of bits of New York City history—the vast majority of piqued my interest in some way or another. I have worked with everything from vital records, architectural plans and the original drawings for the creation of Central Park, to seventeenth-century Dutch records, letters sent to mayors and giant ledgers from the Alms House. 

My favorite thing is to find a hidden bit of art or a secret message. It happens more often than one would expect! 

Department of Buildings Architectural Records 

This collection contains building plans that show evidence of frequent handling over the years. On two of the plans for construction of the American Express Building at 65 Broadway, created by the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker in 1916, a clever workman used their artistic talents to draw tiny hands as pointers. Are they just doodles or are they directing a plan-user to something important? 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives.

In another instance, I found a message on the plans for grillage work on a building located at the corner of Mercer Street and Washington Place dating from 1903. On the back of the drawing by the architect Henri Fouchaux reverse, a small message reads “There are Very cold-hearted people in the world,” indeed. 

Department of Buildings, Manhattan Plans. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks Architectural Plans 

My first assignment at the Municipal Archives was to help conserve the Central Park plan collection. These include three of my favorite little works of art. On a plan for the ornamental iron work on the ceiling the Terrace Arcade, a small detail has been transformed into toothy-grinned smiley face, or perhaps it is the man in the moon!  

This detail of the ornamental ironwork on the ceiling of the Terrace Arcade includes the later addition of a mischievous grin from the left side of the plan. Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

On a plan for a large fountain to be located on the Mall, architect Jacob Wrey Mould went so far as to draw the rings of the tree that would be used in the wooden supports for the structure.  

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

It was Mould again who designed the ornamental bird cages that once lined the northern part of the Mall. In this little rendering he shows the curb and base of the cages that can still be found in the park today. The note states that there is to be a “small curb to keep toes off the hedge,” to which he replies “Yes! Decidedly.” 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department of Parks & Recreation collection, Central Park Plans, NYC Municipal Archives. 

Brooklyn Street Opening Maps 

This small collection of 84 maps documents the opening of new streets in Brooklyn from the 1830s through the 1870s. They often detail property ownership, lay out parts of the street grid for the towns of Brooklyn, and occasionally include lovely bits of artistic embellishment. 

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Dr. Prennell’s “beautiful farm” in the town of New Utrecht shows a new church, a horse-drawn carriage and a steamboat for trips to New York. And finally, one of my absolute favorite things is the small pen and ink drawing of a dog on the back of a map showing the 44 lots that made up Mt. Prospect in the 8th Ward of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn street opening maps circa 1830 to 1870, NYC Municipal Archives.

Swanky Restaurants, Luxury Hotels, & Radical Theater: A Review of the Immigrant Communities of New York

Beginning in 2018, For the Record posted articles about the Municipal Archives ongoing project to preserve and inventory the Manhattan Building Plan collection. In the most recent post last year, Project Archivist Amy Stecher provided a Building Plan Update. This week, conservator Elsie Karlak contributes a narrative of her three months on the project:

I was lucky enough to join colleagues as we continued to process plans for buildings located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The first home for many immigrants to the United States, this neighborhood experienced rapid growth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as evidenced by the large volume of “new building” (NB) applications submitted to the Department of Buildings to construct multi-family dwellings, usually described as tenements. Likewise, requests for permits to add plumbing, fire escapes, and other alterations illustrated the ongoing work necessary to make tenements safer for their residents.

Manhattan Building Plans Processing Project Update

In 1977, the Municipal Archives accessioned more than 100,000 plans and 1,200 cubic feet of permit folders from the Manhattan Borough Office of the Department of Buildings. Dating from 1866 through the 1970s, the records document structures on 958 blocks in lower Manhattan, from the Battery to 34th Street. The plans comprise sections, elevations, floor plans, and details, as well as engineering and structural diagrams. The corresponding permit folders include official Building Department forms, specifications and correspondence for new building, plumbing, elevator, and other applications.

New Building Application, 28-30 Avenue A. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

City archivists re-housed the permit folders, eventually completing the task in the early 2000s. The plans, however, remained in their original unorganized condition until 2018 when the New York State Library awarded a grant to the Archives to begin necessary preservation and cataloging activities. The State Library has continued to support the project with additional funding. For the Record tracked project progress, beginning with The Manhattan Building Plans Project when it launched in 2018, and most recently The Manhattan Building Plans Project Update in August 2024.

Beginning in 2018, the State Library funding supported processing plans for buildings in the Tribeca, SoHo, and Greenwich Village neighborhoods. In 2023, archivists began working on building plans for the Lower East Side and East Village. The buildings in those neighborhoods encompass many types of uses—residential, manufacturing, and retail—and include townhouses, rowhouses, tenements, apartments, stores, factories, warehouses, hotels, theaters, boardinghouses, churches, synagogues, schools, stables, and garages.

Elevation and stoop details for synagogue at 242 East 7th Street, 1908. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With funding from the State in 2025, archivists processed 6,032 plans and rehoused them 94 containers. They performed repairs on 1,498 items so they can be safely handled by patrons. This week, For the Record looks at the work completed this past year with illustrations of some of the interesting “finds” identified in the collection. 

The Department of Buildings practice of requiring plans to be filed when issuing permits to build new buildings coincided with a period of intense immigration to the United States by Eastern European Jews who settled in the Lower East Side; consequently, the collection is particularly rich in drawings reflecting those immigrant communities.

242 East 7th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The collection also provides generous examples of buildings that accommodate all features of city-life, such as hotels, stores, garages, stables, and restaurants. 

Lovely 1883 elevation of 28-30 Avenue A, showing the building as a clothing store and also a 1912 cross-section drawing of the same building (which eventually became a bar and theater and by 1940 a ) with chandelier and cornice and coving details. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

28-30 Avenue A, cross-section. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

28-30 Avenue A, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, front elevation. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Public baths were a unique feature of Lower East Side life. 

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, cross section. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building Application, 538/540 East 11th Street. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths for the City of New York, first floor plan. Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Free Public Baths, also known as the East 11th Street Baths, are one example. One of the first public baths built by the city, architect Arnold William Brunner filed plans in 1903. The baths remained open until 1958. The building has been landmarked. Front elevation showing separate men’s and women’s entrances, a cross-section drawing, and a drawing of the showers and baths on the first floor.

538/540 East 11th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

538/540 East 11th Street, ca. 1985. 1980s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1903 McKim, Mead and White submitted plans for construction of the Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, also a landmarked building.

Front elevation, Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, ca. 1939. 1940s Tax Photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Third Floor Plan, showing the reading room and adjacent caretaker’s apartment (with added notes and figures hand-written in pencil), Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library, 331/333 East 10th Street, Manhattan Building Plans Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New Building Application, 331/333 East 10th Street. Department of Buildings collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Plans identified in the collection this past year have served as illustrations in recent For the Record articles. Happy Birthday Calvert Vaux featured plans submitted to the Buildings Department by Central Park architect Calvert Vaux. The story of the rushed construction of the Empire State Building, including plans of the iconic structure from the collection, is recounted in Race to the Top. 

Look for future updates as archivists continue processing this unique collection.  

Manhattan Building Plans – Project Update

In 2018, with support from the New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Program, the Municipal Archives commenced a project to preserve and re-house approximately 100,000 architectural drawings and reproductions of buildings in lower Manhattan. Dating from 1866 through the 1970s, the plans comprise sections, elevations, floor plans, and details, as well as engineering and structural diagrams of buildings on 958 blocks in Manhattan from the Battery to 34th Street.  

In the first year, project archivists cataloged and re-housed 11,882 plans for 977 buildings in the Tribeca and SoHo neighborhoods. With continued State Library support in 2021/22, the Archives preserved more than 18,000 plans for buildings in the Greenwich Village neighborhood. 

For the Record has described project progress in several articles. Re-discovering the Old Pennsylvania Station highlighted original plans of the iconic building found in the collection. The Curious Case of the Lighting of the Williamsburg Bridge told the story of an experiment to power lighting for school buildings via a trash incinerator. Stables and Auction Marts: Building Plans with Horses detailed the significance of horses in 19th and early 20th century New York City. And Loew's Canal Street Theater featured the plans for the ornate Loew’s Theater on Canal Street.

26 Ridge Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Project archivists recently completed preservation and re-housing 11,350 plans for buildings in the Lower East Side and East Village with support from the State Library.  This week, For the Record explores some of the interesting “finds” identified over the course of the project.

The Lower East Side and East Village have long been recognized as iconic neighborhoods to which millions of Americans can trace their roots. Their streetscapes have served as a backdrop for countless books, films and stories that chronicle the experience of generations of newcomers to the United States from around the world.

Plans preserved over the course of the project illustrate how these communities developed with examples of buildings of all types necessary for a thriving neighborhood. They include every style of residential building—from simple “tenements,” and more modern apartment buildings, to elegant single-family townhouses. Plans of retail establishments, banks, hotels, houses of worship, entertainment venues, bathhouses, factories, warehouses, boardinghouses, stables, garages—are also evident in abundance.

The Department of Buildings practice of requiring plans to be filed when issuing permits to build new buildings or to alter existing structures began in the late 1880s. This coincided with a period of intense immigration to the United States by Eastern European Jews who settled in the Lower East Side neighborhood; consequently, the collection is particularly rich in drawings reflecting those immigrant communities. 

Religious institutions: 

242 East 7th Street, cross section. Gross & Kleinberger, architects. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

242 East 7th Street, auditorium and balcony plans. Gross & Kleinberger, architects. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

242 East 7th Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 376 Lot 13 

Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarin (Great House of Study of the People of Hungary), designed by the firm of Gross & Kleinberger, this synagogue was built in 1908 at 242 East 7th Street, after the congregation had grown too large for its previous site. The second image shows seating in the auditorium and balcony. 

172 Norfolk Street, plan for Russian and Turkish baths. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 355 Lot 4 

Hand-drawn plan for another Hungarian synagogue located at 172 Norfolk Street; this alteration drawing from 1893 shows the building had Turkish and Russian baths, and dressing rooms on the lower floors. 

26 Ridge Street. front elevation. Frederick Ebeling, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 341 Lot 38   

A synagogue built in 1906, architect Frederick Ebeling, owned by Congregation Thebat Achim, and located at 26 Ridge Street; the front elevation plan shows an onion dome and a Star of David lunette.  

Housing: 

58-62 Hester Street, Longitudinal Section, Tenement House for Cortlandt Bishop, Esq. Ernest Flagg, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

58-62 Hester Street, Ground Floor, Tenemant House for Cortlandt Bishop, Esq. Ernest Flagg, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 15  

1901 new build drawings for a “Model Tenement” by architect Ernest Flagg, located at 58-62 Hester Street; a longitudinal drawing featuring the building’s central staircase and a detail of the ground floor showing that although each apartment had its own “W.C,” showers and baths were shared spaces. 

128 Broome Street, elevation. Michael Bernstein, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Some of the architectural flourishes were never built or were gone by the 1940s.

128 Broome Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 337, Lot 1 

An apartment building at 128 Broome Street at the corner with Pitt Street; built in 1899 by architect Michael Bernstein, the façade has lovely detail work. 

88 Ridge Street, Front Elevation, East Side of Ridge Street. Charles B. Meyers, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 343 Lot 43 

80-82, 84-86, 88 Ridge Street; three adjacent 6-story brick tenements with stores on the ground floors and a shared tin roof and façade; built in 1892, architect Charles B. Meyers.

Architects Bernstein and Meyers are ubiquitous names in the Buildings Plans Collection, as they were prolific during the tenement housing boom.

Services and businesses: 

New Closet Building at Grammar School No. 4, 203 Rivington Street, 1894. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 343 Lot 50 

“New Closet Building” for Grammar School No. 4 from 1894, located at 203 Rivington Street. The drawing shows the old water closet facilities on the left and the much larger expansion facility, in the center a necessary alteration to keep up with the burgeoning population. Also notable are the separate “yards” for girls and boys. 

101 Broome Street, coal bunker. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 336 Lot 43 

More people meant a greater need for fuel. This is an interesting drawing of the interior of a concrete coal bunker featuring track and hopper; located at 101 Broome Street, built in 1907. 

Bank of Max Kobre, elevation. Benjamin W. Levitan, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

41 Canal Street, ca. 1940. 1940s Tax Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 33 

The Bank of Max Kobre, built in 1911, located at 41 Canal Street, was one of many privately owned “immigrant” banks that held deposits, made loans, and brokered steamship tickets to the community. The 1940 Tax Photograph shows it had become a funeral home, the Zion Memorial Chapel.

81-81 ½ Bowery, elevation. Samuel Sass, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

81-81 ½ Bowery, interior balcony and staircase. Samuel Sass, architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 303 Lot 9 

Delicate 1909 alteration plans by architect Samuel Sass, showing signage and interior staircase for Shulman’s Clothing Store located at 81-81 ½ Bowery. 

Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Williamsburg Bridge, view showing fish market, south entrance [Delancey] and Pitt Street. February 20, 1925. Photograph by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

 Block 337 Lot 9 

1924 plan showing signage and zinc-lined wood tank for the Wenig Live Fish Company, located at 36 Pitt Street. A building that was photographed by Eugene de Salignac in 1925.

19 Ludlow Street, plan for a “Rockwell Matzoth Oven.” Max Muller Architect. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Block 298 Lot 24 

Colorful drawing for a “Rockwell Matzoth Oven” to be installed at 19 Ludlow Street in 1923; architect Max Muller’s name is seen on many plans for buildings on the Lower East Side.

Manhattan Buildings Plans Update—the Financial and Seaport Districts

It is October, which means it’s Archtober, New York City’s Architecture and Design Month. Archtober is an annual celebration of architecture and design that takes place throughout the month. Organized by the Center for Architecture, in collaboration with over 100 partners and sponsors, the festival offers events ranging from daily building tours and lectures by design experts, to architecture-themed competitions and parties.