PORTFOLIO: NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES

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1 PORTFOLIO: NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES by Ede Rothaus How would you search for a photo of a specific city block in New York City in 1940? What if you are curious to see images of Fiorello LaGuardia? Say you want to contrast a contemporary New York City map with an eighteenth century hand-colored map of a Dutch farm in lower Manhattan where do you go? The answer to all three questions is the New York City Municipal Archives, which has images that work for these three wants and many, many more. Like the city itself, the Municipal Archives is rich with possibilities. The Municipal Archives is part of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, which also includes the City Hall Library and Municipal Records Management Divisions. The public face of the Municipal Archives is Room 103 at 31 Chambers Street in Manhattan. There, many of the 50-plus image collections can be easily accessed with user-friendly LUNA software or searched in databases and on microfilm. Oversized maps and plans many hand-painted are stored in huge binders around the periphery of Room 103, under its beautifully proportioned one-over-one sash windows. The building that houses the Municipal Archives Records Room is located in the magnificent Beaux Arts Surrogate s Court, Hall of Records Building, built in The building s elaborate exterior is made from Maine granite known for its very white color. The grand interior staircase, main lobby and foyer are faced with yellow Siena marble patterned after the Paris Opera House. This working courthouse, a designated landmark, was part of the early twentieth-century City Beautiful Movement. For this New Yorker there is something particularly satisfying about working in a space that so inextricably links the past and present of the city. Behind the scenes and offsite are the offices, Conservation Unit, micrographics and darkroom labs, shooting and scanning areas and workrooms for the collection of more than two million photographs (and growing). These, along with documents, records, architectural drawings, sound recordings, maps and motion pictures total approximately 200,000 cubic feet of storage. The Municipal Archives has offsite warehouse storage for the bulk of its holdings, but most of the photography collections are stored underneath 31 Chambers Street. There, you will find rows of metal shelving against white tile walls. In the center of the basement are rolled-up plans and drawings wrapped in brown paper, tied with string and identified by paper tags. A huge freezer protects the highly flammable nitrate film stock of approximately 720,000 photographs that a team of WPA photographers produced from in their effort to document every house and building in New York City for tax assessment purposes. These images are available on microfilm. Some of the collections stored on the shelves include glass-plate negatives and lantern slides of Victorian New York (some in their original wooden boxes), 5,000 photographs from the WPA Federal Writer s Project and color negatives of every building in the city from the 1980s. An interesting collection of 5,000 late nineteenth-century Bertillon Cards were used by the New York City Police Department to find criminals who were repeat offenders. The cards were created in accordance with a system developed by Paris police clerk Alphonse Bertillon and adopted by New York City. Of particular interest to this writer is the collection of 20,000 glass plate negatives taken by Eugene de Salignac, the official photographer for the Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures from This photographer documented the creation of the infrastructure of the modern city by photographing the construction of bridges, tunnels, roads, buildings and the people who built them as New York shifted from rural to urban and from the horse to the automobile. His straightforward style and masterful composition produced images that place him alongside August Sander and Berenice Abbott. Michael Lorenzini, the Municipal Archives curator of photography, recognized the importance of these negatives not only for their historical value but for their beauty and for de Salignac s talent, and Lorenzini organized the best images into a book and exhibition in The second printing of New York Rises: Photographs by Eugene de Salignac (Aperture) was released this past December, and is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and CityStore, the official store of New York City (citystore.nyc.gov). Images from the Municipal Archives can be ordered online or by mail or in person and payment can be made by credit cards, checks or cash. Ede Rothaus, photographer and photo researcher, is a former copresident of ASPP s New York Chapter, ederothaus@gmail.com Municipal Archives Division New York City Department of Records and Information Services Address: 31 Chambers Street New York, NY Website: Contacts: Michael Lorenzini, curator of photography, Leonora A. Gidlund, director, Municipal Archives 28 Issue 1, 2009

2 North American Sets the Pace is printed on this lantern slide of air battle during World War II. The image is from the Borough President Queens Collection of the New York City Municipal Archives. The Picture Professional 29

3 Two sandhogs a name used to describe the workers who burrowed underground to build New York City s subways, sewers, tunnels and railroad tracks tighten the bolts of the Holland Tunnel lining with a ratchet wrench, circa From the Municipal Archives Collection. 30 Issue 1, 2009

4 A homicide suspect in 1951 was tied to a chair after a police shoot-out. From the Brooklyn Borough President Collection. The usual suspects in a police lineup: the Whittemore Gang notorious for its ruthless and bloody crimes was sent to prison in 1926 for a jewel heist. From the Bertillon Card Collection. The Picture Professional 31

5 These working inmates from the City Home for the Aged on Blackwell s Island were between 65 and 70 years of age when this photo was taken circa From the Department of Public Charities Collection. 32 Issue 1, 2009

6 Patients stand in line at the Mobile Animal Hospital in Brooklyn in From the Brooklyn Borough President Collection. The Picture Professional 33

7 Edward I. Koch was mayor of New York City from 1977 until 1989.This photo was taken well into his first term in 1980 at the Russian Tea Room. From the Edward I. Koch Collection. 34 Issue 1, 2009

8 Plans for Central Park s Belvedere Castle were approved in June 1870 by Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. J. Wrey Mould was the architect and he created this black ink and colored wash plan on cloth-backed paper. From the Department of Parks and Recreation Drawing Collection. The Picture Professional 35

9 Rush hour on the Queensboro Bridge, taken from the roof of a shanty looking east at 3:50 p.m. on April 11, The bridge opened to traffic on March 30, Photograph by Eugene de Salignac from the Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. 36 Issue 1, 2009

10 An elegant look at Manhattan from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge at night, circa From the WPA Federal Writers Project Collection. The Picture Professional 37