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Contact Us

We Are Not a Government Office or Records Custodian. This is an independent reference service. We cannot retrieve or certify records, verify a person’s residence, or change an entry in a public roll or database. Send those requests to the agency or office holding the record. For an emergency, call 911. If you are being stalked or harassed, contact the NYPD or local police.

Choose the Right Records Office

New York City records are divided among city agencies, five county identities, courts, and historical collections. These routes help direct a request to the proper custodian:

  • Current property information: begin with the NYC Department of Finance Property Information Portal; use ACRIS for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, and the Richmond County Clerk for Staten Island land records
  • Historic city records and directory research: use the Municipal Archives and Municipal Library operated by DORIS
  • A court or estate file: use eCourts and the relevant borough’s county clerk or Surrogate’s Court. Court-file access follows Judiciary Law §255, not FOIL.
  • An address, old owner, or household trail: see the New York City street directory, city directory, or resident lookup route
  • Administrative agency records not online: send a narrow request to the agency’s records-access officer under the New York Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law Article 6, §§84–90

NYC Municipal Archives and Municipal Library, DORIS

31 Chambers Street, Manhattan

Leonora Gidlund Reference Room, Suite 103; Rebecca Rankin Reading Room, Suite 111

Research hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Appointments: research@records.nyc.gov; family-history appointments: familyhistory@records.nyc.gov

DORIS is a historical archive and library, not the custodian for current property records. For a current parcel, tax, or assessment matter, use the Department of Finance Property Information Portal. Land-record searches then branch to ACRIS for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, or to the Richmond County Clerk for Staten Island.