Conducting Building Research with Mary Beth Betts of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission Synopsis written by Wyatt Cmar based on presentation delivered by Mary Beth Betts
On October 12th, Mary Beth Betts, Director of Research at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, came to the Neighborhood Preservation Center to talk about conducting building research. In her discussion, she touched on a number of different resources ranging from tried-and-true guidebooks to more recent online resources such as Google Books. The discussion was well suited for openhousenewyork Weekend, which helped bring together an audience that was truly passionate about understanding the built environment and its history. The images in this document were used in the original presentation and were graciously provided by Mary Beth Betts and New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Building Documentation Primer
www.nyc.gov/landmarks
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Is It a Landmark?
Building Documentation Determining Landmark Status www.nyc.gov/landmarks
Mary Beth Betts recommends that anyone interested knowing more about a building in New York City look at LPC’s Guide to New York City Landmarks, a useful resource when trying to figure out whether a building is landmarked or part of a landmarked district. Additionally, she recommended that interested inquirers consult the Department of Buildings’ website where one may type in a building’s address and see whether or not the building is a landmark, among many other pieces of information. Be sure to look at the “Landmark Status” section of the DOB report -- if there’s an “L,” the building is a landmark or in a historic district.
Guide to New York City Landmarks
Building Documentation Determining Landmark Status www.nyc.gov/landmarks
A third resource for determining the landmark status of a building is NYCityMap, a newer database where one may type in an address to retrieve some basic building information. Once you’ve typed in a building address, you may click on the building’s Landmark Status which will tell you the historic district and the specific landmark status of the structure.
maps.nyc.gov
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Building Documentation Determining Landmark Status www.nyc.gov/landmarks
www.nyc.gov/landmarks
neighborhoodpreservationcener.org/ designation_reports
Building Documentation
Building Documentation Building Permits www.nyc.gov/landmarks
www.nyc.gov/buildings
If you’ve determined that the building in question is a landmark, you should then turn your attention to two websites to find and read the designation reports. The Landmarks Preservation Commission hosts the most recent designation reports as well as all of the designation reports for historic districts. The Neighborhood Preservation Center’s Designation Report Database houses all the individual landmark designation reports and reports for the historic districts.
Actions Page
Going back to the DOB’s website, one may learn a lot about a building besides its landmark status when looking for its Property Profile Overviews. The DOB is particularly strong in terms of Manhattan as opposed to some of the other boroughs. Staten Island can be particularly challenging as a result of a fire in the Staten Island records office that destroyed their records predating 1907. Consult the Actions section of the Property Profile Overview to find any New Building Permits (marked ‘NB’). Besides New Building Permits, there are a host of other permits, violations, and other records that may come in handy when researching a building. Another website to look at for building research in Manhattan is the Office for Metropolitan History which is a database created by Christopher Gray that “embraces a synthetic approach to historical data, bringing disparate sources in individual collections.”
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Building Documentation Building Permits www.nyc.gov/landmarks
Docket Books Microfilm at Municipal Archives
Building Documentation Building Permits www.nyc.gov/landmarks
Drawings
Original Building Permits Department of Buildings or Municipal Archives
For those that are computer adverse (or simply looking for information that may not yet have been digitized) there is always the option of going to one of the DOB’s physical locations and inquiring about a building or building application in person. As each DOB location has its own rules and protocols, Mary Beth Betts recommends making a phone call before making the trip out since each borough has its own DOB office and they are often transferring information between one location and another. Another source that will contain much of the same information as the building applications are docket books which may be found at the Municipal Archives. While docket books typically only provide a basic summary of a building application, they are often great resources for getting a lot of valuable information quickly. Original Building Permits may also be found at the Municipal Archives. These documents will provide you a lot of information about the architect, who it was built for, what it was built as, etc. Sometimes you will even find drawings! Another resource for learning more about building applications and permits is the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide which is hosted by Columbia University. This Guide will provide a summary of the building permit much like you would see in the docket book, but could save you a trip to the municipal archives or DOB offices.
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Looking for Images
Building Documentation Historic Photographs www.nyc.gov/landmarks
1980s Tax Photographs www.nyc.gov/records
1940s Tax Photographs Microfilm at Municipal Archives
949 St. John’s Place, Crown Heights North II Historic District, Brooklyn
Building Documentation Historic Photographs www.nyc.gov/landmarks
New York Public Library digitalgallery.nypl.org
Museum of the City of New York collections.mcny.org
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Brooklyn Public Library bklynpubliclibrary.org/brooklyncollection
Library of Congress loc.gov/pictures
A great way to learn more about the history of a building is to look at photographs taken of the building. This kind of research is especially important since property owners can make quite a few modifications to a building that don’t require a permit. Two of the best resources for building images are the tax photos taken in the 1940s and 1980s. These photos may be found at the Municipal Archives. The 1980s photos are online but the 1940s photos haven’t yet been transferred over entirely. If you want a higher quality image than what’s provided online, you may order a print from the Municipal Archives. To view the 1940s photos, you may order a print, or head to over to the Municipal Archives to look at the photos on microfilm. We’ve seen a revolution in the last 10 years in terms of institutions putting their own collections of images online. New York Public Library has a very good collection of images, and so does the Museum of the City of New York. Brooklyn Public Library is a third institution that has posted an impressive collection of photographs. Looking beyond the city limits, one should always check to see what the Library of Congress has in its architectural collection.
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Scouring the Newspapers Alongside historic photographs, archives for New York City’s many defunct newspapers are also quickly being put up online. New York City was a very newspaper rich city for most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, so one should compare what he/she finds in the New York Times Archives with the archives of other papers, such as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. By looking at different stories as reported by different newspapers, you’ll attain a more complete version of any given story. When a particular newspaper that seems relevant is not digitized, a good strategy is to find the story’s date through the New York Times Archives and use that information to narrow down your search when you head to look at the microfilm at the Library.
Looking for Maps
Building Documentation Maps and Atlases www.nyc.gov/landmarks
New York Public Library digitalgallery.nypl.org
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David Rumsey Map Collection www.davidrumsey.com
Maps and atlases can be quite helpful when trying to learn more about the history of a building. The New York Public Library and New York Historical Society both maintain very comprehensive collections of maps. One can use maps to determine if there was a building or not on a given lot, as well as some information about the building’s construction and use. Two great online resources for maps are NYPL’s Map Division and David Rumsey’s Historical Map Collection.
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Building Documentation Historic Books and Newspapers www.nyc.gov/landmarks
Google Books google.com
Internet Archive archive.org
Conclusion For Further Information www.nyc.gov/landmarks
Online Repositories for Books and Miscellaneous Texts In her presentation, Mary Beth Betts mentioned that 14 years ago her staff was spending most their time at the library when not in the field. Times have changed, and now one can accomplish research faster and more exhaustively from one’s desk. Google Books is a powerful resource, albeit somewhat random. Looking through its collection of texts (mainly out of copyright), one can learn a lot about the physical and social history of a website. Another website that is quickly becoming one of the best repositories for online texts is The Making of America Collection hosted by Cornell and the University of Michigan. The key to accomplishing good research when using these online resources is to be patient and industrious -- the information is often spread out, but gems may be found with enough effort.
Books to Come Back To
Conclusion For Further Information www.nyc.gov/landmarks
When asked about what books LPC keeps coming back to, Mary Beth tel.: 212-669-7700 Betts was quick to point out Robert fax: 212-669-7960 email:
[email protected] A.M. Stern’s books on New York City hours: 9am-5pm architecture. If one’s looking at Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor Robert B. Tierney, Chair churches within the City, a go to www.nyc.gov/landmarks resource is David Dunlap’s book, From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan’s Houses of Worship. Ed Rose and Mike Wallace’s Gotham is a great resource for looking at building up until 1900, and I.N. Phelps Stokes’s The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909 is a great resource not only for the main text, but also for its fantastic bibliography. The Landmarks Preservation Commission Municipal Building 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor North New York, NY 10007
Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, Manhattan 1907-14, William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White
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A Favorite Inquiry During the Q&A portion of her presentation, Mary Beth Betts was asked if she had a favorite inquiry from her time doing research at LPC and other organizations. After a brief moment of reflection, she replied that her favorite inquiry was one she received during her time at New York Historical Society. The inquirer sent in a picture of a young woman on a rooftop somewhere in the city, and asked, “Is this my mother?” We all broke out in laughter - there are some questions we simply cannot answer. For those questions that do have answers, however, we hope you find Mary Beth Betts’s insights and suggestions as helpful as we do at the Neighborhood Preservation Center. Whether you’re at a computer, in the library, or on site, there are clues to be found almost everywhere, so keep digging!
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