1940 nyc tax photos brooklyn

It required more than thirty years, many thousands of dollars and hours of labor, plus two cross-country trips.

In , and again in the mids, the Department of Taxes now called the Department of Finance took one photograph of every building in New York City as part of the property assessment process. You can view the tax photograph collection for free online or on microfilm at the Municipal Archives. You can also purchase black and white prints of the photographs, and color prints of the s photographs. View tax photographs. Order a tax photograph. You can order a tax photograph by mail using the Tax Photograph Order Form. It's free to view the photos.

1940 nyc tax photos brooklyn

Department of Finance. New York N. Tax Department. United States. Skip to main content. Department of Finance Overview Collection Organization. Abstract This collection contains photographs of real estate parcels in the five boroughs of New York City, dated between , with the bulk of the images dating from Although photographs were taken of most extant properties at the time, some tax-exempt buildings, parcels with vacant lots or those missed by the original photographers will not be found in this collection. Extent Dates , bulk

Queens, Main Street, BlockLot Inand again in the mids, the Department of Taxes now called the Department of Finance took one photograph of every building in New York City as part of the property assessment process. Queens New York, N.

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. The New York City Department of Taxation took photos of every house and shop across the five boroughs b etween and , before the U. You can scroll across the map and select properties easily. It's a really easy way to look up how your part of the neighborhood looked back then, from the stores that surrounded your home to even the small details like what the street signs were or what people were wearing on your block. Boilen also included "outtakes" of photos on the website , so you can see what is essentially a blooper reel from the s tax photographers.

Franklin D. By , WPA-funded construction projects built thousands of roads, schools, parks and bridges. It employed all types of artists to create cultural projects related to community devolvement. New Yorkers have been watching the New Year's Eve ball drop from the top of this building since Although many, if not all, of the programs generated by the WPA had long-term effects on New York City, one program in particular is near and dear to us at the Archives. Between and , the WPA financed teams of photographers to photograph the buildings on every block and lot in the City for the Department of Taxes now the Department of Finance. The , images they produced represent a snapshot of NYC life in those years. The photos are startling in their simplicity, blunt images taken with 35mm cameras using black and white nitrate film stock.

1940 nyc tax photos brooklyn

In the late s and early s, New York City sent photographers to every building in every borough in an attempt to make property tax assessments fairer and more accurate. The result was more than , black-and-white snapshots of everything from fashionable apartment buildings in Manhattan to this out-of-the-way diner on Staten Island. The city recently had the images digitized. But city officials did not want art, they wanted documentation to back up the terse written descriptions of each building in the files.

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If there are multiple images for the same block and lot an alphabetic character is added to the file name, e. Occupations Government employees Photographers. View tax photographs. If you can't find your tax photo and your building was definitely around then, you can email photounit records. Visually inspected each image, they compared the file names to the block and lots signs, checking the embedded metadata fields, and ensuring that properties such as file size, bit-depth, dimensions, and resolution met specifications. Search NYC The nitrate film had been tightly rolled and stored in 20, film canisters, each containing frames 5. In addition, there are two copies of the negatives — a duplicate copy used to produce enlargements, stored at 31 Chambers Street, and a second generation positive copy stored off-site. Newer Post Kristallnacht. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives. Dates , bulk Queens, Vol. You can scroll across the map and select properties easily.

The s for Brooklyn was a decade marked by global conflict, domestic change, and remarkable cultural milestones.

The digitization project is only the latest chapter in the story of the tax photographs. See what your building looked like way before you were even born. You can also purchase black and white prints of the photographs, and color prints of the s photographs. Arrangement The s Tax Department photographs are arranged into five geographic series by borough and one series containing the indexes for roll identification. To change the text size on NYC. The canisters were named with an alphanumeric code e. Written by Shaye Weaver Friday August 14 The photographs were shot on cellulose nitrate film, which is highly flammable and cannot be safely handled. Sources Esperdy, Gabielle. Belcher Hyde Map Company. An estimated 50, parcels of land were photographed by the Research Bureau staff while updating the cards during Images were required to be frontal shots of the building, and oftentimes, multiple buildings appear in the image. Digitization was completed in and the original nitrate film has been placed back in frozen storage for preservation. At the completion of the project in , photographs of , lots had been taken and secured to property cards. You may also like.