New York Public Records

Use the following guide to move between the official resources above while keeping the correct jurisdiction and identifiers. It adds practical routes for buildings, businesses, estates, environmental sites and government spending. The linked specialty pages remain the place for a detailed search within a single record category.

Recognize the city, county and borough names in the record

The State Department of Health identifies the five New York City counties, while the City Department of Finance explains ACRIS coverage. Outside the city, confirm the county and the town, city or village associated with the event. A postal place name may not be the name of the government office that keeps the record.

Our New York county directory provides the next step for local sources. Keep the county with a court index number, property reference or historical certificate. A number separated from its jurisdiction may not identify a unique record.

Search New York City land documents with a borough-block-lot identifier

ACRIS provides recorded property documents and images for Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn from 1966 onward. It supports research by party and parcel information. Begin with the address to establish the borough, block and lot, commonly abbreviated BBL, then use that parcel identifier to inspect the recorded documents.

The city's land-records FAQ explains searches by party name, parcel, document type and recording identifiers. It also directs researchers seeking pre-1966 documents for those four boroughs to the City Register's research service. For Staten Island documents, it directs users to the Richmond County Clerk.

Read each deed, mortgage or satisfaction as its own instrument. Note the recording date and any reference to another document. The property address can change, and a building can involve multiple tax lots. A recorded name should be evaluated in the role shown on that document, rather than automatically described as the present owner.

Outside New York City, the county clerk or local recording office is the route for recorded land instruments. The State Tax Department's real-property resources address assessment and taxation, which are separate from recording. Continue to our New York asset-records guide for the broader ownership and financial-document search.

Check both generations of New York City building records

The city's older Building Information System supports searches using an address, block and lot, Building Identification Number and certain complaint or violation references. However, its search notice expressly excludes filings submitted in DOB NOW. The Department of Buildings' DOB NOW guidance directs those searches to the newer public portal.

For a building history, record the BIN as well as the BBL and check both systems when the period or filing type calls for it. A result in the older system does not prove that the newer one has nothing relevant. Save the job number or filing number attached to each project rather than treating the building address as the only identifier.

Housing conditions have an additional source: HPD Online. The city identifies complaints, violations, property registration, charges, litigation and vacate orders among the information that may be available. HPD and DOB records can concern the same address while documenting different responsibilities.

A useful building review separates the complaint, inspection, violation, application and final disposition. Examine later records that refer to the same identifier. An allegation or open application is not interchangeable with a final finding or completed work. For buildings outside the city, use the local permitting and code-enforcement offices rather than applying NYC's system names statewide.

Select the court search by the type of record you need

The Unified Court System's court-records guidance distinguishes case-information searches from access to filed documents. eCourts provides information for participating courts. NYSCEF provides the electronic-filing route, including a guest search for accessible filed cases and documents.

Choose the county and case category, then save the index or case number exactly as displayed. A calendar entry can tell you about an appearance without supplying the papers filed in the case. An electronic filing can identify a document without making every attachment or restricted record available to a public visitor.

If the document you need is absent, request it from the clerk that holds the case. The court system directs case-record requests to the Clerk of the Court or County Clerk as appropriate. Identify the document and filing date when possible. This is more effective than sending a general agency-records request to an unrelated office.

Our New York court-records directory connects the court-specific sources. Use the actual order or judgment when your question concerns the outcome. A result list or docket label may not state the terms that matter to your research.

Look for estates through Surrogate's Court

WebSurrogate is the court system's public service for estate proceedings and other Surrogate's Court filings. Its search choices include party names, file numbers and certain historical indexes. Available documents and older records vary by court and collection.

Start with the decedent's name and the likely county, then use the estate file number for follow-up searches. Similar names, estates involving several proceedings and historical index entries can otherwise be confused. The case history helps you identify the specific petition, decree or other document you are trying to obtain.

The service states that its links to document images are limited to documents filed on or after February 19, 2014, subject to access restrictions. It directs users to the court's public computers for unrestricted older documents. It also distinguishes wills filed for safekeeping from publicly viewable material. Finding a reference does not mean every associated document is available online.

For a historical estate, retain the county, file number and index reference before contacting the court. Our New York genealogy page provides additional historical sources, while the court remains the custodian for the probate file itself.

Know what the $95 criminal-history search covers

The Office of Court Administration's Criminal History Record Search, or CHRS, is a paid statewide court-data search. The published fee is $95, checked October 31, 2026. Its criteria require an exact match of name and date of birth, and the service publishes limitations on the cases it reports.

That product is different from the Division of Criminal Justice Services' personal Record Review. DCJS provides the fingerprint-based process for people reviewing their own state criminal-history information. The personal-review instructions below explain that route. Choose according to the purpose and the receiving organization's requirements, rather than treating all searches labeled background check as identical.

A search result must also be understood alongside sealing and reporting rules. If you are following a particular case, use its court record and current disposition. If you are checking a paid CHRS result, read the service's coverage and correction instructions. A name variation or missing identifying detail can affect the response.

Our New York criminal-records page and record-sealing page separate these subjects. A public search is a report of the information available through that service, not a substitute for the correct personal-review or certification process.

Route vital-record requests around the New York City split

The State Department of Health explains that New York City birth and death records and city marriage records follow city routes. It makes a separate point about divorce certificates: the state keeps those for both New York State and New York City. A blanket instruction that all NYC vital records are outside state coverage would therefore be misleading.

For births and deaths in the five boroughs, start with NYC Health. For a marriage license issued elsewhere in the state, the state marriage-certificate page identifies state service and the town or city clerk where the license was purchased. Preserve the place of issuance as well as the ceremony location.

Historical research has further exceptions. The state's genealogy guidance directs pre-1914 birth, death and marriage inquiries for Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers to the relevant local registrar or clerk. An unsuccessful state search may therefore reflect the collection's boundaries rather than the absence of an event.

Use our New York vital-records page for eligibility and document-specific routes. A historical image, a genealogy copy, a modern certified certificate and a divorce judgment are different records. Identify the form needed for your purpose before submitting payment.

Search NYC's historical certificates with the full reference

The Municipal Archives' Historical Vital Records service offers searching and browsing of digitized birth, death and marriage material. Its collection coverage depends on the record type, borough and year. Check the digitization coverage before assuming that a missing image means the archives do not hold the record.

The service's search instructions explain why the certificate number needs its borough, type and year. They also warn that name searching may not return all material and that the filing year may differ from the event year. Carry those fields together in your research notes.

When an index gives you a promising reference, open the certificate and verify the details against the person or event being researched. A surname match is only a starting point. The Municipal Archives' genealogy page explains the routes for newer records and certified copies, so you can move from research to the appropriate official document without ordering from the wrong collection.

Build a business search around its entity and license numbers

The Department of State's corporation and business-entity search is a starting point for covered filings. Identify the legal name and entity number, then use the filing information to distinguish similarly named organizations. A service address or registered-agent role should be described as it appears in the record, not converted into an unsupported ownership claim.

Regulated professions have a different source. The Office of the Professions verification service identifies credentials administered by that office. Attorneys have the court system's attorney search. Other regulated activities may require the Department of Financial Services or another responsible agency.

Compare the license number, profession and status with the service being researched. Entity registration establishes something different from professional authorization. If the business trades under another name, follow the appropriate assumed-name filing route for its legal form and jurisdiction rather than expecting a single database to include every local business name.

A useful verification record contains the legal entity reference, license reference, date checked and any source documents reviewed. That makes it possible to explain a mismatch, such as a business name differing from the individual professional's name, without guessing that one record is wrong.

Follow public spending through Open Book New York

The Comptroller's Open Book New York provides separate searches for state contracts, state payments and other financial information. Begin by deciding whether you want the agreement, the money paid or the finances of a local government. Those measures should not be added together as though they were interchangeable transactions.

Use the agency and vendor name to identify an agreement, then preserve the contract number and dates. Inspect amendments and the description of the amount. A contract ceiling can exceed payments made during a particular year. Conversely, a payment may relate to an agreement entered in an earlier period.

The Comptroller's contract-processing guidance identifies Open Book as the public source for contract-status information and distinguishes it from systems intended for authorized agencies and vendors. For supporting deliverables, invoices or correspondence not available publicly, direct the request to the agency responsible for the agreement.

When studying a local project, combine the government's financial records with its board resolutions and procurement documents. A financial total tells you an amount; the underlying agreement and approval explain the purpose and authority. Keep both when the question concerns how a decision was made.

Use environmental identifiers instead of searching an address repeatedly

The Department of Environmental Conservation's records guidance points to environmental-site resources for spills, remediation and bulk storage. It also explains that hazardous-waste facility requests can be narrowed with the EPA identification number. Capture the program's identifier when the first search finds a relevant facility.

DECinfo Locator's layer descriptions explain the meaning and updating of different map layers, including remediation sites, parcels and environmental easements. Turn on the layer relevant to your question. A closed cleanup site and an active site are different categories, and the underlying record supplies the context for that classification.

For a property history, compare the location and dated documents across the environmental file, county land records and local planning records. An environmental easement may be relevant to the property's use, while a permit concerns a particular activity. Ask DEC for a specific missing report or correspondence using the site number and time period.

Use FOIL for the identified agency records

The Committee on Open Government's FOIL guidance is the statewide reference for agency access. Once a search identifies the custodian, describe the records with their project, contract, site or other reference numbers. Ask for the existing material that answers your question rather than requesting that the agency write a new explanation.

A request might seek a town's executed waste-collection agreement, its amendments and the board resolution approving it during a specified period. Another could seek inspection reports for a named facility and permit. In each case, the identifiers and date boundaries help the records access officer relate the request to files the agency actually keeps.

Save the agency's acknowledgment and estimated response date. The five-business-day response rule is not a promise that every document will be delivered within five days. If a request is denied or a response deadline is not met, consult the FOIL explanation below for the agency appeal route and deadlines. Keep the request and response together so the scope and reasons can be assessed accurately.