New York City has extraordinary resources for hunting down information about building histories. Much of that work still has to be done in archives, city offices, libraries and historical societies, but in the past few years many of these resources have gone on-line, making it possible to do some of the research without having to visit the city. Even when the resources are print only, on-line catalogs make it possible to plan an efficient research visit to the city. Please note: like all web sites, sometimes these "go down"; try again later.
Please note: These resources are just the beginning. As in genealogy in general, there are thousands of resources, and new sites are going on-line all the time. For a more exhaustive treatment, including listings of resources with contact information and web sites, detailed explanations on understanding the relevant documents, and instructions on visiting and using the relevant repositories, please consult The Urban Genealogy Handbook (available 2009 on CD - to be notified when it becomes available, please send us an e-mail).
Several on-line resources offer instructions in conducting research into building histories:
Before starting out, check to see if the building you're researching is either 1) listed on the National Register of Historic Places, or 2) designated as a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). If it is, then an historical report already exists, and is available to researchers.
First stop on-line should be www.myciti.org - a web site maintained by New York City. On the main page, click on "make a map." Enter the borough and street address in the appropriate places (as an example, use 350 Fifth Avenue, which is the Empire State Building), click "go," and you'll have a page with a map showing the building's location, and links to all kinds of information about the building and its neighborhood.
One of the links on www.myciti.org is the "building information system" (BIS) of the New York City Buildings Department. Click there to access BIS. You'll be taken directly to the "Property Profile Overview" of the Empire State Building (or whatever address you've mapped at myciti.org). Alternatively, go directly to the BIS site. Check to be sure you have the correct address. Be sure also to note the "Tax Block" and "Tax Lot" numbers - all New York City property records are keyed to the "Block and Lot" system, and you'll need those numbers for any future research. Note also that this page has an entry for "Landmark Status" - a quick way to determine if the property is a designated city landmark (though this does *not* automatically mean the property is also listed on the National Register).
At the bottom of the page, there is a box for "Actions." In the box labeled "Enter Action Type," type in the letters "NB" - this stands for New Building Application - and click on "Show Actions". Every new building in New York requires a New Building Application (in Manhattan, starting in 1866, in Brooklyn starting in 1878, in the West Bronx starting in 1874, and everywhere else starting in 1898). Each NB application is identified by an NB number. The NB number for the Empire State Building is NB 31-29. This translates as the 31st new building application filed in 1929. With that number, it is possible to access very detailed information from the application itself (available at the Buildings Department, or in some cases at the Municipal Archives, see below for web site).
In most cases, this is as far as you can go on-line. But thanks to Chris Gray (see above under "online instructions"), if the building in question was constructed in Manhattan between 1900 and 1986, it's possible to get a summary of the NB. Gray operates the "Office for Metropolitan History" web site. He arranged to collect the basic information on all Manhattan NBs during those years, and had them entered into a database, which he maintains on-line, where it is freely available to researchers. On the opening page, click on "SEARCH The Building Permits Database, 1900-1986." Since the Empire State Building falls into this period, enter its NB. For NB 31-29, enter "1929" in the box marked "Year," and "31" in the box marked "DOB NB#." In this case, you'll see 10 entries, because the search engine will turn up *any* NB number that starts with "31" - including "315," etc. Find "Year 1929 DOB NB#31 (it'll be the third one on the list), and there you will find a summary of the application. Notice that it's described as a 55-story office building - that's what the original application called for. Note also that the information includes cost, name and address of owner ("o"), and name and address of architect ("a").
This system isn't foolproof - sometimes the NB numbers are simply missing, sometimes there are several NB numbers (reflecting earlier buildings), sometimes the NB numbers refer to applications for projects that were never built, and sometimes, as with the Empire State Building, the original application was modified along the way. To nail down the information it is still necessary to consult the actual documents. But this is a good way to get started - chances are, the building at 350 Fifth Avenue was built beginning in 1929, to designs by Shreve & Lamb (and in fact, it was).
Finally, search the New York Times. The entire paper, going back to 1859, has been optically scanned into a database that can be searched by word. ProQuest has done this with many resources. It's a subscription service, but generally available in public libraries. Ask a librarian how to access the service.
In this case, we would search for "350 Fifth Avenue" in the date range of, say, 1929-1931. As it happens, this building rarely is referred to by its address, so you won't find much. But search on its name, "Empire State Building," and you'll find an article called "Smith to Help Build Highest Skyscraper" - and you'll be on your way.
The Brooklyn Eagle has also been scanned, and is available on-line.