NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES 31 CHAMBERS ST., NEW YORK, NY 10007 Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 Collection No. REC 0074 Processing, description, and rehousing by the Rolled Building Plans Project Team (2018-ongoing): Amy Stecher, Porscha Williams Fuller, David Mathurin, Clare Manias, Cynthia Brenwall. Finding aid written by Amy Stecher in May 2020. NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 1 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 Summary Record Group: RG 025: Department of Buildings Title of the Collection: Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan Creator(s): Manhattan (New York, N.Y.). Bureau of Buildings; Manhattan (New York, N.Y.). Department of Buildings; New York (N.Y.). Department of Buildings; New York (N.Y.). Department of Housing and Buildings; New York (N.Y.). Department for the Survey and Inspection of Buildings; New York (N.Y.). Fire Department. Bureau of Inspection of Buildings; New York (N.Y.). Tenement House Department Date: circa 1866-1978 Abstract: The Department of Buildings requires the filing of applications and supporting material for permits to construct or alter buildings in New York City. This collection contains the plans and drawings filed with the Department of Buildings between 1866-1978, for the buildings on all 958 blocks of Lower Manhattan, from the Battery to 34th Street, as well as a small quantity of material for blocks outside that area. Collection #: REC 0074 Extent: Approximately 1,300 cubic feet (120,000 plans) Language: English Physical location: Materials are stored onsite at 31 Chambers Street. Repository: New York City Municipal Archives, Department of Records and Information Services, 31 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Immediate Source of Acquisition: The bulk of the collection was transferred from the Department of Buildings between 1975 and 1979 (Accession # 1979-020). Access and Use: Collection is open for research. Patrons are required to use digitized images when available. Access to these images is available through our online gallery. Advance notice is required for using original material; some material may require conservation treatment prior to patron use. Please contact [email protected] to arrange access. Preferred citation: Identification of item, date; Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans of Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978; REC 0074; Municipal Archives, City of New York Sponsor: In 2018, the Municipal Archives received an award from the New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grant Program for processing and re-housing the plans pertaining to the Manhattan neighborhoods of Tribeca and Soho. 2 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 Processing Information Processing began in 2018 and is ongoing. The processing archivists include: Amy Stecher (2018- present), Clare Manias (2019-present), Cynthia Brenwall (2020-present), Porscha Williams Fuller (2018-2019), and David Mathurin (2018). As of March 17, 2020, 257 cubic feet have been processed. In 1975, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a grant to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to administer a cataloging project at the Municipal Archives for a small sub-series of building records and plans, thought to pertain to demolished buildings. These plans were subsequently incorporated into the larger 1977-1979 collection of building plans. The drawings had been rolled into large bundles at the Department of Buildings prior to transfer to the Municipal Archives. The drawings remained in the bundles until commencement of the processing project. The bundle contents had been marked according to block and lot numbers, often incorrectly or inaccurately. Processed material has been accurately described and rehoused in correct block and lot order. The drawings span more than 100 years and consist of many print types created by varied processes, some of which can cause degradation over time; within each lot group, drawings are separated according to print type and these types are separated by sheets of Mylar to avoid chemical migration. 3 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 Provenance Beginning in 1866, architects, engineers, or persons planning to construct or alter a building in the City of New York have been required to submit applications and supporting paperwork, including plans, to the Department of Buildings (DOB). The department retained the bulk of these materials until the early 1970s when it initiated a pilot project to save space by microfilming the building plans and permit-related correspondence that had accumulated over the previous century. The DOB employed a vendor for the microfilming, intending to dispose of the original materials after filming. It was determined that the film did not meet accepted standards, and the project was discontinued after filming the records and surviving plans for all buildings on the 958 blocks of Lower Manhattan. Even before the mass-microfilming project began, the records held at the Department of Buildings had garnered the attention of the city’s community of historians, architects, and preservationists, including the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). They supported discontinuation of the filming and urged the transfer of the original materials to the Municipal Archives (MA) for permanent preservation. In 1977, the DOB began transferring to the MA approximately 1,000 rolls or bundles of drawings and plans. DOB also transferred 1,200 cubic feet of permit applications, building forms, and associated correspondence (now known as the Manhattan block and lot records, collection REC 0010). The paperwork regarding the transfer process is incomplete but indicates that the acquired records covered the geographic area of “Manhattan, south of Fourteenth Street.” A 1979 Municipal Archives departmental memo about the “New York Building Records Collection” indicates that material was still being systematically accrued in block order, adding additional material above 14th Street. A 1979 accession record notes the DOB transferred an additional 1,500 cubic feet of “Building Records” to the MA (Accession 1979-020). The archives conducted an inventory of the accumulated rolled plans in 1984, listing 5,738 rolls of plans, stored on 244 shelves in block order. The inventory confirmed that the plan collection extended well above 14th Street, as far north as 34th Street, and included a small quantity of plans for blocks outside that area. In 2019, additional rolled plans, totaling approximately 243 cubic feet, were identified at the Department of Records and Information Services records management facility in Queens. An initial survey of this material indicated that most of the plans pertained to buildings below 34th Street, but also included material from mid-town and Central Park West. 4 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the Department of Buildings architectural drawings and plans for Lower Manhattan, circa 1866-1978 Related Material The Manhattan block and lot records (REC 0010), 1866-1976, consists of forms and correspondence submitted to the Department of Buildings for proposed construction projects. They provide ownership information, specifications, and construction details for buildings located in blocks 1-958. They are supplementary to the plans that are the subject of this collection guide. The Department of Buildings had also microfilmed the permit application folders, but unlike the plans which were rendered inaccessible by the filming process, the permit folders survived relatively intact, and have been made accessible to researchers. They total 816 cubic feet and are arranged by block and lot number. An inventory is available. The Department of Buildings docket books span 1866-1951. They record in a chronological, ledger format basic information about every application to construct or alter a building in Manhattan. The information recorded includes the date of application, location, owner, architect, dimensions and materials, type of building (e.g., loft, factory, garage, tenement), and construction details (e.g., foundation and roof materials). It lists the date the plan was approved, and when construction was completed. The entries are recorded chronologically. Unlike the block and lot records, information in the docket books pertains to buildings throughout Manhattan. They are available on microfilm. Property Cards and Tax Photographs. In the 1930s, as part of an effort to improve the process of assessing property for tax purposes, city assessors recorded information about each property on a card that measures 8 ½” x 14. The information recorded on the card includes a plot diagram indicating where the property is located within the block; a building diagram outlining the dimensions of the building on the property; block and lot numbers; zoning code and building classification information; the assessed valuation (beginning about 1930 and updated annually through the 1970s); and conveyance and mortgage information (less consistently updated). Attached to each card is a small photographic print of the building façade. The collection