Conducting research at the Museum of the City of New York is centrally coordinated through the Department of Collections Access.  Requests are fielded via phone, email, fax and mail.  To contact the Department of Collections Access you may leave a message at: 212.534.1672 x 3399, send an email to research@mcny.org, send a fax to 212.534.5974 or mail a letter to Department of Collections Access, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029.  Queries are answered in the order in which they are received.  It may take two weeks or more before you receive a response to your initial inquiry. 

 

Once your inquiry has been received, Museum staff will review your request to determine what relevant material there is in the collection.  If our holdings are substantial, staff may recommend that you schedule an on site research appointment.  If there is limited material, staff may make photocopies of the relevant items and mail them to you.  If you are unable to visit the Museum, staff can conduct research on your behalf.  If the research takes less than 30 minutes, there is no charge.  If the search takes longer than 30 minutes, research fees of $25 per hour apply.  Charges may be billed to your credit card.

 

Research appointments are generally available in the Collection of Prints & Photographs, the Manuscript Collection and the Theater Collection.  Access to the Museum’s collections of Decorative Arts, Paintings and Sculpture and Toys are limited due to storage constraints.  Most of the materials in the Museum's collection of Costumes and Textiles are very fragile, and removing them from storage exposes them to a number of damaging elements.  For this reason, access to the collection of Costumes and Textiles is generally limited to graduate level study and scholarly research.  Research fees apply to all on site research: $25 for each two and a half hour session; $10 for students and seniors, payable by check or credit card.  If research fees are prohibitive, a fee waiver can be requested.  Photocopies can be made during appointments and high quality reproductions are available through the Department of Rights and Reproductions.  Research appointments tend to book quickly and it is recommended to schedule 2-3 weeks in advance of your planned visit.