Following completion of the latest phase of renovation of the Museum’s historic building, the Research Room at the Museum of the City of New York is once again open to researchers who demonstrate a need to access primary sources in the Museum’s collection. You may contact research@mcny.org or call 917-492-3399 to learn how to submit an application for a research appointment.  We recommend contacting the research department at least one - two weeks in advance of when you would like to make your appointment.  Please visit our catablog to learn about our archival collections; we will continue to make more finding aids available online as the collections are processed.

Please download our Collections Access Policy, Duplication Policy, and Research Application.

Staff will continue to accept remote inquiries about the Museum’s collections via the email and phone number provided above. Due to the large number of queries we field every day, it may be up to two weeks before you receive a response to your question.

The MCNY Research Room is not staffed or equipped to assist patrons who wish to conduct general research into New York City history. If you have research of this nature, we suggest contacting the New York Public Library or the Municipal Archives.

The Museum has also made nearly 100,000 images from our collection available via our online Collections Portal and researchers looking for images are encouraged to begin their search on the online portal. 

To learn more about requesting reproductions from the Museum’s collection for public or private use, visit http://collections.mcny.org/rights.