It should be stated at the outset that researchers can find this phase of genealogy most difficult, the researcher with expertise in New York City sources being no exception.
Some New York City Records on Microfilm at the NYG&B Library
Note. The references listed in the excellent bibliography below are no longer available at the NYG&B Library. They are, however, available at the New York Public Library where our collection is now housed.
Seversmith's Colonial Families
A useful work for New York research (and Long Island in particular) is Herbert Furman Seversmith, Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut (5 vols., 1939-58, Washington, D.C., privately printed) and two
Provost's Early Settlers of Bushwick
Andrew Jackson Provost, Jr. (1867-1963) was a civil engineer with a lifelong interest in genealogy.
Principal Families in The New Harlem Register
A useful work for finding families in New York and in New Jersey before 1900 is Henry Pennington Toler, The New Harlem Register: A genealogy of the descendants of the twenty-three original Patentees of the Town of New Harlem, containing pr
Non-Secular Resources in New York City for Doing Jewish Genealogical Research
Below is a list of non-secular resources located in New York City for doing genealogical research on Jewish immigrants to the United States. Several organizations have online catalogs to their collections and some have digital collections of
New York City Vital Records
New York is the only state with two sets of vital records, one for the 57 counties outside of New York City and the other for the five counties/boroughs of the city.
New York City Department of Taxes Photographic Collection
It is as if time stood still in New York City. On any given day between 1939 and 1941 photographers were capturing city buildings on film for the Department of Taxes (now the Department of Finance).
Little Publicized New York City Sources: Vital Records from the Long Island-Star and Brooklyn Evening Star, 1809-1846
Josephine C. Frost's Vital Records from the Long-Island Star and Brooklyn Evening Star, 1809-1846, is in the manuscript collection of The Brooklyn Historical Society.
Kings County Records from the St. Francis College Collection Now at the Municipal Archives of the City of New York
James A. Kelly, Deputy County Clerk of Kings County from 1944 to 1971, arranged that the historical records of the county be turned over to St.