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Pursuing
research on an individual building or group of buildings requires patience, method, and
persistence. The
results can be alternately
gratifying and frustrating. Rarely is all the
material you may want in one library or
repository. The
resources of this library will be most useful in providing information on buildings with
various levels of
landmark status. Landmark
status may be protection of a building or group of buildings, called a historic district,
by
local municipal statute, or it may be less restrictive protection provided by state or
federal government. Often very
pertinent
information is provided by the new building application, known otherwise as a building
permit. For
Manhattan, new building
applications and docket book summaries are located at the Department of Buildings,
280
Broadway, between Chambers and Reade Street, third floor (Manhattan Record
Room). Hours are Monday-Friday,
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and the telephone
number is (212) 566-0272. When you
go to the Department of Buildings, you
can use their electronic database to identify the
block and lot numbers of your site, if that information is requested.
If you are not sure how to use the computer, a
compassionate fellow researcher may be willing to help you.
Often,
plans of buildings are available. Since
the staff are as a rule unsympathetic and there is pervasive disorganization,
try to be
patient and to allow extra time. The
department's Web site is
www.nyc.gov/html/dob/home.html.
Basic
References: print
AIA Guide to New York City, 4th edition. New York: Crown
Books, 2000. Reference 917.47 A512 2000. A
rather
inclusive selection of buildings in the five boroughs that impress the editors in
historical or aesthetic terms.
Andrews,
Wayne. Architecture in New York: A Photographic History. New York: Atheneum,
1969. Reference
720.973 A57. Excellent
black-and-white photographs of exteriors with concise descriptions and histories.
Diamonstein,
Barbaralee. The Landmarks of New York III. New York: H.
N. Abrams, 1998.Reference 974.71 D537.
Includes
concise descriptions of every building and district awarded landmark status by the New
York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Dolkart, Andrew.
Guide to New York City Landmarks, 2nd
edition. Washington: Preservation Press, 1998. 917.471
D664 1998. Clear descriptions of every building and district
awarded landmarks status by the New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1995. Reference 974.71 E56. Entries
on
neighborhoods are very informative and include bibliographic references.
Goldstone,
Harmon Hendricks.
History Preserved:
A Guide to New York City Landmarks and Historic Districts. New
York: Schocken
Books, 1976. Reference 917.47 G624. More a historical narrative than a guide book. Includes a
chronological chart.
Stern,
Robert A. M. New York 1880:
Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. New York
Monacelli Press,
1999. Reference 720.97471 S839.
-----. New York 1900: Metropolitan
Architecture and Urbanism. New York: Rizzoli, 1983.
Reference 720.97471 S839.
-----. New York
1930: Architecture and Urbanism between Two
World Wars. New York: Rizzoli, 1987. Reference
720.97471 S839.
-----.
New York
1960: Architecture and Urbanism between the
Second World War and the Bicentennial. New
York: Monacelli Press, 1995.
Reference 720.973 S839n.
This
and its two earlier companion volumes present a comprehensive and inclusive view of the
development of the
built environment in New York City between 1890 and 1976. The endnotes are very informative.
References:
electronic
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals. Los Angeles:
Getty Art History Information Program, 1994-.
Thousands of entries for buildings and
architects from the mid-nineteenth century to the present
discussed in a world-wide
selection of periodicals. Periodicals often
contain plans and occasionally sections. A
METRO referral card can be provided by library staff members for access to those
periodical titles not owned by the
library. For a list of periodicals in the Library's collection,
consult this
periodicals list.
Historic
American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record:
1933-present. Washington, D.C.:
Library of Congress.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hhhtml/hhhome.html.
Compiled by Paul
Glassman, Director of the Library, Feb. 24, 2003
Updated by Eric Wolf, Director of the Library, Jan. 17, 2006
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