During the 1930's, local governments began to use photography as a tool for appraising real property for taxation purposes. New York City was the largest municipality to adopt this technology. The result was 720,000 35mm black and white images of every property in the five Boroughs. NYC Department of Records - Tax Photographs.. $30 for an 8"x10" print, $45 - 11"x14" print, add $4 s/h.

There's additional excerpts from the city's municipal archives, which includes crime and criminals, the census c.1820, and a united jet crashing into park slope in 1960.