Collection Guides
The New York City Municipal Archives

The New York City Municipal Archives (NYCMA) holds historical death records for the five boroughs of the City of New York—the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—as well as earlier death records from pre-consolidation New York City and from former towns and villages of adjacent counties that have been subsumed into modern-day New York City. The adjacent counties represented in the death records are Kings County (present-day Borough of Brooklyn), Queens County (present-day Borough of Queens), Richmond County (present-day Borough of Staten Island), and Westchester County (portions of it became present-day Borough and County of the Bronx). Pre-consolidation New York City (New York County) consisted of Manhattan, a few adjacent islands in the waters around Manhattan, and several Westchester County towns that were annexed to the City and County of New York in 1874 and 1895.

Pre-consolidation death records date from 1795-1897 (with gaps) and are primarily in the form of death registers, certificates, and indexes, but there is also a small amount of other death records such as a list of deaths and internments, and permits to remove dead bodies, both for the City of Brooklyn. Note that some death records for the area comprising the present-day Borough and County of Bronx are included in the New York County death records as the towns of Westchester County that were annexed into New York County/City of New York remained part of New York County until January 1, 1898. After that date, death records for the Borough of the Bronx were filed in that borough. Death records for post-consolidation New York City date from 1898-1949 and are in the form of death certificates filed in all five boroughs of New York City. NYCMA has only a few death records indexes and they date from 1848-1897.

Death registers generally include the following information: name of deceased person, date of death, cause of death, and place of burial. Sometimes data was omitted by the person who completed the death register. Death certificates generally include: name of deceased, date of death, address where died and type of place, sex [gender], birth date, age, occupation, length of time in country, parents' names and birthplaces, certificate of attending physician regarding cause of death, filing date, place of burial or cremation, and undertaker's name. Information recorded on death certificates can vary depending on when the certificate was issued and sometimes data was omitted by the person who completed the death certificate.