The NYC Department of Records and Information Services is premiering an interactive map of neighborhood audio interviews as part of an ongoing exhibit at its Chambers Street building, according to a July 1 public programs announcement from the agency.
The map is part of “NYC’s Story: The City on Record,” an exhibit at 31 Chambers Street, Room 109 that draws on the Municipal Archives and Library collections to display photographs organized by borough, from headline moments to daily life across the five boroughs. The interactive map highlights audio clips from Neighborhood Stories, a DORIS initiative that records and preserves interviews with New Yorkers. According to DORIS, the interviews “put the community in the archives” by showing how government action, or inaction, shapes residents’ lives.
A related online exhibit at RememberNYC.NYC features over 100 items from the Municipal Archives collections and can be accessed from anywhere. Both exhibits focus on 2026 and the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
Two other exhibits are running at the same address. “Windows on the Archives,” on the lower level, was conceived by former DORIS Commissioner Idilio Gracia Peña, curated by consultant Ann Phillips, and funded by the J.M. Kaplan Fund; it displays copies of original records from the Municipal Archives and Library. “Revisiting the World of Tomorrow: The 1964-65 World’s Fair,” in the first-floor alcove, runs through September 25 and uses images, brochures, and ephemera from the collections to cover three areas of the fair: transportation, religion, and commerce.
DORIS is also holding a virtual Lunch and Learn on July 7 from 1 to 2 p.m. Fashion historian Nancy MacDonell will discuss Diana Vreeland and photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, drawing from her book Empresses of Seventh Ave: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion. MacDonell will focus on the pair’s landmark 1942 Harper’s Bazaar photo shoot, “Flight to the Valley of the Sun,” and how Vreeland and Dahl-Wolfe helped shape American style during the 1940s. RSVPs are open here.
“NYC’s Story: The City on Record” is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 31 Chambers Street, Room 109, New York, NY 10007.
Featured image: Courtesy archives.nyc
