The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has written a designation report on each individual landmark and historic district. The reports prepared after the mid-1970s are valuable sources on information on individual buildings, architects, neighborhoods and building types and include useful bibliographies.
CLIO, Columbia University Libraries online catalog lists paper and digital copies. Reports published after the 1990s include images. Search using the following terms:
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscape Survey (HAL).
Digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials on architecture, engineering, and design.
Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Landmarks of New York: an illustrated, comprehensive record of New York city's historic buildings, historic districts, interior landmarks, sidewalk clocks, streetlights and cultural medallions. New York : Washington Mews Books, an imprint of New York University Press, [2016]. 6th ed.
Compilation of designated landmarks in New York City, providing brief descriptions and photographs.
Avery-LC F128.7 .D55 2016
Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Landmarks of New York: an illustrated record of the city's historic buildings. Albany: State University of New York Press, c2011. 5th ed.
Compilation of designated landmarks in New York City, providing brief descriptions and photographs. A section on historic districts offers maps delineating the scope of these areas.
Avery-LC F128.7 .D585 2011
Digital copy
Dolkart, Andrew. Guide to New York City landmarks. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Information on all individual landmarks, interior landmarks, scenic landmarks and historic districts designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1965 to 2002.
Avery Reference AA735 N4 2009 G94
Silk, Tommy. Hidden landmarks of New York : a tour of the city's most overlooked buildings. New York, NY : Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2024.
For the past 4 years, Tommy Silk has walked around New York City photographing hundreds of landmarked buildings, many hiding in plain sight, and uncovering their history. He selected dozens of underappreciated landmarks and tells their stories in this unique hidden history of New York City.
Digital copy