New York City Directory is a historical source to locate restaurants, bistros, shops, hotels, law firms, educational institutions and other businesses of local concern. The New-York Directory, originally published in 17olis, was first published in America and then later became a source of travel guide for the rest of the world. It contained pictures and detailed information about almost all local places. Today there are many versions of the New-York Directory in electronic format. The New-York Directory has an application that can be used to browse through the digital version.

archived newspapers, and business directories. These provide information about almost all places in New York City, including but not limited to: the Battery Park at Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden, the New York City Ballet, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the American Museum of Trades and Art, the New York Stages, the Adler Planetarium, the Bronx Zoo, the Queens Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and so on.

New York City directory collections are available online. New York City public records are accessible through NYC public records office and the New York State Office. The archives are accessible online by accessing the various New York City directories collections.

The business directory services provided by NYC directories also cover hotels, clubs, and bars in New York City. This includes both information about the establishments and their locations in New York City. For instance, the business directory provides information about the business licenses held by each business in New York City. The same is true about the tabloids and guide cards, etc. that form part of the information contained in the city directories.

New York City Directory was first created under the act of May 7th, 18101. This act assigned to the New York City Directory Commission a task of creating a general, inclusive, and detailed directory of all establishments in New York City. The commission initially included only seventy-nine establishments; however, the list grew to one hundred and seventy-two in the next two decades. The New York City Directory has always been revised and updated, taking into account changes in the consolidation of counties across New York State. Every year, the directory is updated with a new list.

The New York City Directory was not the only business directory of its kind. In fact, there were a number of similar publications, including the New York Society of Business Editors' Directory, the Directory of Business Records, the New England Directory of Commerce & Companies, the Journal of the New England Railroaders, New York Local Guide, the Pennsylvania Record, and the National Directory of Commerce and Companies. However, the New York City Directory and the New England Directory were among the first to provide an entire list on a uniform scale. A number of newspapers, magazines, and itineraries earlier published lists, but their coverage was rather limited. Also, their scope was much less than the New York City Directory.

One can say that New York City became the market place for business when the New York City Directory was launched. The business directory provided information on almost every aspect of a business in New York City. For instance, it had business directories of the owner's office and its address, names of the partners or stockholders, the directors and managers, and much more. Even the location of the business was listed. Today, even if a business has a phone number, fax number, Internet site, etc., in the New York City directory, one will be able to locate the same in New York State.