History of New York - Public Record Laws
The New York Freedom of Information Law was implemented by the Committee on Open Government. The committee is composed of 11 members, 5 from government and 6 from the public. This law was enacted in 1974 and revised in 1977 and amended in 1982, 2005 and 2008. New York's Freedom of Information Law directs the committee to furnish advice to agencies, the public and the news media as well as issuing regulations and reporting its observations and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature.
New York's government includes the Governor as well as 150 Assembly members and 62 members of the state Senate. Similar to other states, New York consist of a 3 branch government. The executive branch which includes the governor and officials independently elected. The judicial branch is the state's court system and the legislature is made of the state's senate and assembly. There are 62 counties in the state of New York which are subdivided into 932 towns and 62 cities. Each town is contained within a single county, different towns in separate counties may have the same name. In some cases there is a city and a town by the same name in the same county. New York's cities and its departments provide local government administrative services, law enforcement, fire, rescue and other offices to serve its citizens. The top elected official of a city is the mayor wich oversees the city's police and budget among other duties. Cities also deal with the zoning and urban development, vital statistics, city clerk and custodian of records, tax assessor, public works and other local divisions.
New York, "The Empire State", obtained statehood on July 26, 1788. It is the 27the largest and 3rd most populated state in the USA. The State capitol is Albany. New York is the birthplace of presidents: Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosvelt and Franklin Delano Roosvelt. State symbols include; the state bird: the Eastern Bluebird, flower: the Rose and tree: the Sugar Maple. The state song is "I Love New York" The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in New York. Other landmarks include the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center and Grand Central Terminal. The World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan in New York City that was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks.
To obtain public records in New York you can access the official website of most agencies. The New York State Department of Health provides such records as births, deaths and marriages. You can conduct a criminal background check by requesting a personal criminal history record review from the New York division of criminal justice services. New York offers its residents a unified electronic court system where anyone can access case and court information, track cases and filings directly online.