New York Phone Directory
The New York phone directory pulls from public records held by state and county offices across all 62 counties. You can search for a name and find phone numbers, home addresses, and other contact details through government databases and FOIL requests. New York's Freedom of Information Law gives the public broad access to records kept by any state or local agency. That means voter rolls, property filings, business certificates, and court documents are all fair game. County Clerk offices, town halls, and city clerks each hold records that list names, phone numbers, and addresses. This site helps you search those records from one place.
New York Phone Directory Overview
How the New York Phone Directory Works
Public records in New York State contain phone numbers, mailing addresses, and other contact details for millions of people. The state defines "record" broadly under Public Officers Law, Article 6, Sections 84 through 90. That covers any info kept by a government office in any form. Reports, files, forms, letters, computer data, and more all count. When you search the New York phone directory, you tap into this vast pool of public data.
Each county has its own clerk who keeps land records, business filings, and court documents. These records often list a person's name next to their address and sometimes a phone number. Property deeds show owner names and addresses. Business certificates list the owner's contact info. Voter rolls have names and home addresses. All of these feed into what makes a phone directory search possible in New York.
The NYS Department of State runs the main FOIL portal. You can file a request online through their GovQA system, mail it to One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231, or fax it to (518) 474-4597. The agency must respond within five business days. Copies cost 50 cents per page for standard sizes under Public Officers Law Section 87(1). In-person inspection is free by appointment from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on business days.
The state also runs a database of every business ever filed. The New York Secretary of State Division of Corporations lets you search by name, DOS ID, assumed name, or registered agent. Results show entity status, filing date, and county. This is useful when you want to look up a business owner's info as part of a phone directory search.
New York Phone Directory and FOIL Access
FOIL is the backbone of public records access in New York. It gives any person the right to see government records. You do not need a lawyer. You do not need to give a reason. The NYCLU FOIL Toolkit spells out how the process works. All government records are assumed to be open unless a specific exemption applies. Common exemptions cover personal privacy, active law enforcement cases, trade secrets, and internal deliberative materials. A full list sits in Public Officers Law Section 87(2).
Invalid reasons to deny your request include claims like "it's not in the public interest" or "we don't give out that information." If an agency turns you down, you can file an administrative appeal within 30 days. If the appeal fails, you have 120 days to bring a lawsuit under Article 78.
The NYS Committee on Open Government oversees FOIL, Open Meetings Law, and the Personal Privacy Protection Law. They answer phone questions, write legal advisory opinions, and train government staff. You can call them at (518) 474-2518, fax at (518) 474-1927, or email coog@dos.ny.gov. Their office is at One Commerce Plaza, Suite 650, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. Most of their guides, including "Your Right to Know" and various FAQs, are free online.
Where Phone Directory Records Come From
Several types of public records feed into a New York phone directory search. Each one holds different pieces of contact info.
Property records are a big one. The NYC Department of Finance runs ACRIS, which covers all five boroughs. It has deeds, mortgages, and liens going back to 1966. You can search by name, address, or block and lot number. Cover pages are free. Document images show up in PDF. Outside the city, each county clerk runs a similar system for land records. These documents list owner names and mailing addresses, which is core phone directory data.
Business certificates are another source. When someone files a sole proprietorship or partnership, the county clerk records their name, business name, and address. The NYS Open Data portal has a dataset of all active corporations. It includes the DOS ID, entity name, filing date, county, CEO name, and process address. This data is free to download or access through an API.
Court records hold contact info too. The NYS Unified Court System lets you submit FOIL requests by mail to their Albany office or by email to foil@nycourts.gov. Copy fees are 25 cents per page for standard sizes. Many court records are already online for free download.
Voter registration rolls are public in New York. The Board of Elections in each county keeps them. Voter data includes name, address, party, and voting history. It can be used for political and non-commercial purposes. This makes it a key source for phone directory lookups.
County Phone Directory Records in New York
Each of the 62 counties in New York has a County Clerk who keeps official records. The clerk's office handles land records, business certificates, notary public filings, judgment dockets, and UCC financing statements. All of these can contain names and addresses useful for a phone directory search.
In New York City, the five boroughs each have a County Clerk. Kings County is at 360 Adams Street in Brooklyn. Queens County is at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. New York County sits at 60 Centre Street in Manhattan, with archives at 31 Chambers Street. Bronx County is at 851 Grand Concourse. Richmond County is at 130 Stuyvesant Place on Staten Island. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for most offices.
Outside the city, county clerks like those in Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Erie, and Monroe all run their own record systems. Suffolk County's clerk is at 310 Center Drive in Riverhead and can be reached at (631) 852-2000. Nassau County's clerk is at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola at (516) 493-4111. These offices let you search land records online and file FOIL requests for other documents.
Historical Phone Directory Records
Public libraries across New York hold old phone books and city directories. These are gold for finding past addresses and phone numbers. The Brooklyn Public Library has historical city directories for Brooklyn going back to 1822. They also hold telephone directories from the early 1900s. The Brooklyn Public Library offers access to Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest for deeper searches.
The New York Public Library has Manhattan and Bronx directories from 1860 through 1934. Queens directories exist for scattered years from 1898 to 1934. These old phone directory records list residents by name with their occupation and address. Cross-checking them with census records helps confirm what you find.
The NYC Department of Records at 31 Chambers Street holds over 200,000 cubic feet of records dating to 1645. Their digital collection has over one million images. Birth records from 1855 to 1909, death records from 1855 to 1948, and marriage records from 1950 to 1995 are all on file. These vital records often contain addresses and can help fill in phone directory gaps.
State Agency Phone Directory Records
New York has dozens of state agencies that keep records with contact details. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision handles FOIL requests for its records. They also publish data and statistics on their website that do not require a FOIL request. Mail requests go to 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12226-2050. For criminal history or RAP sheets, contact the Department of Criminal Justice Services instead.
The Department of Environmental Conservation runs an online FOIL system for submitting and tracking requests. Be as specific as you can when you describe the records you need. Include dates, names, and whether you want copies or just to look at the files. The DEC will mail records for big requests and tell you about any charges first.
Each state agency has its own records access officer who handles FOIL. The process works the same way across all of them. Submit your request, get a response in five business days, and pay copy fees if needed. Appeals go through the same 30-day window.
Note: Agencies are not required to create new records in response to a FOIL request, but they must search for and produce what they already have.
How to Request Phone Directory Records
Getting records for a phone directory search in New York is straightforward. You have several options depending on what you need and how fast you need it.
For online searches, start with the free databases. ACRIS covers NYC property records. The Secretary of State database covers business entities. County clerk websites often have land record search tools. These cost nothing and give you results right away. Most show names, addresses, and filing details.
For records not online, file a FOIL request. You can send it by mail, email, fax, or use an agency's online form. Your request must describe the records you want with enough detail for the agency to find them. You do not need to say why you want them. The agency has five business days to respond. They can give you the records, deny the request in writing, or send an acknowledgment with a timeline.
Fees are standard across the state. Copies of records up to 9 by 14 inches cost $0.25 per page at most agencies. Some charge $0.50. Larger items cost more. If a request takes more than two hours of staff time, some agencies add labor costs based on the salary of the lowest-paid staff member who can do the work. In-person inspection is usually free if you make an appointment.
Keep these things in mind when you search:
- Be specific about the records you want
- Include dates, names, and document types
- Say whether you want copies or just want to look
- Provide your contact info so the agency can reach you
- Ask about fees before the agency starts work
Browse New York Phone Directory by County
Each of the 10 most populated counties in New York has its own County Clerk with records you can search. Pick a county below to find local contact info and phone directory resources.
Phone Directory for Major New York Cities
New York's largest cities and towns each have their own clerk offices with public records. Pick a city below to find phone directory resources for that area.