New York State Department of Health - This web site contains information on how to obtain Birth, Death, Marriage, and Divorce Records for events occuring in New York State. It includes request forms in both PDF and TEXT files. New York State Birth certificates for genealogy use are available if the certificate has been on file for at least 75 years and the person whose name is on the birth certificate is known to be dead. Death Certificates for genealogy use are available if the certificate has been on file for at least 50 years. Marriage certificates for genealogy use are available if the certificate has been on file for at least 50 years and the bride and groom are both known to be deceased. The time periods are waived if the applicant is a descendant or has been designated to act on behalf of a descendant of the person whose record is being requested. A descendent is a person in the direct line of descent (child or grandchild, not niece, nephew or cousin).
The New York State Department of Health provides copies of certificates for genealogy use for births, deaths, or marriages that took place in New York State outside of the five boroughs of New York City (except for births occurring in Queens and Richmond counties for the years 1881 through 1897). Records on file date back to 1881 for births and marriages and 1880 for deaths, EXCEPT for records filed in Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers prior to 1914. Applications for records prior to 1914 for these cities must be made directly to the local office.