Online Gallery Features More Than A Century Of Historical NYC Photos

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Among its undeniable assets, New York City is a world-class place to take pictures. It's a fantastic place to take photographs, because there are so many things to photograph.

It turns out the tourists aren't the only Big Apple shutterbugs. City workers have been taking pictures across the five boroughs for more than a century. Now, almost a million of their photographs are available in an online archive as part of a historical gallery put together by the city's Department of  Records.

LINK: View Photos From The Department Of Records' Online Gallery

WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reports

"People took pictures as part of their job, working for the city, and they're magnificent, historic collection of the building of the city," Eileen Flannelly, of the Department of Records, told CBS 2's Tony Aiello.

Anyone with Internet will be able to access the collection of faces and places with each photo telling a New York story.

Many of the pictures were made by a photographer Eugene de Salignac. He worked for the city for about a quarter century, taking about 20,000 snapshots as New York went on a building binge.

"He had the eye of an artist and he knew how to frame a picture, and so that when we look at it today, we see the bridge but we also see the men working on the bridge," Ken Cobb with the Department of Records said.

The work of NYPD photographers is also featured, including a mug shot of Lucky Luciano and damage from the so-called "Mad Bomber" at Grand Central in 1955.

The online archive can also be viewed at the Records Department's new visitors center, which has yet to open yet.