AP article NY Updating Storage of Birth, Death, Marriage Records, etc.

This is bad news people. It looks like information will be harder to get to.

Here's the link to the article:

NY updating storage of birth, death, marriage, other records

Birth Books aka Birth Indexes for the Five Boroughs of Manhattan

I just found out today that the Birth Books (aka Birth Indexes) for the 5 boroughs of NY are no longer available at the Milstein Division of the New York City Public Library. The Milstein Division no longer holds New York City birth indexes for years after 1909. The indexes had been on loan to the New York City Public Library from the Department of Health, who recently requested that the NYPL return the collections, including the death indexes after 1948 in accordance with the City's Health Code.

I asked the librarian if she could give me the address of the Department of Health. She gave me the following:

• Office of Vital Records | New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | 125 Worth Street, Room 144  | NY, NY 10013 

For possible access to the indexes, inquire with: 

• Nicholas Elcock | Chief Privacy Officer | nelcock@health.nyc.gov

Note:

• In Room 119 of the Milstein Division available on microfilm are birth, marriage and death indexes for NYC, with date ranges that vary with each borough - however none of the indexes include 1911 or subsequent years.
• Family Search makes available NYC birth indexes freely searchable (1846-1909)
• Italian Geneology Group
• Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers Street, New York, New York
• NYC Public Library, Milstein Division, Introductory Guide to Researching Vital Records

Now that the birth books are at the Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, I wonder if people can still request the books and search through them. ?? 

If I had not been able to search for the number on my birth certificate, in the actual 1953 birth book, I would not have found my name at birth. For more information on this, see my post, The Search, Post 2, Finding my Original Last Name