2. Hall of Records / Surrogate’s Courthouse

Located on Chambers and Centre Streets in Manhattan, the Surrogate’s Courthouse (also known as the Hall of Records) serves two main functions: it houses the courtrooms used by the Surrogate’s Court for New York County and holds the city’s Municipal Archives. The building – considered by many to be “a Beaux Arts style “masterpiece” – took eight years to construct (1899 to 1907) and cost $7 million to complete. There’s a very unknown exhibition space inside the Municipal Archives, that has hosted exhibits on Robert Moses’ most hated highway, the Lower Manhattan Expressway and Little Syria.